Queensland's premier says she won't hesitate to call an early election if needed, after minority government MP Rob Pyne's move to the cross benches.
Queensland's premier says her minority Labor government will operate as normal despite Cairns MP Rob Pyne's resignation from the party, but she won't hesitate to call an early election if needed.
Mr Pyne announced his resignation on Monday night after months of publicly speaking out against his own party, particularly over the government's controversial lockout legislation.
His move to the cross benches means the government and the Liberal National Party opposition both have 42 MPs in the state's 89-seat parliament.
Although only a year into a three-year term, Ms Palaszczuk said on Tuesday she would "absolutely" call an early election if needed.
"I'm very serious about this - I am not going to allow any person to stand in my way and my government's way to create jobs for Queenslanders," Ms Palaszczuk said.
The premier said Mr Pyne hadn't told her of his intention to resign and she would seek a meeting with him later on Tuesday.
"Obviously I'm disappointed with Rob's decision," she said.
"I'm quite sure there's going to be a lot of members in the Cairns community that are also disappointed with his decision to leave the Labor party."
