Justice Minister Michael Keenan has compared Queensland's Labor government to a "student union" as the debate over natural disaster relief funding after Cyclone Debbie intensifies.
The Palaszczuk government attacked the federal government over the weekend about a lack of federal funding for communities affected by the devastating tropical cyclone that struck in March.
Deputy Premier Jackie Trad said the Commonwealth's decision to contribute just $29.3 million of the $110 million sought by Queensland in disaster recovery funding was "mean spirited" and a "slap in the face".
But Mr Keenan hit back on Monday saying the federal government has more difficulty dealing with Queensland than any other state.
He said an application for relief funding from the minority Labor government hadn't given enough information about the damage sustained.
"Dealing with this government is just like dealing with a student union," Mr Keenan said on the Gold Coast.
"We don't have to deal with this sort of silliness with any other government around Australia."
Mr Keenan said federal disaster assistance wasn't a "slush fund" for building new infrastructure but was designed to assist with the reconstruction of damaged infrastructure in collaboration with state governments.
"It's quite frustrating, because they really do behave in the most childlike manner, all they're interested in doing is scoring a political point as opposed to actually working together to build communities that have been affected by disaster."
Queensland's Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey took umbrage at Mr Keenan's comments, saying the federal government was ripping off the state and not paying its "fair share".
"It is no way comparable to a student union to be backing up communities who've had roofs ripped off, infrastructure destroyed," Mr Bailey said.
"I've never seen first hand such devastation as I did when I toured the Whitsundays, it was absolutely gob-smacking to witness the terror people had experienced, and yet here we have Canberra ripping off those people trying to recover from such a terrible event.
"It's shameful."
Queensland Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls said the Palaszczuk government was trying to deflect blame away from themselves.
"What's important here is that the state stand up and take responsibility for their infrastructure needs," Mr Nicholls said, claiming Labor had taken $3 billion out of the state's infrastructure budget.
"For them to now try and shift the blame to the federal government for their lack of spending is absolute hypocrisy."
