LNP jilts Qld govt ahead of parly's return

The LNP has refused to grant Labor Minister Leanne Enoch a pair for the first day of Queensland Parliament for the year.

There will be little love lost when Queensland parliament resumes for 2017 on Valentine's Day.

Relations are already at a new low after the Liberal National Party opted to play hardball on Monday afternoon, jilting Labor's Innovation and Small Business Minister, Leeanne Enoch.

Ms Enoch, Queensland's first indigenous minister, won't be able to attend the release of the federal government's Closing the Gap report on Tuesday because the opposition has refused to grant her a pair.

A pair is a parliamentary convention where one party agrees to have a member abstain from voting when a rival MP is absent.

Ms Enoch said as the first indigenous woman elected to state parliament, she was deeply disappointed.

"This is significant to me as an individual but it's also significant to all Queenslanders," Ms Enoch said on Monday.

"Even on this matter we are seeing politics being played by the LNP."

The LNP are also looking to hit the government over the Queensland Rail staffing crisis, as well as perceived power price hikes, when parliament sits.

They've also broken with previous bipartisanship over the issue of domestic violence, with Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls to introduce a private members bill into parliament this week to change a range of laws relating to domestic violence offenders.

Mr Nicholls said he just couldn't wait for a series of judicial reviews of similar law changes proposed by Labor.

"The sooner we act, the sooner vulnerable women and children can feel safe knowing the law is working for them and not the alleged perpetrator," Mr Nicholls said in a statement.

Looming large over the proceedings this week will be One Nation, with LNP defector Steve Dickson giving the far-right-wing party its first seat in state parliament for nearly a decade.

Despite just having one seat, the party could be a threat at the upcoming election, with a recent poll showing it could win up to 23 per cent of the primary vote on the back of votes from traditional Liberal and Labor voters.

The LNP is yet to rule out a preference deal with One Nation, while Labor has categorically rejected the idea.

They've also rejected suggestions from Pauline Hanson that Queensland Labor approached her with a deal to stay out of each other's way at the election by not running candidates in certain seats.

The state poll is due by May 2018, however it's tipped to be late this year.


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Source: AAP



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