The Queensland government has denied double-standards after being accused of a cover-up by withholding a report into toddler Mason Jet Lee's death.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk cited advice from Director of Public Prosecutions Michael Byrne as the reason the government wouldn't release the full report into 22-month-old Mason's death.
Mr Byrne said doing so could prejudice a trial and argued the report should be kept confidential until after court cases involving Mason's mother, her ex-partner and a teenage friend are finalised.
But the Liberal National Party opposition on Tuesday questioned why cabinet took the unprecedented move to withhold it when a fuller report into Logan schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer's death was released last year.
LNP child safety spokeswoman Ros Bates took aim at the move, saying the Queensland public needed to know how government departments had failed the Sunshine Coast toddler.
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Four child safety department workers have been stood down following Mason's death at Caboolture in June last year, after he had previously been sent home from hospital with concerning injuries.
"We did not see this when the release of Tiahleigh Palmer's report came out," Ms Bates told ABC radio.
"So as far as I'm concerned it's a cynical move by this do-nothing Labor government; it looks and smells like a cover-up."
Tiahleigh, 12, was found dead on the banks of a Gold Coast river in October 2015. Her foster father Rick Thorburn was last year charged with her murder while her foster brother Trent Thorburn has been charged with incest.
However, Ms Palaszczuk said the exact same report from the child safety commissioner had been released in both cases.
"Both of the children and family commissioner's reports, which are talking about systemic issues, have been released in full for Tiahleigh Palmer and for Mason," Ms Palaszczuk said.
"However in both cases the Child Death Review Panel report is not released because there are criminal proceedings afoot."
A key distinction between the cases is the review into Tiahleigh's case was handed down before anyone was charged with her death, while court proceedings were already underway in Mason's case.
Mason's mother Anne Maree Lee, stepfather William O'Sullivan and teenager Ryan Robert Hodson have been charged with manslaughter and child cruelty.
Ms Bates said keeping hold of Mason's report was particularly "cynical" because it would take longer than 12 months to finalise the legal matters, meaning it wouldn't be released until after the next state election.
She pledged to make the report public in full if the party was elected.
"This is not about a legal issue. This is about the policies and procedures inside the child safety department that allowed this death and other deaths to occur," she said.
Queensland Civil Liberties Council vice-president Terry O'Gorman backed the government's decision, saying it makes sense to listen to the advice of the DPP.
"If the details of the report are indeed 'explosive', that more than justifies delaying the report's publication," he said.
