Under-fire Queensland Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe has been defended by the state treasurer for not physically attending a meeting with Queensland Rail bosses in October.
Mr Hinchliffe reportedly called the meeting to demand answers over the timetabling nightmare which left commuters stranded or delayed across the southeast Queensland rail network.
Instead of physically attending the meeting, Mr Hinchliffe appeared at the Supercars event on the Gold Coast as the Queensland government's representative.
Treasurer Curtis Pitt says he and Mr Hinchliffe joined the meeting via teleconference.
He said Mr Hinchliffe had made the right choice by maintaining his duties to the government but also ensuring the QR board had to provide answers to the timetabling debacle.
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"Minister Hinchliffe was on official government business, representing the government at the Gold Coast and I was en-route to community cabinet," he told reporters on Thursday.
"None of us were in Brisbane but of course we wanted to ensure we heard first-hand, from the board, as to what was happening with Queensland Rail."
Mr Pitt said Mr Hinchliffe had been committed to resolving the timetable crisis.
"The new summer timetable has kicked off," he said.
"That is an important piece in terms of stabilising the train crewing issues that we've been experiencing."
