Shadow minister suffers from a lack of knowledge

Minister for Public Works and Information and Communication Technology
The Honourable Robert Schwarten
11/03/2010
Shadow minister suffers from a lack of knowledge

Public Works Minister, Robert Schwarten, said today the opposition shadow for his portfolio and Member for Currumbin, Ms Jann Stuckey, has had 12 months experience in the role and it showed as she was not able to cope with the role.

Mr Schwarten said Ms Stuckey, on Tuesday, had incorrectly accused QBuild of instructing an employee of a contractor to sign a back-dated form when in fact the contracting company was being investigated.

"Today (Thursday) she makes the claim that QBuild was responsible for students having to be resettled in other classrooms at Mackay North State High School - once again incorrect," Mr Schwarten said.

"She does not understand the Government's Asbestos Management and Control Policy at all yet she immediately commences to froth at the mouth when talking about asbestos.

"The management and removal of asbestos has been a priority for this Government since 1994 and will remain so - yet I doubt Ms Stuckey has even read our policy on asbestos management.

"If she has none of it has sunk in and I am acutely aware of her inability to produce anything original," he said.

"She rarely bothers to get the facts right about an asbestos issue or any other issue for that matter before launching into print.

"She seems to delight in releasing statements which are inaccurate and ill-conceived but always with more than a hint of histrionics in the hope they will grab someone's attention."

Mr Schwarten said Ms Stuckey was always eager to sink the boot into QBuild and blamed QBuild at every turn even when a project was not even a QBuild one she attacked them.

"Clearly she is embarking on a path of undermining QBuild so she can privatise it if she becomes the minister," Mr Schwarten said.

He said QBuild was leading the way in asbestos handling training.

"In 2009, QBuild developed the Practical Asbestos Training program.

"This program is the first of its type in Australia and is another example of the Queensland Government and the Department of Public Works leading the way," he said.

"The program, developed in consultation with the Unions, was designed specifically for QBuild staff and is conducted over a one day training session which includes: theoretical, practical, legislative requirements and best industry practice components.

"98% of relevant field staff who require the training have completed the program.

"That's more than 1500 workers including tradespersons, forepersons, supervisors, condition assessors and apprentices."

Mr Schwarten said the Practical Asbestos Training program was the first of its kind in Australia.

"We are now in the process of having the course accredited through the Australian Quality Training Framework and to hasten this process QBuild has engaged the services of BIGA, a Queensland-based registered training organisation, to facilitate the accreditati on application," he said.

Mr Schwarten said the course proposal had been lodged with the Department of Education and Training and, if approved, BIGA would further develop the course so that it would also be available on the National Training Information Service (NTIS) database for other training providers to use.

"People who have successfully completed this training and completed the associated exam, will then be eligible to attain a B Class asbestos removalist's licence," Mr Schwarten said.

Permanent Link: Shadow minister suffers from a lack of knowledge
Publish Date: 12 Mar 10