Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
ABC News
ABC News
National
state political reporter Kate McKenna and Emilie Gramenz

Jarrod Bleijie lashed by Attorney-General after using parliamentary privilege to raise 'most serious issue'

Queensland Opposition MP Jarrod Bleijie was lashed by the Attorney-General. (ABC News: Tim Swanston)

Queensland's Attorney-General has lashed an opposition MP who used parliamentary privilege to urge the Premier to intervene in a court case involving a politician allegedly trying to suppress a report from the state's corruption watchdog.

On Tuesday, the LNP's Jarrod Bleijie raised in the house what he described as "a most serious issue" relating to a report from the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) involving a politician.

Mr Bleijie told parliament the politician had taken court action to have the CCC report suppressed and he called for the Premier to step in and order the report's release, which government minister Yvette D'Ath labelled "quite extraordinary".

"The voters and the public of Queensland are absolutely entitled to see the Crime and Corruption report that has been completed," Mr Bleijie said.

In a speech on Wednesday morning, Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman said Mr Bleijie's comments "would absolutely amount to contempt if said outside this chamber".

"As a legally trained member of this house and former attorney-general, he should know better than to call for such a massive overreach of executive government," she said.

"The Member for Kawana, in calling for the Premier to intervene in a matter before the courts, has failed to respect the most basic principle of our legal and political system."

Shannon Fentiman said Mr Bleijie's comments "would absolutely amount to contempt if said outside this chamber". (AAP: Jono Searle)

"It seems the Member for Kawana – not content with already being universally scorned by the judiciary – is intent on securing his title as the most unprofessional and unknowledgeable person to hold the office of attorney-general in Queensland's history."

Mr Bleijie told parliament he would "not be bullied" for "raising important matters".

"If I had the chance to do what I did yesterday again, I would," he said.

"The only way we can get transparency in this matter is to let the sunlight in."

During Question Time, Mr Bleijie asked Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk if the politician had received legal indemnity and had their legal costs covered by the taxpayer in relation to either the CCC matter or court proceedings.

Ms Palaszczuk did not clarify, instead replying, "On this side of the house we will respect the institutions of this state" and "the Attorney-General made a very, very clear statement in the house".

Some Queensland politicians are provided legal indemnity and assistance by the state government.

A lawyer for the politician told the ABC there was a non-publication order in the Supreme Court and publishing an article regarding the subject matter of Mr Bleijie's comments would be in breach of it.

When approached on Tuesday, a Supreme Court spokeswoman said any matter that was not listed publicly on the court's search engine was a restricted matter and she could not comment.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.