My Bill to #RaiseTheAge is now before Qld Parliament! . It'll go through a committee inquiry and there will be an opportunity to make submissions - you can read more about the bill, and sign up for updates on the process and getting involved, here:

RT @larissawaters: Adani was given free reign by both major parties to open up dangerous thermal coal mining in the Galilee basin. They g….

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We could be funding universal school meals, a publicly owned housing developer, free psychology sessions and a better public transport network if the major parties weren’t so scared of the fossil fuel industry’s wrath.

If the LNP had the guts to raise gas royalties to 35% as the Greens propose, we’d have an extra $19 billion over the next four years to give Qlders what they deserve. If they’d raised coal royalties, there'd be an extra $32 billion to spend.

As compensation for the 22 year delay in meeting minimum school funding requirements, families will get a hundred bucks a year for school expenses - maybe they can buy one shoe and half a textbook?. Meanwhile teachers are underpaid & overworked, protesting outside Parli tonight.

The LNP moves like Greased Lightning when it comes to cutting off trans kids’ access to healthcare, evicting people from social housing or ditching their Treaty commitments, but they’re all “slowly, slowly” when it comes to actually governing for Queenslanders.

What an uninspiring shell of a Budget from the LNP. The most exciting thing they’ve done since winning the election is begrudgingly adopt 50 cent fares and club sport vouchers, two ideas they lifted from Labor who took them from the Greens!.

If you need support, help is available from QLife on 1800 184 527 or online at Lifeline on 13 11 14, Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or beyondblue on 1300 22 4636.

Instead of getting on with governing for the people of Queensland, the rightwing extremists in the LNP would rather make a boogeyman out of the small percentage of children for whom this treatment is not only appropriate, but life saving.

If there are shortcomings with the service, it is because the LNP and Labor before them have failed to implement the recommendations of the independent evaluation.

Last year’s independent evaluation into the Queensland Children’s Gender Service found that it provides safe, evidence-based care. The evaluation panel recommended expanding gender services to meet the demand for quality care, not banning them.

The LNP thinks a 10 year old can go to prison but a 17 year old and their family can’t decide what healthcare they need. This is essential treatment for people born intersex and for young people experiencing gender dysphoria. Hormone therapy and puberty blockers save lives.

The LNP has announced it will pause puberty blockers and hormone treatment for new patients under 18 years old. Once again, the LNP is whipping up a culture war at the expense of Queensland’s most vulnerable young people.

Correction: the National Indigenous Times, as always, unafraid to report the facts on youth justice. More here -

Meanwhile the LNP are doubling down on the same old "tough on crime" chest beating, while all the evidence shows detention DOES NOT WORK. It's not about community safety. If it ever was, they'd have changed course by now.

The new data also shows that detention is far less effective in reducing offending rates for First Nations children. Exactly why advocates have been calling for investment in Indigenous-led programs - not new prisons - for years.

Labor and the LNP have both proposed building 2 new youth prisons in Qld. They can’t even staff the existing ones, which is why programs can't be delivered and kids leave without learning anything other than how to offend more seriously.

Since no media seem willing to cover it, here's a pretty shocking stat the Govt just revealed. After spending time in Qld's Cleveland Youth Detention Centre, children's serious offending INCREASED by 21%. This overcrowded, understaffed prison makes crime worse, not better.

Well this 42 minute old tweet aged poorly

The LNP's cruel, racist "adult crime, adult time" laws have passed with support from Labor and the Katters, despite all the evidence that they will make reoffending worse, as well as harming victims and violating human rights. What a disgusting display of politics over reason.

This is a mind-blowingly dangerous and anti-science view for any MP to have in 2024, let alone an Environment Minister. God help us if Dutton and the rest of the Liberal/National climate deniers win the federal election.