The Palaszczuk Labor Government is coming under intense pressure to increase the size of its ministry and admit the mega portfolios experiment was a failure.
Shadow Education and Training Minister Tim Mander said the most recent IT debacle in the Education Department was a prime example of why mega portfolios didn’t work.
“The fact that it took almost six months for Education Minister Kate Jones to pick up on an IT failure as serious as this one just goes to show that education is not getting the attention it deserves,” Mr Mander said.
“Health and Education make up more than half of the state budget, yet while Health is paired with Ambulance Services, Education has been bundled together with Tourism, Major Events, Small Business and the Commonwealth Games.
“It shows incredibly poor judgement on the Premier’s part to even think that one Minister could be across so many important portfolio areas.
“Now is the time for the Premier to eat humble pie and admit she has made a serious mistake.”
Mr Mander said the Education Minister was responsible for almost a million students in more than 1700 schools across Queensland.
“Education is a big enough responsibility to warrant its own, dedicated Minister,” he said.
“If the LNP had attempted to bundle education with other departments, union bosses would be yelling from the roof tops.”
Mr Mander said the Premier had left open the possibility of adding another Minister as part of her Cabinet review at the end of the year.
“Recent events highlight the need for a reshuffle sooner rather than later,” he said.
“There’s been rumblings from the government for some time about the size of the portfolios and the workload pressures on Ministers. It’s no secret that some Labor Ministers aren’t happy.
“The Premier promised to listen to Queenslanders before being elected and now is the time to deliver on that promise.”
