Queensland parliamentary sittings. It's the best of times. It's the worst of times.
This week, the first real session of parliament since Labor won government in January is set to play out much like any other sitting, with each major party attempting to claim theirs is the highest high horse in the field of governing.
Labor will introduce two bills across the three days on workplace safety and another on industrial relations, which was heralded by a press release sent out on April 23.
The Electoral Commission and other acts bill, also known as the integrity bill, will also be debated this week. But given that the bi-partisan committee meant to work out whether the bill should be passed or not couldn't come to a decision, there is no guarantee any legislation will pass in the hung parliament.
The LNP will, under new standing orders set down by Speaker Peter Wellington, get the chance to introduce their own motion each day – Lawrence Springborg has previously flagged his intention to move a motion to keep its surgery wait time guarantee.
But the smart money will be on the Member for Cook dominating the week, continuing the debate which hijacked the only real sitting of the previous session in March, and the political agenda ever since.
Mr Springborg - who may find himself under fire after confidential documents relating to Mr Billy Gordon's child support payments, complete with his children's names, were released to the media by the LNP - said the Premier still had questions to answer.
The documents, which were also used on an A Current Affair segment, showed that Mr Gordon owed a former partner more than $5000 in child support payments, and sometime since 27 March that amount has purportedly risen to just over $700.
The woman in question told the Nine Network that when Mr Gordon stood up in Parliament on 27 March and said he had rectified the matter, he still owed her $24.
The release of the documents sparked another round of the 2015 'Who knew what and when' tournament, which has been enthusiastically played by both major parties, but has so far just made losers of everybody.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who is holding on to power with the support of Mr Wellington and Mr Gordon, said she expected more 'mischief and mayhem' from the LNP, likening the Springborg-led Opposition to his predecessor, which Labor considers one of the worst barbs it can throw - dropping the name Campbell Newman as if it was a four lettered word.
Mr Springborg, who remains incensed that Labor has refused to change back the standing orders the LNP government altered under the guise of "time-saving" meaning neither major party will know how Mr Gordon intends to vote until both have already cast their own, saw Ms Palaszczuk's "mischief and mayhem" and raised her an "over the top shrill language".
"We in the LNP we expect that this week we are going to see a lot of over the top shrill language, we are going to see a lot of distractions from the Labor party government as they seek to cover up the fact that they are desperately clinging to power using the tainted vote from the Member for Cook and I think that that is what this week will be all about," Mr Springborg said.
And given Mr Springborg's side of politics controls the direction of question time, the smart money would be on his being right.
- Join us for the Brisbane Times question time blog from 10.30am
