TODAY\u2019S EDITORIAL<\/a> AND JOIN THE DISCUSSION<\/p>\nThe Courier-Mail spoke to 12 advocates separately \u2013 all on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution \u2013 and all had a remarkably similar story of a government pushing to silent dissent by threatening to pull funding.<\/p>\n
Some of them have worked under successive governments, including LNP and Labor, with one describing the Crisafulli government as the most punitive in decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny challenge or criticism of a department or government position results in threats of the organisation\u2019s funding being pulled,\u201d one advocate said. <\/p>\n
The three ministers responsible for these four critical sectors are Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm, Youth Justice Minister Laura Gerber and Housing Minister Sam O\u2019Connor. <\/p>\n
Advocates who spoke to this masthead all voiced growing fears about their financial futures under this government.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really is keep your mouth shut or you\u2019re gone,\u201d one said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhich is a shame though, how do you advocate for change if you\u2019re worried about the consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another advocate said this treatment now had a term \u2014 \u201cGetting LNP\u2019d\u201d.<\/p>\n
The widespread gagging of community groups comes as the LNP government \u2014 almost halfway into its first four-year term \u2014 faces increasing scrutiny over its promises to improve child safety, build more affordable homes, and bring down youth crime.<\/p>\n
Ms Camm, Ms Gerber and Mr O\u2019Connor were each asked whether they or their office had threatened community service organisations with funding cuts, and whether those groups should feel comfortable criticising the government. <\/p>\n
Instead, a singular response attributable to a government spokeswoman said community services organisations should be held to account. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhere the expectations and standards of Queenslanders aren\u2019t being met by taxpayer-funded providers, it\u2019s important we have direct conversations to hold them accountable on behalf of Queenslanders,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re working closely with community organisations to deliver better outcomes for Queenslanders, and we expect taxpayer-funded organisations to deliver the services they are funded to provide to help turn around the significant issues we were all left behind by the former government.\u201d<\/p>\n
One prominent community sector figure, whose organisation receives government funding, said the threat of funding cuts was explicit and it was the first time this had happened as a result of criticism.<\/p>\n
While both sides of politics have criticised dissenting voices, one community sector leader said the crackdown under the Crisafulli LNP government was \u201cthe worst I\u2019ve seen\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this is the level of pressure longstanding advocates receive, I can\u2019t begin to imagine how bad it must be for a person experiencing homelessness, a woman escaping DV, or a child in need of protection, all who rely on these systems,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
Another organisation worker said their chief executive officer had lambasted the difficulty working with the state government. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s definitely been sector people and CEOs called into the offices of ministers where they tell you if you continue to talk to people we will make sure you don\u2019t have funding continuing,\u201d the worker said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI have had public servants that have said to me who have worked through multiple changes of government through Newman and Bligh that this is the most punitive government they have ever worked for.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re not going to stand with us then you must be standing against us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Advocates have also revealed they are considering seeking support from philanthropists so they can be less reliant on government funding for fear they could be cut off at any time.<\/p>\n
They said organisations feel like there is no choice but to stay silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf being quiet means being funded and being able to help people, then there\u2019s not much choice,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
One stakeholder said the behaviour was fundamentally wrong. <\/p>\n
\u201cNo government funding should be on the basis of you\u2019re not allowed to speak to the press,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA democracy should have different points of view about how a policy affects someone\u2019s life, especially if that policy is damaging someone\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n
QUT political expert John Mickel \u2014 a former Labor speaker and Beattie government minister \u2014 raised concerns about the increasing \u201cAmericanisation\u201d of Queensland politics. <\/p>\n
He criticised the sacking of directors-general and public servants when governments change.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I fear is that\u2019s feeding down into stakeholders,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cJust because a group receives money should not buy their silence it should buy their service.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not Trump\u2019s America and we don\u2019t want to be America in Queensland.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I think the government has got to do, and the Premier is a reasonable person, is to take stock and say when is a community group advocating and when are they being political.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we are going to ban public advocacy, then ban it for everyone \u2013 but then you are going to run foul the free speech argument pretty quick.<\/p>\n
Mr Mickel said the lack of long-serving executives and seasoned politicians meant governments \u201cforget how to behave\u201d. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Community groups have been hauled into ministerial offices and threatened with funding cuts as retribution for publicly criticising…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76767,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[113939,113991,113965,51159,113970,113988,38038,79300,113935,51925,113938,42603,113989,40365,39321,113963,114000,36958,99463,113987,113937,37136,113997,38795,62890,113954,113959,113942,22,21,37617,113994,45635,3132,8630,6310,96101,22628,113995,113975,113947,69224,39119,113941,6231,44508,56134,113931,113957,8852,6168,3139,12032,113940,2547,18926,113962,48169,113936,3473,113953,113998,113982,42326,113971,113980,29690,113976,113983,5488,113949,113945,113927,113968,113990,113974,108054,113929,113951,113961,113969,113977,50134,7350,73222,149,113944,28440,113948,37506,212,38832,113999,39456,113599,42266,113958,17541,113978,113928,113950,4381,113979,113932,113956,48513,52794,113967,55205,43790,113964,38471,113946,90228,113955,47672,91936,23380,40737,38459,113996,113973,113966,113985,49036,86313,36757,113933,40686,36866,113960,46336,39024,113992,113934,113930,108151,113952,113993,42647,39407,113986,113972,13297,68413,33486,56915,113981,113943,113984,4816,26829],"class_list":["post-76766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-the-widespread-gagging","tag-s-editorial-and-join-the-discussionthe-courier-mail","tag-s-funding","tag-s-life","tag-1-william-st","tag-12-advocates","tag-a-child","tag-a-democracy","tag-a-department-or-government-position","tag-a-dressing","tag-a-former-labor-speaker","tag-a-government","tag-a-government-spokeswoman","tag-a-person","tag-a-policy","tag-a-remarkably-similar-story","tag-a-reminder-that-integrity-matters","tag-a-result","tag-a-shame","tag-a-singular-response","tag-a-term","tag-a-woman","tag-abusive-phone-calls","tag-advocates","tag-anonymity","tag-another-advocate","tag-any-challenge-or-criticism","tag-any-time-they","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-behalf","tag-better-outcomes","tag-both-sides","tag-change","tag-charities","tag-child-safety","tag-child-safety-minister-amanda-camm","tag-community-groups","tag-community-organisations","tag-community-service-organisations","tag-community-services-organisations","tag-continuing","tag-criticism","tag-criticism-while","tag-cuts","tag-decades","tag-different-points","tag-direct-conversations","tag-domestic-violence-prevention","tag-dv","tag-fear","tag-funding","tag-funding-cuts","tag-funding-some","tag-government","tag-government-funding","tag-government-headquarters","tag-govt","tag-growing-fears","tag-homelessness","tag-housing-minister-sam-oconnor","tag-housing-sectors","tag-its-first-four-year-term","tag-its-policies","tag-its-promises","tag-lnp-and-labor","tag-lnp-government","tag-lnpd","tag-ministerial-offices","tag-ministers","tag-more-affordable-homes","tag-mr-oconnor","tag-ms-gerber","tag-much-choice","tag-multiple-changes","tag-newman-and-bligh","tag-no-choice","tag-no-government-funding","tag-one-advocate","tag-one-community-sector-leader","tag-one-prominent-community-sector-figure","tag-organisation-worker","tag-organisations","tag-people","tag-philanthropists","tag-politics","tag-pressure-longstanding-advocates","tag-protection","tag-public-criticism","tag-public-servants","tag-queensland","tag-queenslanders","tag-qut-political-expert-john-mickel","tag-read-today","tag-retribution","tag-scrutiny","tag-sector-people-and-ceos","tag-senior-figures","tag-silent-dissent","tag-stakeholder","tag-successive-governments","tag-support","tag-taxpayer-funded-organisations","tag-taxpayer-funded-providers","tag-that-policy","tag-the-basis","tag-the-behaviour","tag-the-child-safety","tag-the-condition","tag-the-consequences","tag-the-crackdown","tag-the-crisafulli-government","tag-the-crisafulli-lnp-government","tag-the-difficulty","tag-the-expectations-and-standards","tag-the-first-time","tag-the-former-government","tag-the-government","tag-the-level","tag-the-lnp","tag-the-lnp-government","tag-the-most-punitive","tag-the-most-punitive-government","tag-the-offices","tag-the-organisation","tag-the-press","tag-the-services","tag-the-significant-issues","tag-the-state-government","tag-the-threat","tag-the-three-ministers","tag-the-worker","tag-the-worst","tag-their-chief-executive-officer","tag-their-financial-futures","tag-their-funding","tag-their-office","tag-these-four-critical-sectors","tag-these-systems","tag-this-government","tag-this-masthead","tag-this-treatment","tag-those-groups","tag-threats","tag-turn","tag-view","tag-voices","tag-whose-organisation","tag-your-mouth","tag-youth-crime-funding-threatms-camm","tag-youth-justice","tag-youth-justice-minister-laura-gerber"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}