{"id":77315,"date":"2026-08-21T09:11:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T09:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/77315\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T09:11:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T09:11:25","slug":"opposition-accuses-queensland-government-of-gagging-frontline-organisations-from-speaking-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/77315\/","title":{"rendered":"Opposition accuses Queensland government of gagging frontline organisations from speaking out"},"content":{"rendered":"

Queensland’s opposition says it feels like “Trump’s America”, claiming frontline community organisations are gagged from speaking out for fear of losing state funding.<\/p>\n

But the premier denied there have been threats to cut investment in vital services, including for homelessness and child safety.<\/p>\n

One provider, speaking anonymously to the ABC, said the LNP government was effectively silencing the voices of the vulnerable by preventing experts from speaking freely.<\/p>\n

They said there was a reluctance to speak out, leading to vital issues not being aired.<\/p>\n

\"Children's<\/p>\n

An anonymous provider told the ABC agencies were lying low, for fear of being tarred as agitators.\u00a0 (ABC News: Daryna Zadvirna)<\/p>\n

It was claimed funding wasn’t being done on its merits but rather was going to those deemed compliant.<\/p>\n

They said the government’s decisions were then made without realising the impact on the frontline.<\/p>\n

One expert said they were told, “you are a service delivery provider, not an activist”.<\/p>\n

Another anonymous provider said agencies were lying low, for fear of being tarred as agitators.<\/p>\n

They noted they had been funded under numerous levels of government of different political persuasions, but the current LNP government’s reaction was a new and worrying one.<\/p>\n

The ABC contacted numerous other frontline services, which declined to comment.<\/p>\n

Shadow housing minister Meaghan Scanlon drew a comparison between the Queensland government and the US administration.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Shadow housing minister Meaghan Scanlon compared the Queensland government to the United States. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)<\/p>\n

“It feels an awful lot like Trump’s America. Criticise the government and they’ll threaten to cut services’ funding,” she said.<\/p>\n

“David Crisafulli made a big thing about integrity and transparency when he was the opposition leader. Well, that’s all been thrown out the window, hasn’t it?”<\/p>\n

Premier David Crisafulli denied any of his ministers or team had threatened community organisations if they criticised the government.<\/p>\n

Children in residential care in Qld higher than ever<\/a><\/p>\n

The Queensland government has handed down its response to the Child Safety Inquiry.<\/p>\n

He claimed record investment had been made “across the board”.<\/p>\n

“With record funding also comes a level of accountability, and I believe in it.<\/p>\n

“I think it’s important taxpayers’ money needs to be treated with respect and outcomes need to be delivered.<\/p>\n

“I think that’s what people would expect.”<\/p>\n

‘Glass jaw’<\/p>\n

Opposition leader Steven Miles claimed numerous frontline organisations had told Labor a similar story for the 18 months of the LNP government.<\/p>\n

“They are simply too scared to speak out publicly from a government that has threatened them and is determined to silence them,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Queensland Labor leader Steven Miles said the premier has a “glass jaw”. (ABC News: Lucas Hill)<\/p>\n

“David Crisafulli is so determined to micromanage the story of each and every day.<\/p>\n

“He’s got such a glass jaw that every piece of criticism is met with this kind of overreaction, this kind of response, and it’s got advocates and experts cowering in fear.”<\/p>\n

Deputy premier Jarrod Bleijie said he was not aware of any of the allegations made against the government, also highlighting the high standards of the administration.<\/p>\n

“When organisations and third parties deliver services on behalf of Queenslanders paid for by Queenslanders, you would expect transparency and accountability and KPIs,” he said.<\/p>\n

“That’s what the government is expecting of these organisations. This is not just money that grows on trees. This is Queensland taxpayer funding.”<\/p>\n

Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm also refuted the allegations and said none of them had been put to her.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Queensland’s opposition says it feels like “Trump’s America”, claiming frontline community organisations are gagged from speaking out for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77316,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22,21,115699,1601,3139,18926,3473,4900,3226,29690,33955,3227,11547],"class_list":["post-77315","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-children-in-care","tag-david-crisafulli","tag-funding","tag-government-funding","tag-homelessness","tag-jarrod-bleijie","tag-lnp","tag-lnp-government","tag-meaghan-scanlon","tag-queensland-government","tag-steven-miles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77315","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=77315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77315\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}