The news
Queensland Health Minister Shannon Fentiman and two more LNP MPs have been referred to parliament’s powerful ethics committee over their roles in last month’s “cross your legs” saga.
Fentiman’s “potentially misleading” use of parliamentary footage and the actions of LNP members encouraging partymate Ros Bates’ refusal to withdraw accusations of incitement will open the trio up to potential reprimands and all but silence the issue in parliament before October’s election.
How we got here
The issue spiralled from parliament during the most recent sitting week after Bates, the opposition health spokesperson yelled the phrase across the chamber as Fentiman responded to a question about cancelled maternity services.
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Fentiman took to social media with a clipped video of the exchange incorrectly captioned to quote Bates as saying “close your legs”, and labelling the comments “disgraceful”.
After gaining traction online, and being shared by Premier Steven Miles, the clip was reshared to reflect the official parliamentary transcript which confirmed Bates’ explanation the outburst was a reference to mothers needing to hold on while in labour.
Bates later accused Labor of “misrepresentation” over the incident and told parliament next day the social media posts had incited bullying and threats, but refused to withdraw those comments under parliamentary rules after Fentiman took offence to them.