Hinchinbrook MP, Andrew Cripps, says the LNP last night won a battle for Queensland patients, with an Opposition motion on the surgery wait time guarantee supported by the Queensland Parliament.

Mr Cripps said the minority Palaszczuk Government was defeated for the first time in the Queensland Parliament last night, with a majority of MPs voting to keep the LNP’s surgery wait time guarantee in place.

“The LNP introduced the motion to try and ensure that Queensland patients continued to receive their surgery on time under the guarantee that came into place on 1 February 2015” said Mr Cripps.

“They lost that guarantee all too quickly under the new Labor Government, but the LNP did not give up and last night’s vote in State Parliament was a win for Queensland patients” he said.

Mr Cripps said Queenslanders had not voted to get rid of the wait time guarantee and Labor did not have a mandate to abolish it, which was reflected in the outcome of the vote in State Parliament.

“Last night a majority of Queensland MPs voted to protect it by voting for an LNP motion that cements our position as the true guardians of free public health services in this state”.

“I can’t believe Labor MPs voted against this important public health initiative – it’s a worrying sign that the Palaszczuk Government means to take us back to the bad old days of a dysfunctional health system”.

Mr Cripps said he was disappointed to learn the Palaszczuk Government had already stated it would ignore the parliamentary vote, indicating an arrogant attitude towards the democratic process in Queensland.