An emergency warning is in place for a fire burning at Junma Dam and All Nations Mine near Irvinebank in QLD.New South Wales Finance Minister Courtney Houssos has accused a Liberal MP of sexism over questioning of her husband's role at a peak insurance lobby.Courtney Houssos accused Damien Tudehope of sexism after he claimed she had a conflict of interest
Mr Tudehope continued a line of questioning on the matter, asking whether the minister considered the Insurance Council's position on a range of issues. "My husband and I… put in place measures to manage a potential or a perceived conflict and he voluntarily stopped working with the New South Wales government once I was sworn in as a minister," Ms Houssos said.Mr Tudehope was later interrupted by the session's chair for "not treating the member with courtesy" when he made another comment to the minister.
He said the decision to appoint someone married to a senior lobbyist into the relevant ministerial portfolio was incorrect."They sought at first to manage it by her husband withdrawing from his role with government. "It's been managed by the removal of that component of her portfolio, so I just don't understand why this is being pursued," he said."To think that her husband was influencing her seems to be a kind of a Fred Flintstone view of marriage," the legal expert said.