During Parliamentary Budget Estimates on Tuesday 2 August 2022, I asked the Resources Department about the last-minute release of tree clearing data.
You can read the answers below or in the official Queensland Parliament Record of Proceedings (Hansard).
Mr BERKMAN: Thanks kindly, Chair. I will put my first question to the director-general, if I might. Last week during estimates I put a question to the director-general in the science session about the SLATS report that you would be aware was released on 30 December last year. They suggested that it was a question for you given that the resources minister released it. Director-General, when was that report made available for release by the Department of Resources?
Mr Cridland: Thank you for the question. As I was not here at that time, I will refer to the advice I have received. I only started in May this year, but my understanding is that the SLATS report for 2018-19 was released on 30 December 2021. The release followed a stakeholder briefing by the Department of Environment and Science in late November 2021 on the new peer review technology which underpinned the report.
Mr BERKMAN: Okay, but I was actually trying to get at when it was available for release. We are aware it was released on 30 December, which, I guess, is a rather inconvenient time for anyone interested in a report like that. I am trying to be as direct as I can, Chair, so the question is really more about when it could have been released earlier. It was after that briefing in November? Is that what I can take from your answer?
Mr Cridland: That is what I am taking from the advice, yes. The briefing did not occur until late November and it was released in December.