Embattled Queensland minister resigns from cabinet

Under-fire Queensland Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm has resigned from the frontbench.

The member for Whitsunday insisted the decision to step down was due to her health, but it followed a spate of highly publicised incidents including her relationship with fellow cabinet member Tim Mander and disturbing reports of children in state care.

Premier David Crisafulli said Camm would be replaced but he had so far resisted the opportunity to trigger a wider reshuffle of cabinet at the halfway mark of the election cycle.

Along with the Child Safety and the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence portfolio, Camm also served as Families, Seniors and Disability Services Minister.

Camm said she informed Crisafulli of her resignation late on Thursday and the decision was “mine and mine alone”.

She said the attack on Helen Haines also affected her decision, as did her recovery from recent surgery.

Asked if she would recontest the seat of Whitsunday, Camm was non-committal, saying only she would focus on her health.

“I have loved my time in the ministry and I have not wasted a minute,” she said.

“… It became apparent to me that I came back too early. I don’t get second chances with my health.”

And in September, reports revealed the group said to have taken up the work of a dumped domestic violence reform oversight office had not given Camm any progress update in the 16 months since it was set up.

Later in the month, child safety workers walked off the job alongside employees from the Department of Youth Justice.

Crisafulli said Camm came in to a broken system.

“I constantly saw her put the concerns of vulnerable women and children above all else,” he said.

The minister was also caught in a public grilling when her undeclared romantic relationship with Sport Minister Mander was brought to light earlier this year.

Questions centred on whether the pair had fulfilled their obligations to report any conflicts of interest and adhere to the parliamentary code of conduct.

The extramarital affair was again scrutinised when the Australian Federal Police investigated reports Mander had not been living at his declared address – which had been the home he shared with his wife Gayle, before their marriage ended in April 2025.

Camm said she would not concede mistakes had been made in her two years in charge of a sensitive and scrutinised portfolio.

“I have delivered the biggest reform in this portfolio in two years, more than any in the previous 20 years,” she said.

Crisafulli said there would be no wider reshuffle and an announcement of Camm’s replacement would be made shortly.

“I want today to be about Amanda,” he said.

Crisafulli said Camm’s departure was not performance related.

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