Traeger MP Robbie Katter says Blue Card Bill has "strong support"

The bill is designed to improve job outcomes for some of Queensland's most disadvantaged communities by amending the Blue Card framework to allow Indigenous community leaders, namely local Community Justice Groups, to make decisions on Blue Card applications.

Individuals with a history of child-related or sexual offending, or any other disqualifying offences, would not be able to utilise the framework and child safety would remain paramount.

The Bill was voted down in State Parliament in 2018, after both major parties rejected it without suggesting amendments. Mr Katter said at the time he would re-introduce the bill again as soon as possible.

Hearings were conducted in Mount Isa, Palm Island, Yarrabah and Brisbane by the Queensland Legal Affairs and Safety Committee late last week and recieved the backing of community leaders. The bill has also been backed by organisations such as the Queensland Council of Social Services, Australian Lawyers Alliance and Sisters Inside.

Mr Katter said he wasn't surprised at the community support, but was disappointed that no local State Government MPs attended.

"It was highly predictable to me what the community reaction would be and it's nothing but glowing strong support.

"It is unfathomable that the North's Labor MPs apparently prefer to attend First Nations Treaty ceremonies in Brisbane, where there is a press pack and plenty of photo opportunities, than to actually sit and listen to the Indigenous representatives in their communities," he said.

Mr Katter said many people who were trying to turn their lives around by applying to jobs for the first time were affected by the current Blue Card framework.

"Despite only around 1.5 per cent of Blue Card applicants across Queensland being knocked back, around 20 per cent of all application are denied in Queensland's most remote Indigenous communities.

"Each knock-back represents a lost opportunity for an individual - who may have only petty, or dated, criminal history - to turn their lives around and become productive members of society," he said.

Mr Katter said he would appeal to Cook MP Cynthia Lui and her Labor colleagues, to garner support for the Bill in their party room.