Queensland’s health minister has been referred to state parliament’s powerful ethics committee over a “potentially misleading” social media video an LNP MP claimed “unleashed a wave of cyberbullying”.

Last month, a row erupted after shadow health minister Ros Bates yelled “cross your legs” to Shannon Fentiman during parliamentary question time about hospitals on maternity bypass.

Loading…

Ms Fentiman posted a clip of the exchange on social media — incorrectly captioned as “close your legs” — before reposting the video with the correct captions.

Ms Bates argued the clip lacked context, saying “the comment was clearly not about the health minister, it was about the alarming Queensland maternity crisis”.

The following day, she told parliament the posts had gone viral, resulting in a “wave of cyberbullying at me that, quite frankly, has been horrific”.

“Worse, I’ve received vile messages and threats of violence on my phone, email, social media and my office,” she told the House.

“I now ask that the incitement of these threats stop, and I plead with the health minister and others to take down her misleading and deceitful videos.”

Ms Fentiman responded: “The member has made very strong allegations that I’ve incited threats of violence against her … I reject that … I will ask her to withdraw.”

Speaker Curtis Pitt asked her to withdraw her comments, however, Ms Bates refused and he referred her to the ethics committee.

Mr Pitt later wrote to Ms Fentiman asking her to consider removing a Facebook post while he reviewed the matter.

She subsequently removed all posts.

That week, Ms Bates also wrote to the Speaker about the videos, alleging Ms Fentiman published a false or misleading account of parliamentary proceedings.

The minister argued the video was a true and unedited excerpt from the broadcast of proceedings that day.

In a ruling on Friday afternoon, Speaker Curtis Pitt said he had carefully considered the material.

“I have reached the view that there is an arguable case that the published shortened extract of the proceedings, in the absence of the full context of the question asked, could have been potentially misleading,” he said.

“I wish to emphasise that I have formed no view as to the determination of guilt or whether there has been a breach of privilege, but, rather, that there are sufficient issues in play to warrant the further consideration of the House via the Ethics Committee,” he said.

He sent the matter to the ethics committee.

In a separate decision, he also referred two LNP MPs — Deb Frecklington and Fiona Simpson — after reviewing audio and video from parliament showing they “encouraged” Ms Bates to not follow the Speaker’s direction and withdraw her comments.

“Encouragement of and applauding a refusal to follow a direction of the Speaker to withdraw a matter Is also disrespecting the authority of the Chair,” he said.

“It is also extremely serious as it undermines the authority of the Speaker and risks the order of the House.”