Andrew Laming wrote to schools in his electorate using his Liberal MP letterhead to request early Naplan data for private research for his doctoral thesis, prompting a complaint from the teachers’ union. The Queensland Teachers Union advised schools they were under “no obligation” to provide the test data, labelling the request “inappropriate”.
Laming has agreed to undergo counselling and empathy training, and to quit at the next election in response to a string of claims of online abuse and harassment.
Although Laming has apologised for two specific incidents and generally for his communication style, Labor is set to continue pressure for him to resign from the Liberal party and sit on the crossbench until the election.