Qld MP referred to police over contempt

A Queensland MP has been given a rare public dressing down and could face criminal charges after disclosing secret information and then misleading parliament about it.

Ann Leahy admitted in parliament on Thursday she was wrong in the way she went about exposing one of several bungles by former Police Minister Jo-Ann Miller that eventually led to her cabinet resignation.

But Ms Miller took her revenge, telling parliament she had made a police complaint about Ms Leahy breaking the law by giving misleading evidence to a parliamentary committee and breaching secrecy provisions.

Ms Leahy apologised for her actions and resigned from two parliamentary committees, including the Parliamentary Crime and Corruption Committee (PCCC).

"My apology is sincere and I do not seek to excuse my conduct, I am at the hands of the House and await its penalty," the Warrego MP told parliament.

That penalty was Speaker Peter Wellington admonishing the Liberal National Party MP while she stood in parliament, making her the first MP to receive such punishment since 1999.

"Your behaviour has been inappropriate and must change if you are to regain the respect of your peers," Mr Wellington told Ms Leahy.

Leader of the House Stirling Hinchliffe said being admonished by the Speaker was something no MP wanted to go through.

"What we've seen today in the Queensland Parliament is one of those historic moments where the full power of the parliament has been brought down on one of its members," Mr Hinchliffe said.

Ms Leahy has been banned from serving again on the PCCC for the remainder of this parliamentary term and won't be allowed to sit on any other committees for six months, costing her almost $12,000 in pay.

The first-term MP found herself in strife after last year emailing fellow PCCC members about Ms Miller leaving secret committee documents in a safe left in her possession.

She included the premier on the email and also had Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg's chief-of-staff Jake Smith help draft it, which both constituted unauthorised disclosures of secret committee business.

Ms Leahy then misled parliament during a committee hearing when she omitted the fact that Mr Smith had helped her write the email.

Ms Miller received a far lesser punishment for actually leaving the documents in the safe and then falsely signing a declaration saying they had been destroyed.

She was made to apologise to parliament for her reckless behaviour bringing the House into disrepute, but wasn't found to be in contempt.

Ms Miller on Thursday told parliament she'd referred parts of an ethics committee report tabled last year into her conduct to the Crime and Corruption Commission.

Labor is pushing for the LNP to reprimand Mr Smith for his involvement, despite an ethics committee report into the ordeal containing no adverse findings against him and recommending his actions be allowed in the future.