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Queensland man James McLeod has sued his dead wife's estate for more than $2.3 million claiming she recklessly or deliberately killed their four children in a head-on vehicle collision.

Charmaine McLeod, 35, and her children Aaleyn, 6, Matilda, 5, Wyatt, 4, and Zaidok, 2, died on May 27, 2019, after the SUV Ms McLeod was driving hit a truck on the Bunya Highway at Kingaroy northwest of Brisbane.

In a lawsuit originally filed in October 2021, Mr McLeod claimed aggravated damages for negligence or intentional infliction of emotional distress totalling $2,341,400 including loss of income and medical expenses as a result of psychological effects from the tragedy.

Mr McLeod also sued Ms McLeod's compulsory third-party (CTP) motor vehicle insurance provider, AAI Limited trading as Suncorp, claiming that he was affected by her crash as she had breached her "duty of care" while driving with their children as passengers.

Solicitors for Mr McLeod subsequently agreed to wait until an inquest into the deaths of Ms McLeod and her four children has been completed before filing an amended statement of claim.

The inquest last month finished three weeks of public hearings in Brisbane and is now taking written submissions from the parties involved.

Mr McLeod's current statement of claim alleges he suffered post-traumatic stress with prominent associated anxiety and depression, adjustment disorder with depressed mood and alcohol use disorder as a result of losing his children.

His lawsuit stated he intended to seek employment as a part-time firefighter, truck driver or plasterer as soon as his youngest child started school.

"The ongoing symptoms are significant barriers to (Mr McLeod) seeking and maintaining gainful employment," the lawsuit stated.

The lawsuit claimed Mr McLeod was unlikely to work as truck driver or firefighter due to now suffering anxiety whenever he travelled in a vehicle and he had been granted the disability support pension in August 2020.

Suncorp responded to the statement of claim in December 2021 and said it would defend that matter.

The response stated Mr McLeod's claims for lost income and damages were "excessive and unreasonable" and not valid under the motor accident insurance act.

"Because the duty of care owed by the driver of a vehicle is to exercise reasonable care and skill in management of the vehicle," Suncorp stated.

Suncorp also stated it had "contrary medical evidence" that Mr McLeod had, in the years prior to the fatal collision, been prescribed antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication as well as twice been charged for drink driving.

"(Mr McLeod) had not worked in paid employment since at least 2008," the lawsuit said.

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© AAP 2023

NRL players will boycott all game-day media commitments until a new collective bargaining agreement is drafted in the most drastic action taken by the rugby league players association in their protracted talks with the NRL.

Announced by the RLPA at an emergency press conference on Wednesday, the media strike means all post-match press conferences will be boycotted from this weekend until further notice, including in Wednesday's final State of Origin match.

Men's and women's players will not engage in pre-match, halftime or post-match interviews on game day and have been instructed not to take calls from journalists.

The only time players will be available to media will be from Monday until Wednesday during the week, but from Monday to Tuesday next week with Origin finale falling on the Wednesday.

Internal club media and or pre-arranged contractual commitments will be permitted.

The RLPA say they will keep restrictions in place until the completion of a draft CBA, until the two parties meet with an industrial relations mediator and until player benefits and support payments return to pre-COVID levels agreed under the previous CBA.

Throughout the negotiation process, the NRL has maintained it has been acting in good faith but has been reluctant to engage in a public war of words with the RLPA.

"The overwhelming feedback we have heard from players is that we are all united," an RLPA statement read.

"We have been forced into this position because of the NRL's take-it-or-leave-it offer for your CBA. The NRL and ARL Commission have effectively halted negotiations."

The RLPA convened a meeting of over 50 players on Tuesday night for discussions around the CBA, which was set to come into effect last November but is now eight months overdue.

Private health insurance, the implementation of a transfer system and revenue distribution have all been points of contention between the two warring parties throughout the protracted talks.

The RLPA had previously refused to engage its players in media commitments with NRL.com staff but those restrictions were loosened earlier in the season.

© AAP 2023

Annastacia Palaszczuk has dismissed damning polling data showing her Queensland government is on track to lose next year's state election as the opposition vows to maintain momentum.

The Freshwater Strategy Poll, conducted for the Australian Financial Review, found almost half of those surveyed had an unfavourable view of the Queensland premier.

Ms Palaszczuk was edged out as preferred premier by Opposition Leader David Crisafulli in the poll of 1065 voters, which found Labor's primary vote had fallen to 34 per cent.

A defiant premier maintained she was the right person to lead the ALP to another election victory in Queensland.

"I love my job," Ms Palaszczuk said on Wednesday.

"I love working for the people of this state.

"I'm not going to listen to a poll that's mainly made up of LNP operatives."

The poll is the second to reveal a dip in the premier's popularity after a YouGov survey in April.

"Look, honestly, there's only one poll that counts - that's election day," she said.

"We were the underdogs going into the last election and we'll probably be the underdogs going into the next election."

The Freshwater poll showed the Liberal National Party's primary vote has risen to 40 per cent.

The LNP was ahead of Labor by 52 per cent to 48 per cent on a two-party-preferred basis 16 months from the state election.

Those figures would deliver an extra 13 seats and victory to the LNP if replicated at an election, ending Labor's dominance in governments on mainland Australia.

The poll showed 47 per cent of voters had an unfavourable view of the premier, while 39 per cent had a favourable view.

Ms Palaszczuk was a fraction behind as preferred premier at 44 per cent to Mr Crisaulli's 45 per cent.

"It's up to the people of Queensland and they will make the decision in October next year," the premier said.

The opposition leader continues to suffer from a lack of recognition among voters.

Some 39 per cent of those surveyed said they had not heard of Mr Crisafulli, while 27 per cent viewed him favourably.

The LNP leader said Queenslanders had lost trust in the Palaszczuk government and polling numbers were not relevant.

"It's not my focus," he said.

"Forty-three per cent ambulance ramping, 17 per cent repeat young offenders, 50,000 people waiting for a social house - they are the only numbers Queenslanders want me talking about.

"I have to maintain focus on the things that matter to Queenslanders and right now, there are all manner of crises that need to be solved - health, housing, youth crime, cost of living.

"They're the only numbers that Queenslanders want us to focus on, and nothing changes."

Two-thirds of Queensland voters believed the cost of living was Queensland's main issue, followed by housing at 57 per cent, crime at 54 per cent and health at 29 per cent.

The poll found 46 per cent of voters believed Queensland was headed in the wrong direction, with 36 per cent saying it was going in the right direction.

© AAP 2023