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The Crisafulli government has been issued with a please explain after it was revealed the state’s sports minister is enrolled to vote at the address of a staffer, and is not residing within his electorate.

Minister for Sport and Racing and Minister for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tim Mander has been the state MP for the seat of Everton, an electorate covering suburbs in Brisbane’s northwest including Everton Park, Gaythorne, Albany Creek and Eatons Hill, since 2012.

The former NRL-referee split from his wife Gayle at the start of last year. In July, he and Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm formally declared their relationship to Premier David Crisafulli.

At a cabinet meeting last week, the pair reportedly told fellow ministers they had purchased a property together in Brisbane’s CBD – prompting further questions about where Mander had been living since separating from his wife.

The Australian reported Mander spent most of his time living in accommodation attached to Parliament House, and was found to be enrolled to vote at the rental home of a staffer in Arana Hills, but not living there.

Queensland Deputy Labor Leader Cameron Dick said Mander has “serious questions to answer” over the revelations, including whether he has broken the law by “knowingly giving false or misleading advice to the Electoral Commission”.

Under Queensland’s Criminal Code, a person who gives false or misleading information to the Electoral Commission can face up to seven years imprisonment, if found guilty.

“Tim Mander needs to answer the question today about whether he was properly enrolled under the law of Queensland to vote in Queensland,” Dick said.

He said Mander should ask the Electoral Commission to release his enrolment forms to make clear when and where he changed his address and enrolled to vote.

“If Mr Mander can’t be trusted to be honest about where he’s living and where he is enrolled to vote in Queensland, how can they trust him for other things?” Dick asked. MPs are not legally required to live in the electorate they represent, and state members can enrol to vote in their own electorate if special notice is given to the commission.

Mander’s office was contacted for comment on Monday.

Queensland Police Minister Dan Purdie was asked about the revelations but refused to comment on the MP’s living arrangements.

“We’ve got a redistribution coming up, and they happen all the time, and MPs end up living in their electorate and living out of their electorate,” Purdie said.

“There’s no requirement [to live in your electorate], so you disclose where you live.

“I’m not going to comment on the decision that someone made in the best interest of themselves or their situation … it’s a personal issue.”

The Crisafulli government wants to fast-track the development of an oil field in Queensland through a mechanism that doesn’t exist under new environment laws, according to a stinging letter sent to the premier from federal cabinet minister Murray Watt.

The federal Environment Minister’s letter, sent on Friday and seen by this masthead, also reveals Queensland is yet make any formal request to the Albanese government to advance drilling prospects in the Taroom Trough despite the state government’s vocal and concerted push for the project.

Premier David Crisafulli on Friday again demanded the federal government grant a national interest exemption for the oil exploration under its Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act for the prospective project, about 300 kilometres west of Brisbane.

Watt wrote in his letter to the premier there are a “number of issues I would like to bring to your attention regarding these statements”.

“Firstly, the Australian government has not received any documentation that would allow us to consider your proposal. I invite you to present such documentation for our consideration, without delay,” the federal minister wrote.

“Secondly, it is unclear what you mean by the ‘National Interest Fast-Track Assessment Pathway’ as no such pathway exists under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).”

Watt said the federal government is unable to “consider basic questions” without Queensland providing documents related to the Taroom Trough, such as the proposed number and depth of oil and gas wells, potential environmental risks and the pipelines needed to transport the extracted fossil fuel.

Crisafulli has also asked for the federal government to remove duplicated approvals already conducted at a state level, but Watt wrote that this fast-track mechanism already exists under the EPBC laws.

“This [existing bilateral] agreement enables the Queensland government to assess projects in relation to EPBC Act requirements at the same time as assessing those projects in relation to state requirements,” he wrote.

“This removes the need for a separate assessment by the Australian government and is a more efficient process for proponents to navigate.”

Last week, state Treasurer David Janetzki ordered the Queensland Productivity Commission to begin a 12-month inquiryinto the bilateral agreement in the EPBC after his government’s bid to fast-track the Taroom Trough through the new federal laws fell flat.

Watt said this move will only slow down any hopes of kickstarting an oil industry in Queensland.

“I invite you to reconsider this position, as it would significantly delay the opportunity for Queensland to further speed up project assessments and approvals,” the Queensland-based minister wrote in the two-page letter to the premier.

“In any case, senior officials in my department stand ready to engage with their counterparts in Queensland on opportunities to advance Australia’s fuel security, with appropriate management of impacts to Matters of National Environmental Significance.”

While on the hustings on Sunday for a byelection in the state seat of Stafford, Crisafulli repeated his efforts to secure short, medium and long-term fuel security which is expected to be a primary campaign message ahead of the May 16 vote in the inner-north Brisbane electorate.

“We’re at a juncture, and there’s such great uncertainty in the community, I want to send a message that never again will we be at the mercy of others when it comes to our own fuel security,” the premier told reporters.

“Never again should we be at the end of a supply chain that we don’t control.

“We do have the resources and the know-how to be able to control our own destiny with fuel.

“We do have a vision when it comes to drill and refine and store our own fuel. And the biggest impediment to that is Labor and the Greens, putting extra overlays and just trying to find every reason to stop those projects from going ahead.”

The death of former Labor MP Jimmy Sullivan has sparked a bitter political argument over the conduct of Queensland parliament, with both major parties pointing fingers over the treatment of the troubled politician.

Sullivan was found dead in his home last Thursday night, following a series of personal hardships including the death of a child, substance abuse, PTSD and his expulsion from the Labor caucus.

On Monday, opposition treasury spokeswoman Shannon Fentiman singled out Premier David Crisafulli and Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie’s treatment of Sullivan in the chamber, and described the parliament as “toxic”.

“I think Shannon Fentiman has contributed to that,” Housing Minister Sam O’Connor said on Tuesday.

Last May, after he was kicked out of the Labor caucus for failing to comply with a return-to-work plan, a visibly distraught Sullivan came under sustained attack from the government benches.

Under parliamentary privilege, Sullivan was repeatedly accused of domestic violence – allegations he rejected.

“I used words that we could describe in this place as unparliamentary. I swore. That is the basis of what those matters were about,” Sullivan told parliament on May 22 last year.

“That is why my legal team says that they have never seen a matter dismissed so quickly. That is what it is about.”

Bleijie responded across the chamber: “I have sworn, but the cops have never come to my house.”

On Tuesday, O’Connor said all politicians needed to reflect on their behaviour and the tenor of political debate.“We have to be attuned to the concerns of the public on that and what the public think about politicians generally,” he said.

“This is a really tragic situation and I don’t know if it’s helpful to lean into some of that commentary that I’ve seen from the Labor Party.”

Fentiman said the tone within parliament was set by the parliamentary leaders.

“I think it is an important time for the premier and the deputy premier to reflect on some of the things that they said in the parliament, and for us all to reflect on our own behaviours,” she said.

“Queenslanders, quite rightly, will be shocked by some of the footage of how Jimmy was treated in this place.”

O’Connor deflected that criticism of his leaders in the LNP.

“I think it was around the time the Labor Party kicked him out without much of an explanation,” he said.

“So I think if there’s self-reflection, that that should be a part of it as well.”