D’Ath dumped from health ministry as Premier shakes up cabinet roles

Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath will be pulled from the state’s tough health portfolio as part of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s first major cabinet shake-up since the 2020 election.

Labor sources confirmed that the overhaul across a range of portfolios was expected to be laid out in more detail this week, after a testing period for the third-term government.

The move comes fewer than 18 months out from the next state election and follows months of intense pressure on the government across a range of issues, including health, crime, and housing.

Palaszczuk held a meeting with D’Ath on Tuesday to inform her she would be shifting into another portfolio.

“There is a reshuffle on,” one Labor source told this masthead after Nine News first reported the story that night.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles wrangles his newly sworn-in cabinet colleagues for a selfie at Government House after the 2020 election.Credit: Matt Dennien

D’Ath, who is also Leader of the House and a member of Labor’s Right faction with Palaszczuk and Treasurer Cameron Dick, was attorney-general between the 2015 and 2020 elections.

Both News Corp and the ABC reported late on Tuesday that D’Ath was expected to return to that role, in a swap with Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman, who would be handed the sprawling and heavily scrutinised health role.

Youth Justice Minister Leanne Linard and Housing Minister Leeanne Enoch are also among those thought to be facing moves from their own under-pressure portfolios, amid what has been described by several sources as a fluid situation.

Deputy Opposition Leader Jarrod Bleijie took to social media after the news broke on Tuesday night to suggest the cabinet changes showed a government in a “full-blown state of chaos and crisis”.

Polling last month reignited the occasional questions about Labor leadership and a potential successor to Palaszczuk, who has previously vowed to face voters at least once more, in 2024.

Fentiman – a member of the larger Left faction – is touted by some as a potential leader of the party alongside Dick or Deputy Premier Steven Miles, who leads the Left.

In February, Palaszczuk told reporters she had no plans for a cabinet reshuffle and would not be promoting any backbenchers before the next election.

Any changes this week could put new ministers into fresh roles before the state budget, which is due to be delivered on June 13 and would be followed by the usual frontbench efforts to sell its measures across the state.

Both major parties have ramped up messaging around the 2024 state election. Recent commentary has also suggested a cabinet reshuffle could be needed to refresh the third-term government.

The looming cabinet overhaul also follows Speaker Curtis Pitt’s announcement on Friday that he would be taking leave to prioritise his mental health, after missing most of last week’s regional sitting of parliament in his home town of Cairns.