From ‘Accidental Anna’ to Labor legend: The rise of Annastacia Palaszczuk

In the early 2000s, few would have tipped Queensland environment minister Dean Wells’ young media adviser to become the state’s most consequential Labor Party figure of the early 21st century.

Even in 2012, when she found herself leading a rump of just seven Labor MPs in state parliament, the thought of Annastacia Palaszczuk becoming premier seemed remote.

Annastacia Palaszczuk with future federal Labor leader Bill Shorten and tourism lobbyist Chris Brown in the late 1980s.

But fate has a habit of defying expectations, and Palaszczuk defied expectations more than most.

She had a surname that could be hard to say and even harder to spell. Still, it was a surname that exhibited her Labor pedigree. Her father, Henry Palaszczuk, was a popular and respected minister in the Beattie government.

No surprise, then, as an arts and law student at the University of Queensland, young Annastacia cut her teeth in the rough-and-tumble world of student politics.

Following her father into the family business, Palaszczuk worked as an adviser in the Beattie government.

Henry and Annastacia Palaszczuk enjoying democracy sausages on the premier’s final election day.Credit: Dan Peled

But it was the elder Palaszczuk’s 2006 retirement from politics that truly opened the door for her historic rise.

Annastacia easily held her father’s old seat, with future Brisbane councillor Peter Matic the Liberal Party’s sacrificial lamb in the safe Labor electorate.

Her rise in the ranks was swift.

By her second term, then-premier Anna Bligh had appointed Palaszczuk minister for disability services, and for multicultural affairs.

By her following term, Palaszczuk had been promoted to transport minister – a role she held until the Campbell Newman-led Liberal National Party obliterated the Labor Party.

Enter fate.

It would be unkind to say Palaszczuk did a Steven Bradbury, but with just seven members left standing, Labor was short on options.

And so an unopposed Palaszczuk put her hand up and became opposition leader against the 78-member LNP government.

That she was able to turn that around just three years later was nothing short of a political miracle.

Annastacia Palaszczuk celebrates Labor’s win on election night in 2015.Credit: Robert Shakespeare

Palaszczuk was sworn in as premier on February 15, 2015, by the Campbell Newman-appointed governor, Paul de Jersey, at Government House in Paddington.

It was an historic moment witnessed by only a handful of people, myself included, but none quite as emotional as a gentleman wiping his eyes in the corner of the room.

Henry Palaszczuk, the erstwhile member for the premier’s electorate of Inala, cast a proud figure as he watched his daughter become the most powerful politician in Queensland, leading a minority Labor government.

The unexpected victory earned Palaszczuk the unkind nickname of “accidental Anna” in some sections of the media and conservative commentariat.

Annastacia Palaszczuk being sworn in as Queensland premier in February, 2015.Credit: Michelle Smith

But successive victories in 2017 and 2020 – increasing Labor’s majority each time – put that moniker to bed forever.

After all, there is nothing accidental about being the longest-serving female premier in Australian history.

But her leadership has not been without controversy.

While her response to the COVID-19 pandemic was effective from a health perspective and generally popular, its detractors will likely never forgive Palaszczuk for her tough stance.

Post-lockdowns, the shine has certainly come off. Politicians often say there’s only one poll that matters, but the other polls have certainly been telling a story.

“When I led this party from an opposition of just seven members, I said that the first election will be like climbing Mount Everest,” Palaszczuk said as she made her shock announcement on Sunday.

“I went on to climb that mountain twice more. I don’t need to do it again.”

Political lives tend to follow a bell curve, not unlike that metaphorical Everest. It’s clear Palaszczuk’s stock has gone past its peak, leaving just one direction to go.

Former prime minister Paul Keating famously consoled Julia Gillard, on her ousting at the hands of Kevin Rudd, with the observation that “we all get taken out in a box, love”.

Palaszczuk avoided that fate by exiting the stage on her own terms. In doing so, whether Labor wins or loses next October, she has cemented her place as a bona fide giant of the party.

A long way from that near-anonymous adviser walking the halls of parliament a couple of decades ago.

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