Queensland Labor Government gets its report cards for 2019

It’s that time of year when report cards are handed out, and not even our politicians are immune. Here’s how we rated the Queensland Government for 2019.

IT BODES badly for the Queensland Labor Government that it enters the final stanza of this term with its worst result in a public opinion poll since May 2016.

The only silver lining for Labor is that after a rancorous period of controversies, stuff-ups and scandal, many within the party expected the result to be significantly worse.

Opinion: Jackie Trad’s Budget problem is only getting worse

Opinion: Real threat to Palaszczuk’s reign

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk desperate to return to Labor roots

The Courier-Mail’s YouGov poll in August showed Annastacia Palaszczuk’s team trailed her LNP opponents 51 per cent to 49 per cent on a two-party-preferred basis, while satisfaction with the Premier’s performance plummeted to its lowest level since she took the top job.

Given the Government has always been hoisted on the petard of Palaszczuk’s personal popularity, Labor’s great challenge in 2020 before the October 31 election will be to resuscitate her appeal.

It’s not like the wheels of the second-term administration fell off this year.

It has invested what it can afford in key transport, health and education infrastructure across the state, set about pulling the same policy levers to upskill the unemployed and continued with strong social agenda that appeals to the Labor base.

But its penchant for indecision and aversion towards significant fiscal reform has begun to catch up with the Government after almost five years in power.

New taxes and additional debt were things Palaszczuk promised would not be necessary under her original plan to retain public assets but, as predicted, they’ve come to fruition.

Stuff-ups, like overcrowded youth detention centres and kids being kept in adult watchhouses, can be traced back to the fact that the Government can’t afford what’s required while its Budget is lumbered with debt.

However the biggest stains of 2019 weren’t caused from problems running the state but a series of integrity scandals, indicating hubris and a laissez faire attitude has taken hold.

The most damaging of these was Treasurer Jackie Trad’s property purchase scandal, which dominated for months and left Palaszczuk looking weak.

Beset by internal problems of their own making, its little wonder voters weren’t impressed.

With an election looming, the Government desperately needs to refocus its attention on attending Queensland’s problem rather than resolving issues of their own.

Queensland Labor’s State Cabinet

OVERALL

It’s impossible to give a pass mark to a Government that bangs on about jobs but has the highest unemployment rate in Australia. The year was bookended by paralysis over Adani’s mine at one end and integrity scandals at the other, suffocating the administration’s central message.

Annastacia Palaszczuk

Jackie Trad

ANNASTACIA PALASZCZUK

Premier and Trade

It hasn’t been the best of years for Palaszczuk. She copped blame for Labor’s Federal election annihilation, her leadership was exposed during integrity scandals and she became the first premier in the state’s history found in contempt of parliament. Labor’s vote has shrunk and Palaszczuk personal appeal is suffering.

JACKIE TRAD

Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships

Annus horribilis doesn’t begin to encapsulate Trad’s 2019. The Government was forced to approve Adani’s mine, the Budget was beset by extra taxes and debt and the economy is lacklustre. Worse than all that was Trad’s ill-advised property purchase which caused a massive scandal that still dogs the administration.

Cameron Dick

Kate Jones

CAMERON DICK

State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning

Might have the best mark but that’s been helped along by the anaemic efforts of others. A consistent performer who remains on message, Dick is making a good fist of an economic portfolio that has some feel-good features but is light on for major reform.

KATE JONES

Innovation, Tourism and Cross River Rail

The key conduit between the Government and the business community. While appetite for innovation has waned, Jones has done well doing deals on international flights and attracting events. Wanted more responsibility and got Cross River Rail and its problems which will test one of the Government’s best retail politicians.

Yvette D'Ath

Steven Miles

YVETTE D’ATH

Attorney-General, Justice

Once again, D’ath did the Government’s legislative grunt work. Laws that help child abuse survivors get justice, tougher condition for killers, stricter Blue Cards rules and protections for consumer who purchase dud cars are just a few. Higher mark beaconed but youth justice backlog began under her watch.

STEVEN MILES

Health, Ambulance Services

NEW transparency laws for aged care and attempts to tackle chroming were clear highlights. However, the trouble-prone health portfolio has once again thrown up a self-inflicted issue, this time a botched new online ordering system. Miles is managing in a portfolio he does not seem to have a great affinity for.

Grace Grace

Mark Bailey

GRACE GRACE

Education, Industrial Relations

Overseeing a significant investment in new schools. But forced to find additional cash to put airconditioning into more classrooms after copping heat from the Opposition. The introduction of a part-time public holiday on Christmas Eve, at a time when business is struggling, was another unnecessary union sop.

MARK BAILEY

Transport, Main Roads

The irrepressible Transport Minister has got a suite of key projects moving courtesy of some overdue funding from Canberra. Rail reform is also finally heading in the right direction. With his email scandal firmly behind him, Bailey is back to being an asset for the administration.

Anthony Lynham

Mick de Brenni

ANTHONY LYNHAM

Natural Resources, Mines and Energy

Blundered badly on the Paradise Dam by trying to keep reports into its structural failings secret. The dam’s release of water when the district is parched just compounded the issue. Has done some good work on gas policy but the momentum around Queensland’s renewable energy transformation has slowed.

MICK DE BRENNI

Housing, Public Works, Digital Technology, Sport

Angered every landlord in Queensland with rental reforms that will allow tenants to keep pets and modify properties. New North Queensland Stadium has been beset by industrial problems after last year’s massive blow-out. Caught breaching Government’s advertising code of conduct with clumsy LNP attack.

Shannon Fentiman

Leeanne Enoch

SHANNON FENTIMAN

Employment, Small Business, Training and Skills

The 2017 report card predicted Fentiman would struggle for relevance in this portfolio and this has proven to be correct. Cut-price TAFE courses are a solid response to skills shortages and high youth unemployment, but the business model for the public tertiary body remains precarious.

LEEANNE ENOCH

Environment, Science, Arts

Has kept a low profile since the Government was forced to approve Adani’s mine. While the container deposit scheme has been well received, the same cannot be said for the new waste levy that will hit the construction sector at a time when the industry is struggling.

Mark Ryan

Coralee O'Rourke

MARK RYAN

Police, Corrective Services

Most Queenslanders won’t know who Mark Ryan is but that’s not necessarily a bad outcome for the Government. Corrective officers know him and few are impressed. A lavish wedding occurred in one jail under his watch and he’s pointlessly spending a huge sum bringing private prisons into public hands.

CORALEE O’ROURKE

Communities, Disabilities, Seniors

When a minister is busying themselves with announcing a contract for new street lighting it’s not a huge leap in logic to suggest they aren’t all that busy. O’Rourke too often uses her ministerial position to focus on her home town of Townsville while her portfolio is light on for responsibilities.

Mark Furner

Stirling Hinchliffe

MARK FURNER

Agriculture, Fisheries

Furner has been less than convincing on the issue of sharks in the Great Barrier Reef. The removal of baited drumlines wasn’t the Government’s decision but it got caught without a plan B. He may not be fleet of foot but Furner didn’t dally on the issue of mistreated former race horses.

STIRLING HINCHLIFFE

Local Government, Racing, Multicultural Affairs

Left red-faced after being forced into an embarrassing backdown on compulsory preferential voting for councils. It was another example of Hinchliffe’s ability to find trouble regardless of the portfolio he has. Still, doing a solid job handling the racing portfolio which has proven problematic in the past.

Di Farmer

Craig Crawford

DI FARMER

Child Safety, Youth, Women, Domestic and Family Violence

Last year’s Report Card warned Farmer hadn’t been tested in this trouble-prone portfolio. This year she was on a number of issues and she struggled. While the Government’s failures to properly cater for youth criminals wasn’t entirely her fault, Farmer should have acted faster and earlier.

CRAIG CRAWFORD

Fire, Emergency Services

There was a big question mark over whether Queensland needed a stand-alone Minister for Fire Trucks when Crawford was given this portfolio. But he’s done a decent job of making himself relevant despite being elbowed aside as soon as a cyclone, flood or fire gets serious.