Des Houghton: Will Shannon Fentiman save the Labor Party?

The charismatic Health Minister is Labor’s last line of defence against the humiliating loss it faces in next year’s state election, writes Des Houghton. VOTE IN THE POLL

• The never-before-seen Fentiman photos

Why is Shannon Fentiman suddenly the centre of attention?

Is it because she is a strong role model for women? Is it because she has successfully fashioned herself as a populist, conviction politician with a stubborn streak? Is it also because of her stylish looks, her wonderful wardrobe or her sparkling intellect? Perhaps it’s all of the above.

And I am not being facetious when I say she has a keen intellect because Fentiman has a Bachelor of Laws with first class honours from the Queensland University of Technology and a Master of Laws from the University of Melbourne.

The 40-year-old Minister for Health and Minister for Women only has to turn up to the opening of an envelope and the news cameramen will be jockeying for positions.

Have you noticed how at some press conferences Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk hands over to Fentiman and steps to the back? Fentiman is being thrust into the limelight by the ALP and an army of spin doctors despite a long list of failures in previous Cabinet posts.

Are people being played by spin doctors attempting to distract voters from profound troubles in the health, hospital and ambulance arena?

Perhaps not. The media’s interest in Fentiman is not just because she presents well.

Fentiman is Labor’s last line of defence against the humiliating loss it faces in the next year’s state election. She may yet be Labor’s saviour.

And that makes her more interesting than Palaszczuk.

Fentiman also has cut through in places where Steven Miles, the other premier understudy, cannot go.

And she has mastered the art of the one-liner as she demonstrated when she described Opposition leader David Crisafulli as all tip and no iceberg. It was a stinging rebuke.

Fentiman can put on a good show for the cameras, but so far, she has a record of failures across several of her Cabinet portfolios. And if she aspires to higher office, her past performances will be closely scrutinised.

Journalists are still waiting for the full package of shield laws she promised as Minister for Justice and Attorney-General three years ago.

“While journalists’ sources are generally identified in media reports, there are some occasions when important information can only be reported through confidential sources,” Fentiman said in November 2021.

She said the ability of journalists to protect their sources “was necessary to ensure Queenslanders can access the truth”. Journalists are still waiting for wider protection.

Under new Justice Minister Yvette D’Ath, those protections remain in limbo after journalists discovered they did not apply to coercive hearings by the CCC where they would be made to reveal their sources.

We don’t know how many journalists have appeared at the secret hearings because the CCC won’t say, and journalists are forbidden by law from reporting them or revealing they were summoned.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk watches on as Health Minister Shannon Fentiman speaks at a press conference earlier this year. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Renowned journalist Peter Greste described the watered-down shield laws as “meaningless”.

It remains a black mark against dithering D’Ath and the ALP.

The same applies for Fentiman’s pledges of protection of whistleblowers.

Everyone seems to agree that those who speak out about wrongdoing deserve protection, but Labor has again failed to provide it to whistleblowers. And despite pledges from Palaszczuk and Fentiman the government has not investigated the allegations of hundreds of brave whistleblowers who now find themselves in no-man’s land.

Trouble seems to follow Fentiman.

As Attorney-General she approved costly legal indemnities for her friend and factional ally Jackie Trad, the former deputy premier, in her successful court action against the release of a Crime and Corruption Commission report. Parliament heard the CCC investigation came after Trad allegedly interfered improperly in the appointment of veteran public servant Frankie Carroll as her Under-Treasurer. The matter went to the High Court and Fentiman refused to divulge the cost to taxpayers that has been estimated to be at least half a million dollars.

Shannon Fentiman.

She was also in the chair when the shocking forensic lab failures were unearthed by diligent reporting from The Australian that showed murderers and rapists went free because of bungled DNA testing known to the government for two years before it took any action.

Fentiman’s biggest failures, however, came during her two-year term as Minister for Youth, Minister for Child Safety and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence from 2015. Shadow Health Minister Ros Bates told parliament Fentiman’s record on child safety “is simply shameful”. “Under her watch 12 children allegedly died in care under suspicious circumstances,” she told the House. She added: “Instead of taking responsibility, the Minister attended Splendour in the Grass on the same day the front page of The Courier- Mail said the department and the Minister knew about at least five deaths of children under suspicious circumstances.

“Who can forget the Minister’s admission that her then department ‘washed’ the data before releasing it to the public?

“History will show that (Fentiman) was the worst Child Safety Minister this state has ever seen.’’

Bates’ attack was so successful Fentiman was moved from Child Safety to become Minister for Employment and Small Business. Bates told parliament Fentiman was so bad she had been put in Palaszczuk’s witness protection program. Controversy is following Fentiman yet again. The Courier-Mail reported this week that Palaszczuk’s “bold play” to enlist Fentiman to repair the health portfolio has failed in the eyes of` Queenslanders. A YouGov poll found 91 per cent said Health has either worsened or stayed the same since the ministerial reshuffle five months ago when Fentiman replaced the trouble-prone D’Ath as minister.