Editorial: Annastacia Palaszczuk about to face biggest test

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk returns to work after her European holiday on Monday with two choices, writes the editor.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk returns to work on Monday after her European holiday with two choices.

The first is she can accept that perhaps she should call time on a brilliant political career and give her successor enough months as leader to ensure the Labor Party has a chance of winning the election that will be held on October 26 next year.

The second is to rekindle the discipline and common touch that won her three elections, but that – for whatever reason – she seems to have lost in the past couple of years.

If she chooses to do nothing, she will face what now appears to be certain political death next October.

Any reset would need to be real. We would suggest it begin today by conceding that jetting off on an overseas holiday she failed to even tell her Treasurer about was probably not the brightest idea; that while everyone is entitled to a break, a five-star trip to the Amalfi Coast is not something a politician whose brand was built on approachability should have done.

That is unlikely, however. There is a unanimous view (expressed with a sigh) from everyone who works with her that Ms Palaszczuk will instead play the victim card.

But she can probably get away with that if she also commits to responding to what is certainly now a crisis moment for her government with a return to discipline – to listen to advice she might not instinctively be willing to accept, and reset this creaking administration.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles showed how it can be done in the past two weeks, taking important meetings the Premier has for some reason rejected for years and just getting on with the job.

That the trend away from Labor in polling is now so consistent should be a serious concern for all True Believers.

Anyone around the Premier who is still engaging in – let’s face it – an increasingly deluded protection racket for a leader who has so far refused to accept her brand is in decline must change their tune.

This is the time to pull the ripcord. That a poll of 2000 Queenslanders has come back with a primary vote split of 41-26 to the LNP must surely be that necessary wake-up call for all Labor people – all the way up to Premier Palaszczuk and beyond to the union bosses to whom she now owes her job security.

Perhaps there is no way to stop a crushing defeat in 13 months from now. But maybe there is. The only certainty is that a resumption of normal programming is not the way forward, as those few in the inner sanctum who have not grown drunk on the Kool-Aid now privately concede. And so today is perhaps one of the most significant days of Ms Palaszczuk’s 11-year leadership of state Labor.

She must stand up and map out for the people of Queensland what exactly her plan is to reset her administration. She must also show humility in acknowledging there have been errors – both of judgment and of behaviour.

Behind closed doors, she must promise those around her that she will not punish them for giving her advice she might not want to hear – and this means everyone, from staffers to Cabinet ministers.

And she must commit to listening to, and acting on, the advice she receives from those who are plotting Labor’s re-election pitch.

Winning a fourth term is quite rare in Australia’s political history. It is certainly never easy, and so it is not something to take for granted – no matter your past success.

TIME TO PREPARE FOR BUSHFIRE

Queensland’s bushfire season has well and truly ignited.

People were evacuated in the Western Downs over the weekend as an out-of-control blaze bore down on their homes.

They were able to return on Sunday to try to survey the damage to their property.

Another fire in a Western Downs state forest is expected to burn for weeks.

It’s a reminder of the need to be prepared for fires in your area and to have your own evacuation plan, amid a seasonal bushfire alert warning that reads: “The combination of drying fuels, forecast below-average rainfall and above-average temperatures is likely to bring locally intense bushfires that may be destructive across parts of Queensland as vegetation becomes flammable during the spring months.”

This all comes as The
Courier-Mail today revealed that 300 fire danger rating signs had been removed, with just 64 currently replaced.

LNP member for Theodore Mark Boothman said people were angry about the removal of the signs – a key safety measure for many regions.

“Many people in my community rely on these signs and are rightly angry their safety isn’t a priority for this tired Labor government.”

“It’s a sign of how the chaos and crisis of the Labor government is putting the lives of Queenslanders at risk.”

With the fire season just starting, it is imperative everyone prepares now, before it is too late.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here