Kylie Lang: Annastacia Palaszczuk or Cameron Dick? Would the real Qld Premier please stand up
The day before Annastacia Palaszczuk disappeared overseas, a senior minister made a point of standing out – or rather, up – writes Kylie Lang
Kylie Lang
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​The day before Annastacia Palaszczuk disappeared overseas without telling senior ministers, one of them made a point of standing out – or rather, up. On August 25, before a state funeral began, Treasurer Cameron Dick spent an awful lot of time on his feet at the front of the church, shaking hands and smiling at people.
It struck me at the time as a bit over the top, particularly as others had taken their seats. It was almost as if he wanted everyone to notice him.
Minister for Tourism, Innovation and Sport Stirling Hinchliffe also stood and greeted (fewer) people but was quick about it and more discreet, as seemed appropriate.
As for the Italy-bound Ms Palaszczuk, she was unusually inconspicuous in the church, except when delivering a speech.
Reflecting on the bizarre actions of Ms Palaszczuk and her government these past 10 days – including ramming through new legislation, without due consultation, that allows children to be locked up in adult watch houses (contravening the Human Rights Act) and the Premier remaining in her office while victims of crime marched on Parliament House begging to see her – I wonder if Mr Dick’s behaviour was more politically motivated than overly enthusiastic flesh pressing.
Not that he knew Ms Palaszczuk was going on holidays because the Premier didn’t tell him, but consider the protracted rumblings among Labor ranks that Ms Palaszczuk has “checked out” and is not up to the task of leading the party to the October 2024 election.
Consider that she has so far refused to step aside – which would leave Mr Dick the most likely Right faction member to replace her.
And consider that even if Mr Dick didn’t become premier he would likely be elevated to deputy due to the tradition that the two top jobs be filled by one member from the Right and one from the Left.
Mr Dick maintains he supports Ms Palaszczuk, yet following a joint press conference on Monday morning in which the top Left faction contenders Dr Miles and Health Minister Shannon Fentiman also professed loyalty to Ms Palaszczuk – Mr Dick issued a missive outlining his reasons Labor deserved to be re-elected. Did he knock out this 576-word manifesto – which failed to mention the Premier by name – in the five hours it took him to submit it to The Courier-Mail following the Miles-Fentiman performance?
Not a chance. He would have been mulling it over for quite some time.
Shadow treasurer David Janetzki, in his response published in this newspaper on Wednesday, said Mr Dick’s “manifesto was not his vision for Queensland, it was the Treasurer’s ego manifesting the vision he has for himself.”
Also on Wednesday Ms Palaszczuk, who accompanied her surgeon partner Reza Adib on his business trip to Naples, posted on social media that she wanted her privacy respected and that she’d be returning to her job on September 11.
It followed her saying she was upset by reporters approaching her while on holiday.
As I wrote after watching footage of the media encounter in which Ms Palaszczuk tried to block any recording with her hand, everyone is entitled to a break. That’s a given. But her timing could not have been worse.
Rather than cancelling the trip and staying put to deal with the fallout from several peculiar and unpopular decisions, she left town.
The move has been likened to former Prime Minister Scott Morrison holidaying in Hawaii during the Black Summer bushfires in 2019.
That too was called out in The Courier-Mail, with Griffith University academic Paul Williams writing that many would see Mr Morrison’s break as evidence he was “a pollie deaf to middle and regional Australia”.
The same could be said about Ms Palaszczuk, substituting Australia with the state of Queensland, in its entirety.
Given the ill-timed nature of her departure and her failure to communicate with ministers left behind to run the show, including acting Premier Miles, it would be naive of Ms Palaszczuk – and her well-paid advisers – not to expect a media request for comment.
But Ms Palaszczuk refused, hastily saying there were no issues back home – ha!
Who will be standing up to lead the Labor Party at the next election? My bet is it won’t be Annastacia Palaszczuk.
Kylie Lang is associate editor of The Courier-Mail
kylie.lang@news.com.au
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