Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk missing in action as Queensland’s flood disaster started to unfold

As floodwaters started to rise and a disaster was unfolding, Queensland’s Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk went missing in action, writes Kylie Lang.

Alarm bells about disastrous flooding should have been ringing loud and clear in the Premier’s ears last Saturday after her 1.45pm press conference, but all the public heard from Annastacia Palaszczuk in the worrying 20 hours that followed were the sounds of silence.

Where was the Premier when Brisbane residents were rightly starting to panic as relentless rain fell hard and fast?

From lunchtime on Saturday when Ms Palaszczuk told us not to worry – “please, there is no concern for alarm” being her exact words – until 10am on Sunday, there was no communication from the state’s leader.

We did, however, get word from Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner at 5.58pm on Saturday evening that middle Brisbane was in strife.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk holds a press conference during South East Queensland’s flood disaster. Picture: Tertius Pickard

After receiving council flood modelling, Cr Schrinner warned water could enter several thousand properties in suburbs including Brisbane City, Bulimba, Hamilton, Milton, New Farm, Newstead, Norman Park, Oxley, Rocklea, South Brisbane, St Lucia, Toowong, West End and Yeronga.

The Premier must have known this, and if not, why not? She has a 30-strong advisory army behind her. Yet we heard zip.

It’s not as if the government lacks form in pressing the panic button.

We saw it just this week with the ridiculous directive on Thursday for parents to urgently collect their children from school – despite blue skies and no rain falling (for at least 24 hours).

There was also the Monday noon missive that schools open at their own discretion on Tuesday, only for a jittery backflip hours later ordering schools to close due to grave safety concerns.

Widespread flooding across Brisbane after three days of torrential rain. Picture: Liam Kidston

Parents, teachers and other school staff were left scrambling to alter their plans, again, and led to fear the worst.

Queenslanders were also frightened during the Covid-19 pandemic – which is still happening, by the way – via a raft of alarmist messages.

Who could forget the then chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young warning people under 40 not to get the AstraZeneca vaccine because she didn’t want 18 year olds dying? And this at a time when vaccination hesitancy was already high and Queensland’s immunisation rate a national disgrace.

Remember, too, the countless press conferences justifying belligerent border closures and a dogged refusal to trial home quarantine until pressure from the media became overwhelming.

Not to underplay a pandemic but as many pundits have pointed out, fearmongering over Covid-19 provided a convenient distraction from the government’s problems, not least its integrity crisis.

Thousands of homes went under during the South East Queensland flood disaster. Picture: Tertius Pickard

So the Premier missing in action during those 20 hours when Queenslanders were left to their own devices to find out more about the floods simply does not gel.

What’s more, it does not reflect the hallmarks of quality leadership – regular, upfront communication being but one.

During her appearance last Saturday, Ms Palaszczuk said the rain that was expected to ease at 4pm had “decided to stay”.

She said Wivenhoe Dam was being monitored but “we are not concerned because we are able to do the releases in a measured way”.

“Please, there is no concern for alarm. We can’t control nature unfortunately.”

While the latter is true, the Premier can – and should have – better controlled her response.

By the time she fronted the media the next morning, more than 1400 homes had been inundated, with the worst yet to come.