David Crisafulli reflects on his first days leading Queensland
They say the early bird gets the worm, and David Crisafulli is certainly living by the saying as he hits the ground running in his quest to deliver during the first 100 days as premier.
QLD Politics
Don't miss out on the headlines from QLD Politics. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Few workers are at their desks in One William St at 5.50am on a Friday, but new Premier David Crisafulli has been awake since 3.30am, smashed out a gym session, and is signing documents as early-morning rowers carve their way along the brown snake, 40 storeys below.
Close confidants insist this early-morning wake-up call isn’t for show, but something the state’s new leader did long before he grasped the levers of power.
In the Premier’s office – which Mr Crisafulli has occupied since Monday – there’s little more than a grey leather lounge suite and huge television.
Wires still dangle from the ceiling, ready to support the artwork of the new Premier’s choosing, and the shelves are still bare – ready for the likely North Queensland Cowboys and cricket memorabilia.
On the table is the holy bible Mr Crisafulli will hold in the Governor’s presence at noon, while his desk carries little more than two thick briefing folders and a giant, half-empty coffee mug.
It’s the first time an LNP premier has occupied this office since the ‘Tower of Power’ was commissioned some 12 years ago by former leader Campbell Newman.
In his first days as Queensland’s 41st premier, Mr Crisafulli hasn’t left work before 10.30pm as he crafts a ministry and tinkers with the structure of government departments.
“Stuff that’s not sexy,” he said. “I don’t want to be moving departments every 12 months, like I’ve seen in recent times. It creates upheaval, it reduces accountability, and ultimately it distracts people from doing their job.
“Ministers and directors-general will be held accountable, but it shouldn’t be moving chess pieces and doing departmental changes every time things go wrong.”
Two days’ worth of Mr Crisafulli’s ambitious 100-day checklist have already been marked off, and the clock is ticking, fast.
To fulfil the first promise to Queenslanders Mr Crisafulli, by February 9, must have implemented real-time hospital data, launched a parliamentary inquiry into elder abuse, and legislated his flagship crime laws.
“I always think the first 100 days after an election are, almost without exception, the most important,” he said. “People want to know that you haven’t changed, they want to know that what you said you’re going to do, you do.”
For four years Mr Crisafulli has operated what critics label a small-target strategy, and his supporters would rather call a disciplined one.
How he’ll transition to his new role as Premier isn’t yet known, but Mr Crisafulli promises the “messy” years of Labor will make way for a calm and stable government.
“I want to instil a sense of calm in people, I don’t want to create a sense of panic, I want (Queenslanders) to get what they signed up for and begin the process of repair,” he said.
The LNP hung its campaign on improvements to the “four crises” they argue ran rampant under Annastacia Palaszczuk and Steven Miles: Heath, crime, cost of living and housing.
“Things won’t improve overnight and you’ll never have a situation where there’s no crime, where there’s no homelessness, where there’s no challenges for a health system – but things must get better and they must get better progressively over the term,” he said.
“In some cases, better looks like stabilising the trajectory.
“In other cases better looks like a reduction in real terms.”
Mr Crisafulli has already faced criticism for softening an iron-clad promise there would be fewer victims of crime by the time the 2028 election rolls around.
Despite giving himself “no wriggle room” on October 3, the LNP leader added a caveat of tying numbers to population growth barely 36 hours before polls closed.
“Objectively, look at what we’re trying to do, and you’ll see why it’s not wriggle room,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“If it’s more than population growth, we’ve failed.”
He points to a 101 per cent rise in stolen cars over nine years while the state’s population grew some 20 per cent.
“Think about the scale of what I’m saying,” he said.
“It’s going to take time and I’m still saying, over the course of the term we can have it lower than population growth.
“I think that would be the measure of huge success in anyone’s book and it’s important that things are tied to population growth, because ultimately that’s the barometer if you do govern for the long term.”
He said the promise of fewer victim numbers – commensurate with growth – would be a re-election commitment in 2028.
As the first conservative to occupy the Premier’s office in a decade, Mr Crisafulli feels an additional weight not to squander the opportunity. Labor will regroup, rebuild and probably return with a vengeance.
Mr Crisafulli spouts a desire for generational LNP government – more than one term – but insists he won’t focus on short-term political survival above making tough decisions.
“Somewhere between the malaise of the last decade and the franticness of the short period of an LNP government a decade ago is the style of government that I will lead,” he said. “We will make visionary calls that won’t please everyone, but it will be articulated with respect.
“We will make mistakes … we will own those mistakes and we will celebrate the wins.
“People need to understand that every decision we take we genuinely believe it’s the right decision for them, not the right decision for political survival.”
The LNP Premier said his victory will end Labor’s ability to run a “scare campaign” about cuts to the public service and infrastructure.
Most-watched, no doubt, will be whether this 58th parliament reconsiders abortion.
Under LNP rules, MPs will get a conscience vote on any proposal put by the crossbench to tinker with the state’s Termination of Pregnancy Act.
On more than 130 occasions, Mr Crisafulli insisted there would be “no changes”, but scepticism remains.
Mr Crisafulli’s ranks of backbenchers, including several newly-elected MPs, hold concerns about the state’s late-term abortion laws – but they can be as concerned as they like.
“On the other side of the election I say the same thing, that the Termination of Pregnancy Act is not going to be changed,” the Premier said.
“I won’t soften my language on that.”
In the final days of the campaign Mr Miles, on live television and before a restless audience of independent voters, was able to extract an answer Queensland’s journalists couldn’t for three weeks.
Mr Miles asked Mr Crisafulli: “Do you believe in a woman’s right to choose?”
In finally saying yes, Mr Crisafulli helped stem the flow of votes away from the LNP.
“I was asked on stage my direct opinion and I answered it,” he said.
If he had his time again, would the LNP leader have come out earlier in support of a woman’s right to choose?
“If I had my time again I would have appreciated the scare campaign to have stopped and the way that it was deliberately done was offensive,” he said.
“The bad news for the now-opposition is it will destroy their credibility among the very engaged and intelligent group of people.
“There was never any discussion in the parliament or outside of the parliament from us taking that position to the election, and they tried to make it the defining issue of the election, and Queenslanders spoke.”
It will fuel Mr Crisafulli’s consideration of truth in political advertising that he said must balance the rights of people to express an opinion.
“There should be the ability to challenge and pose questions and do it hard, but to overtly say something as fact that has no basis of fact is dangerous for democracy,” he said.
Privately, Mr Crisafulli and his all-female family were subject to intense vitriol and personal attacks during the campaign.
It isn’t an uncommon experience of politicians, but it’s one that’s reinforced the weight of his decision to keep his two daughters and wife Tegan out of the public eye.
“Our daughters are everything to us, my daughters are everything to me,” he said. “I’m happy to cop my share of criticism, that’s just life and that’s healthy – families are a no-go zone.”
Smoke on the horizon could soon turn to fire for the state’s new Premier.
Unions are demanding payrises above the budgeted 2.5 per cent, the pressure on hospitals continues, and a stretched Queensland Police Service is working harder than ever before.
The Premier has also tasked the Olympic and Paralympic Games Delivery Authority with determining – once and for all – where athletics will be held in 2032.
“They’re looking at generational infrastructure and creating venues that people can be proud of and I reckon there’s a very, very good opportunity for Queensland to salvage some pride out of this and I remain bullish,” he said.
What’s next for Bianca Stone after election defeat?
LNP candidate Bianca Stone has moved on from the disappointment of narrowly losing the seat of Gaven with a new job offer. WE’VE GOT THE SCOOP
‘This stinks’: Dick on warpath as Premier punts 10 top public servants
The LNP quietly announced after 6pm on Friday that 10 director generals would be sacked in a move that Opposition Leader Steven Miles says is another broken promise.