Inside Queensland Labor’s internal war as doubts grow over Steven Miles’ leadership
Queensland Labor is at a crossroads with insiders questioning whether an exhausted Steven Miles can lead them to the 2028 state election. INSIDE THE SECRET MEETING
QLD Politics
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Is Steven Miles eyeing the exit?
He seems exhausted by three months in charge of a battered Labor opposition split by tough crime laws and factional party brawls.
A few steps into a four-year stint on the opposition benches, Labor is still struggling to find its groove – to be negative while constructive and win relevance while being irrelevant.
Mr Miles can already put Queensland Premier on his CV and might already be questioning whether he has the drive and work ethic to put Labor back in the hunt.
Murmurs about Mr Miles’s leadership turned into whispers last week when he absconded from the Legislative Assembly during two critical debates.
He left on Tuesday during a government motion that called on embattled Labor MP Jimmy Sullivan to explain why police attended his home for a domestic incident – for which Mr Sullivan said no charges were laid.
On Wednesday the leader also “scurried”, as Jarrod Bleijie put it, before a vote on whether to release reports into Peter Carne and Jackie Trad – who the LNP maintains is the Labor “puppet master”.
These two conspicuous exits raised eyebrows within Labor and fuelled a growing sense Mr Miles’s heart might not be in it.
Spurred by a government eager to expose cracks, Labor MPs are quietly questioning whether Mr Miles will lead them to the 2028 state election.
It was a view firmed in the corridors of Queensland Parliament last week when refreshed politicians returned to the arena.
Peppered on the mopeyness of their colleagues, one Labor MP declared “sands were shifting”, but couldn’t pinpoint the epicentre of discontent or predict where it might lead.
Mr Miles won’t throw in the towel anytime soon, but some close supporters insist he is giving more thought to life outside politics.
To win, he must work harder than the other guy and defeat Premier David Crisafulli and his 16-hour days.
Labor, in contrast, is in the first tranche of its four-year Bradbury strategy – waiting for the LNP government to simply fall down.
At this stage, with the power of Labor’s Left faction now unchallenged, the timing remains his choice.
United Workers’ Union boss Gary Bullock still holds the power and ensures there is no threat to Mr Miles while his support remains.
Mr Bullock is unsold Shannon Fentiman, the woman earmarked as the most likely successor.
It’s widely viewed Ms Fentiman, while formidable, is too Left for Labor to win back swathes of regional Queensland.
Who else?
Meaghan Scanlon’s star is burning brighter after her tight election victory in Gaven and there is a sense in Labor she could become a leadership contender this term.
It has caught Labor’s Right faction in a dilemma.
If Deputy Leader Cameron Dick doesn’t have the numbers to win the parliamentary vote, the Right considers it best to keep Mr Miles in and Ms Fentiman out.
However, Mr Dick’s support for the leader hasn’t always been returned.
One version goes, when the Left pushed for him to be dumped as deputy leader in favour of Ms Fentiman in the wake of the election loss, Mr Miles was soft on support for his deputy.
It fell to Grace Grace’s kingmaker Old Guard faction to avoid a Labor civil war.
At a meeting at Ms Grace’s New Farm home, according to people familiar with events, the faction refused to comply with Mr Bullock and Queensland Labor President John Battams’ push to do over the Right faction and Mr Dick to make Ms Fentiman deputy.
It avoided a bloody political battle, for now.
In government, Labor believed opposition was easy; run a small target, criticise policy and solve problems with four-word slogans.
Perhaps their belief Mr Crisafulli’s LNP government would immediately implode meant they failed to appreciate the work ethic required to win back the electorate.
Ministers will immediately cut programs, sack public servants and the LNP will split at the first hint of an ideological abortion battle, they believed.
It hasn’t happened.
Mr Miles maintains support from his colleagues for running a strong election campaign and saving their jobs.
It was the same respect Annastacia Palaszczuk received right up until December 2023.
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