Qld Labor leadership battle: Jackie Trad backs Shannon Fentiman

Shannon Fentiman’s tilt at the Labor leadership has stirred a high-profile former government figure to back her bid.

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman has promised she would lead a more transparent government focused on housing, cost-of-living, and truly listening to victims of crime in a powerful pitch announcing her tilt to become premier.

The official challenge against Deputy Premier Steven Miles, who is believed to have secured the top job after a late-night deal brokered by Queensland union heavyweights, marks a significant turning point in the race to replace outgoing Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who announced her resignation on Sunday after a nine-year reign.

The challenge to Mr Miles — as Ms Palaszczuk’s anointed successor — has split the dominant Left faction in half, leaving the minority Right faction and its 18 MPs in a dominant position to negotiate on their terms.

United Workers’ Union boss Gary Bullock – backing Mr Miles – is understood to be in talks with the Australian Workers’ Union – aligned with the Right’s Cameron Dick – about striking a deal to end the leadership contest.

If a leader is not decided on by Friday, Queensland Labor risks having to run its first leadership ballot since the 1980s, with complicated process involving a vote of the rank and file and unions set to take weeks.

Labor members were confident one of the two Left faction challengers would be forced to yield before Friday, as union and party powerbrokers desperately worked to avoid a messy ballot.

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman confirms her candidacy for Labor leader on Monday. Picture: David Clark

Ms Fentiman declared she “wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have significant support”, while asserting Mr Miles had not offered her the role of deputy.

It’s a claim supporters of Mr Miles strongly refute, with one backer saying the option was not taken off the table until the moment Ms Fentiman officially declared a challenge.

“Fentiman is working on numbers but she doesn’t have the numbers,” the MP said.

Ms Fentiman asserted she had not had a conversation with Mr Miles on Monday, though his backers claim she has refused to pick up his calls.

The Courier-Mail can also reveal former deputy premier Jackie Trad is again in the political arena, lobbying some within the party for her close friend Ms Fentiman.

Ms Trad was also spotted liking social media posts by Ms Fentiman in which she revealed she would stand for leader – against the wishes of Ms Palaszczuk.

The ambitious health minister confirmed she had been in discussions with Mr Dick, though she would not divulge the nature of the conversations.

Mr Dick is understood to have privately conceded he does not have the numbers to be a viable leadership contender, and has focused his efforts on brokering a deal for the Right faction.

It’s expected he will be deputy leader regardless of whether Mr Miles or Ms Fentiman gets the top job, in part because he is the only senior leader with proven economic credentials.

Mr Miles, in what would usually be the premier’s job, chaired the meeting of Queensland’s Disaster Management Committee as Tropical Cyclone Jasper threatened to wreak havoc in the state’s far north.

He declined to speculate on the leadership race, remaining steadfast that he would not be campaigning and instead be focused on keeping Queenslanders safe.

“The best case I can put is by demonstrating just how I would lead and that is how I would lead, with 100 per cent absolute focus on the safety and wellbeing of Queensland,” Mr Miles said.

Ms Fentiman would declare her hand hours later, delivering a spirited pitch to Queenslanders and to undecided Labor MPs that a government led by her was about renewal.

She promised a more inclusive and transparent Olympic and Paralympic Games, in a clear marker of difference between her and Mr Miles, who has been at the helm of the government’s multibillion-dollar Games infrastructure plan.

“Clearly we need to do more and now is the time for renewal and that means we may have to do some things differently. And I believe I am best place to lead that change and so will be nominating to be the next Premier of this great state,” she said.

“We must make housing front and centre of our government’s agenda … we must have a far more inclusive and transparent approach to Olympic and Paralympic infrastructure and that includes making sure that our regions get the infrastructure they need.

“We have to do more to support Queenslanders who are struggling with the mounting cost of living pressures.

“We have to listen, truly listen, to victims of crime and work with the organisations that do the hard work day in day out to break the cycle of youth crime.”

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman arrives at government headquarters at 1 William St on Monday. Picture: Tertius Pickard

The path to becoming the next premier involves winning the support of the 52-member Labor caucus, which is split into three factions; the dominant Left faction made up of 25 MPs, the nine-member Old Guard and the 18 MPs aligned to Ms Palaszczuk’s Right faction.

The Left faction is further split into MPs who are aligned with the United Workers Union, of which there are 12 MPs, and those who aren’t. All nine members of the Old Guard are aligned to UWU.

Labor’s minority Right faction was set to meet with Steven Miles and Shannon Fentiman separately late on Monday afternoon to negotiate the faction’s terms in exchange for their support.

Overall the faction was still keeping its cards close to its chest, with some sources claiming the Right would vote as a block behind one candidate while other were indicating a split.

There were concerns from the Right faction — whose power has been fading over the years — that a Fentiman-led government would result in the party “going crazy” with social reform ahead of the election.

The faction was understood to be working to extract deals from Mr Miles, including more representation in Cabinet and some minor policy changes.

But a source inside the Right faction’s war room confirmed all options were still on the table.