Federal election 2025: Annastacia Palaszczuk lauds Anthony Albanese

Annastacia Palaszczuk praised Anthony Albanese’s historic victory in the notoriously fickle Queensland electorate and skewered the LNP.

Then premier Annastacia Palaszczuk with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the Brisbane Labour Day march in 2023

Annastacia Palaszczuk praised Anthony Albanese’s historic victory in the notoriously fickle Queensland electorate and skewered the LNP for its endorsement of “Trump-like policies”.

Ms Palaszczuk, who won three successive state elections from 2015-20, attributed Mr Albanese’s success to his connection with Queensland voters.

“Queensland swings big … this is historic in Queensland and we haven’t seen these swings federally since Kevin-07 … this is great news for federal Labor,” she said.

“It was definitely Anthony’s strong campaign, the messages resonated with voters and it was a rejection of Peter Dutton’s Trump-like policies.

“I was in the newsagency today picking up The Sunday Mail and a man said to me he didn’t want Peter Dutton because he was too much like Trump.” 

The former premier said there were lessons for the state party in the loss.

“It’s more for David Crisafulli’s LNP to make sure they’re in touch with voters, they want stable government,” she said.

“From (Queensland Labor leader) Steven Miles’s perspective, he’ll take heart there is opportunity and a path to victory in three years’ time.”

Ms Palaszczuk said the electorate had endorsed action on cost of living, childcare and education while rejecting nuclear power.

“The real challenge for the Coalition is it has to move to centre ground and have a woman in the leadership team,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

She said the inner-city Greens also needed to take a good hard look at themselves.

“They’re just out of touch with what the public want; they say they stand up for renters yet they are against housing projects,” she said.

Originally published as Federal election 2025: Annastacia Palaszczuk lauds Anthony Albanese