Qld election 2020: Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk refuses to rule out Jackie Trad return to Cabinet
Jackie Trad’s replacement as Deputy Premier has fuelled speculation over the make-up of any future Labor Cabinet should they win the October election by only saying he will be in the number two job until the poll. Now the Premier has had her say.
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PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk says she will not deal with “hypotheticals” as she was quizzed over whether Jackie Trad would return to Cabinet if Labor wins the upcoming election.
It came as Deputy Premier Steven Miles said he would be in the number two job until the election, but anything after that was “pretty hypothetical”.
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Speaking in Longreach yesterday, Ms Palaszczuk said the South Brisbane MP would not be coming back to Cabinet during this term, even if the Crime and Corruption Commission cleared her of any wrongdoing.
Asked whether she would come back to Cabinet if Labor wins the October election, Ms Palaszczuk said, “I’m not going to deal with hypotheticals, and that’s a long way away.”
The Premier also defended the Government’s new integrity laws, saying Queensland was the first place in the country to implement such laws.
“We went with the recommendations that were put to Cabinet and it's the first time ever that we have the strongest laws in the nation where if ministers do the wrong thing it becomes a criminal offence,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“That's the first place in the nation, not even the federal government has these laws.”
Mr Miles yesterday said he fully expected Ms Trad to be the party’s candidate for South Brisbane at the upcoming election, pointing out that she had already been preselected.
“Jackie has indicated that from now until the election, her focus will be on winning South Brisbane,” he said.
“That’s entirely appropriate.”
Mr Miles also said he would remain the state’s deputy premier until the October poll.
“Anything after that is pretty hypothetical,” he said.
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Queensland politics (is) it’s difficult to predict what will happen next week, let alone what the outcome of the election will be, let alone what will happen after that.”
Ms Trad resigned from Cabinet in May after learning the CCC was investigating claims she interfered with the recruitment of the principal at the Inner City South State Secondary College.
Ms Trad has denied any wrongdoing.
CCC chairman Alan MacSporran last week said the investigation was complete and that a report would be released in a couple of weeks.
Originally published as Qld election 2020: Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk refuses to rule out Jackie Trad return to Cabinet