Leigh Sales vs. Annastacia Palaszczuk: What’s behind the high-profile spat?

Veteran broadcaster Leigh Sales has taken aim at Annastacia Palaszczuk in a series of escalating attacks, as a bizarre feud boils over.

Esteemed broadcaster Leigh Sales has taken aim at Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in a series of escalating tweets.

As pointed out in Nick Tabakoff’s column for The Australian on Monday, the host of the ABC’s flagship current affairs program, 7.30, has been using the social media site to send pointed messages to the Labor Leader over her home state’s hard border closure.

The Australian noted Sales was quick to point out the double standard Ms Palaszczuk had adopted when she restricted the number of Queenslanders allowed to return home, but at the same time allowed the wives and girlfriends of NRL players in.

Sales wrote on Twitter last Tuesday: “This must be good news because if the ‘health advice’ allows it, then obviously the regular Australian without sport or celebrity connections who’s fully ­vaxxed and had a negative Covid test will now be allowed into Qld to see their family?”

RELATED: Queensland on the brink of lockdown

This must be good news because if the “health advice” allows it, then obviously the regular Australian without sport or celebrity connections who’s fully vaxed and had a negative covid test will now be allowed into Qld to see their family? https://t.co/pHPNdx5HqT

— Leigh Sales (@leighsales) August 30, 2021

Ms Palaszczuk stopped short of apologising but did acknowledge that the decision was a bad one.

“It shouldn’t have happened when we had the reduction (in arrivals) happening in our hotels,” she told reporters.

“Queenslanders could see that in the light of actually trying to reduce the number of people coming in, it was not the right look, I accept that.”

Two days after firing off her initial tweet at the Queensland leader, Sales was at it again. This time she took exception to claims made by Ms Palaszczuk that 2240 people would die “each month” if Queensland were to open up when 70 per cent of those over 16 had received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

Leigh Sales.

Annastacia Palaszczuk.

“If NSW is the model of what lies in store for all of us, then serious discussions are needed,” Ms Palaszczuk tweeted in relation to rising case numbers in Sydney.

“Doherty Institute modelling predicts, even with 70% of the population vaccinated, 80 people will die each day six months after the outbreak. That’s 2,240 who will die each month.”

Sales was not having it.

“The Qld Premier is suggesting almost as many people will die in Australia as currently die in the UK every month, a country with well over double the population, living in way higher density with few social distancing or mask restrictions,” she wrote.

Below, the Qld Premier is suggesting almost as many people will die in Australia as currently die in the UK every month, a country with well over double the population, living in way higher density with few social distancing or mask restrictions. https://t.co/QSKLe3AMU2

— Leigh Sales (@leighsales) September 2, 2021

The feud is taking place against the backdrop of Ms Palaszczuk’s blanket ban on being interviewed by Sales.

Despite repeated attempts to speak one-on-one with the Premier since the beginning of last year, Ms Palaszczuk has only appeared on 7.30 once — when Sales was away and Laura Tingle was in the chair.

Sales was subjected to some blowback from Victorians earlier this year when she went hard at Labor Leader Daniel Andrews.

Sales, who was in Victoria for an interview in February, attended one of the Premier’s daily coronavirus updates and asked a series of pointed questions.

She had pitched an interview with Mr Andrews but when his team said no Sales thought attending the Premier’s update “was the next best option”.

Sales pushed the Premier on the need for what was then a five-day lockdown and asked if he lacked confidence in the state’s hotel quarantine system.

But devoted Andrews followers jumped online to savage the veteran reporter for daring to question their leader.

Leigh Sales during one of Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ daily press conferences. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

“I watch these every day to keep my community informed. The way you hijacked it today to get an interview that you felt entitled to was incredibly rude and disrespectful not just to those you interrogated, but to those who have to watch it to be informed,” one woman tweeted to Sales.

“This was not your show, or your interview, it was their forum to inform the public, us. And you made it incredibly uncomfortable for us to watch just so you could get your scoop or gotcha. You have a profile and a voice and you could use it to help us, but you made things worse.”

Others pointed out Sales was simply doing her job — a job she does very well.

Now everyone's slept on it, did anyone else watch the Leigh Sales / Dan Andrews presser and see a focused journalist asking reasonable and not-outrageous questions, and a state leader answering them with nuance and depth?

Which is to say, two grown-arse adults doing their jobs?

— Benjamin Law 羅旭能 (@mrbenjaminlaw) February 15, 2021