Labor selects new leader Annastacia Palaszczuk to slay giant Campbell Newman
ANNASTACIA Palaszczuk is a name many can't spell and leads a party most tried to ruin.
ANNASTACIA Palaszczuk has a name most voters will not be able to spell and from tomorrow will lead a party most Queenslanders tried to destroy.
Ms Palaszczuk, 42, will be elected Labor leader in Queensland, heading a pitiful Opposition of seven, perhaps eight, to the new Government's 78.
It didn't take her long to sort out who was supporting who before tomorrow official Caucus vote.
She has been given the task of cleaning up after the biggest state election devastation ever, and of being the face of a party in disgrace.
“On Saturday what we saw was absolutely horrific, and a lot of communities have lost some very, very good people,” Ms Palaszczuk said today.
“And I'm under no illusion of the task ahead, of the rebuild that we need to do and the fact that we need to restore people's faith in the Queensland Labor Party.
She said the job would be like climbing Mt Everest but that she was “more than happy to serve”.
And in an ant-warns-elephant moment she warned new Premier Campbell Newman, “We will make sure that he keeps to his promises.”
Ms Palaszczuk was a former political adviser who started law studies before her father Henry a Labor veteran, resigned from his seat of Inala, and she won it - Labor's safest state seat - in 2006.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Ms Palaszczuk's federal sister, is facing dark questions herself after a Newspoll published today reported the Government's primary vote had fallen to 28 per cent.
“My job is to both listen and lead and that's what I'll be doing as Prime Minister,” Ms Gillard said in Seoul where she is attending a nuclear security summit.
“I'll be continuing to deliver the important policies that will make a difference for the future of Queensland and the future of our country.”