Queensland premier unveils new-look ministry

TWO rookie MPs are among Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s new-look ministry, which will be sworn in today.

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ANNASTACIA Palaszczuk insists Queenslanders will be happy she broke an election commitment by increasing the size of her cabinet.

The premier on Monday added four new ministers, including two first-term MPs, in a reshuffle less than a year after forming government.

The Queensland cabinet now has 17 ministers — three more than 14-strong cabinet Ms Palaszczuk promised during the election to save taxpayers $27 million.

Ms Palaszczuk said she had been getting feedback from business leaders, community groups and ordinary Queenslanders that they were finding it hard to find time to meet with ministers overburdened by multiple portfolios.

“I was even at the Forest Lake Christmas carols last night and someone said to me: ‘Oh, when are you going to announce some new ministers?’” she said.

Ms Palaszczuk said Treasurer Curtis Pitt would detail the reshuffle’s cost in his midyear economic review due later this month.

“I have thought long and hard about this,” Ms Palaszczuk said. “This has not been an easy decision for me.”

Agriculture Minister Bill Byrne will move into embattled former police minister Jo-Ann Miller’s portfolios after her eventual resignation last week following months of pressure.

Assistant Minister Stirling Hinchliffe has been promoted to a fully-fledged ministerial role — transport and Commonwealth Games.

Brisbane Central MP Grace Grace will move into the ministry for the first time to take on the employment and industrial relations, racing and multicultural affairs portfolios.

Two first-time MPs, Bundaberg’s Leanne Donaldson and Springwood’s Mick de Brenni, have been elevated to the ministry, taking on the agriculture and fisheries portfolio and housing and public works portfolio respectively.

Meanwhile, Morayfield MP Mark Ryan and Ipswich MP Jennifer Howard will both become assistant ministers.

Ms Palaszczuk said although she consulted with the business community about her cabinet, the decisions were hers alone.

She denied factional and union forces came into play.

“These are my picks and I had to weigh up experience, regional representation and the right person for the right job and I believe I got it right,” the premier said.

The reshuffle ensures ministers previously loaded with multiple unrelated portfolios, including Education Minister Kate Jones and Deputy Premier Jackie Trad, will see their burden lightened. Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg described the reshuffle as an anticlimax.

“I think that it doesn’t matter how many extra ministers you have ... if you still don’t have a plan for Queensland, it doesn’t really mean too much at all,” he said.

“This year, we’ve basically had an entire ministry with training wheels on and now we enter 2016 with more ministers with training wheels on with no plan.”

The new-look ministry will be sworn in at Government House on Tuesday.