Opposition leader Steven Miles and deputy Cameron Dick visit Townsville to speak with residents about what went wrong

Beginning a “Labor listening tour of Queensland” in Townsville, Opposition leader Steven Miles and deputy Cameron Dick were in town to “face the music” after their election defeat, while Miles urged David Crisafulli to act on mayor Troy Thompson.

Leader of the Opposition Steven Miles and Deputy Leader of the Opposition Cameron Dick speak to the media in Townsville. Picture: Shae Beplate.

Beginning a “Labor listening tour of Queensland” in Townsville, deputy opposition leader Cameron Dick said on Wednesday they were in town to “face the music” after their election defeat, while opposition leader Steven Miles urged David Crisafulli to act on mayor Troy Thompson.

“There’s no way to sugar coat it, losing three Labor seats in Townsville was devastating for our government and for the Labor Party, and so we have heard the message from the people of Townsville loud and clear,” Mr Dick said.

Mr Miles said the party was “disappointed” to lose their seats in Townsville in last month’s state election, but said the focus now was to listen to the people.

“We accept that the people in Townsville wanted to send us a message and we are here to hear that message …,” he said.

“We want to hear from Townsville locals today and over the next four years about what they want us to do between now and 2028 to regain their trust, so that we can win back seats here, but more importantly so that we can continue to deliver a really strong plan for our state.”

Deputy Leader of the Opposition Cameron Dick and Leader of the Opposition Steven Miles speak to the media in Townsville. Picture: Shae Beplate.

On Tuesday Premier David Crisafulli said in Townsville that Local Government Minister Ann Leahy has taken over in regards to the future of embattled Mayor Troy Thompson and that acting on the mayor would be her ‘first priority’.

Mr Miles responded on Wednesday, saying the way had already been cleared to remove the mayor from his position and that the premier could act before the end of the week.

“I worked with the then Local Government Minister to ensure that we took strong action in recent weeks, and now that that show-cause has been responded to, there is no reason for David Crisafulli to delay any longer,” Mr Miles said.

“All the groundwork was done, it is there and ready and he should really act by the end of the week.”

Leader of the Opposition Steven Miles speaks to the media in Townsville. Picture: Shae Beplate.

When asked why the previous government didn’t act on the matter during caretaker mode if the evidence was there, Mr Miles said given the process was finalised within the final days of the election campaign he made a call that it “could and should wait” for a government to be elected so they could act on it.

“We took all of the necessary steps, including conducing that show-cause process so there is now nothing standing in David Crisafulli’s way from doing the right thing by Townsville and he should do so by Friday.” Mr Miles denied claims it was a political ploy by Labor to win votes, saying if it was a ploy “we would have concluded it sooner”.

“We were presented with the new evidence including advice from the CCC about how long their process will take and that cause me to ask the local government minister to get further advice and start that process,” he said.

Leader of the Opposition Steven Miles and Deputy Leader of the Opposition Cameron Dick speak to the media in Townsville. Picture: Shae Beplate.

“I indicated it was unlikely we would conclude that process prior to the election but that it meant that all of the groundwork was done so that whoever was in government this week could act.”

Mr Miles said he was determined to make sure even though there were no more sitting Labor MPs in the north, the party would still be present.

“I’m determined to make sure that even though we don’t have the members of our caucus from here in Townsville over the next four years, we will be here often,” Mr Miles said.

“We will be ensuring that Townsville has a really strong voice in our caucus and also in parliament.”

Mr Dick said the opposition would be focused on ensuring projects like CopperString were not affected by the change of government.

“We are going to hold David Crisafulli to account for his promises. He promised to deliver CopperString all the way to Mt Isa and he promised to deliver the project in full.”

Originally published as Opposition leader Steven Miles and deputy Cameron Dick visit Townsville to speak with residents about what went wrong