‘I am best placed to lead’: Fentiman challenges Miles for top Labor job

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman says she will nominate to take leadership of the Queensland Labor party, pitting herself against friend, factional ally and outgoing Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s endorsed successor, Steven Miles.

Both will now seek to sway the rest of the 52-member party room ahead of its Friday meeting intended to confirm a single candidate and avoid a drawn-out vote also featuring unions and grassroots party members.

Shannon Fentiman will nominate to take leadership of the Queensland Labor party in a challenge to outgoing Annastacia Palaszczuk’s endorsed successor to lead renewal before October’s election.Credit: Matt Dennien

“In order to win at the next election, we need a fresh approach,” she told journalists in Brisbane on Monday afternoon, first praising the legacy of Palaszczuk before making her own, separate, case for the renewal her boss suggested was needed.

“Our government must also have the maturity to admit when we have fallen short.”

Timelines for the formal party nomination process are expected to be finalised by Labor’s administrative committee on Monday night ahead of Palaszczuk’s resignation on Friday.

Under party rules, more than one candidate seeking the role at the close of nominations would trigger three equally weighted votes among MPs, affiliated unions and grassroot members.

Some Labor figures have suggested MPs would probably come to a decision themselves to avoid the first leadership contest in four decades, but there has been long-bubbling internal frustrations about the need for a fresh look and direction amid poor polls.

In Fentiman’s pitch, she named further cost of living support, housing fixes, and transparency around 2032 Games infrastructure among her focus, along with listening to victims and organisations working to break the cycle of youth crime.

“Labor MPs know me, they know my track record of bringing people together, of listening and delivering,” she said. “I have, in every ministerial portfolio I have had, fought to deliver change.”

“We need a refreshed approach, a government with fresh ideas and energy, one anchored in Labor values with robust cabinet processes. That’s the kind of government I want to show Queensland in the year ahead. I want a Queensland that promises a fairer and more optimistic future.

“I believe I can deliver the change and renewal that we need and that I can win the next election with a very dedicated, hard-working team, with the amazing foundations that we have built over the last eight years.”

Fentiman said while she had the utmost respect for her long-time friend Miles, the pair had “different views on who is best placed to lead the party”.

She would not be drawn into detail around broader cabinet changes, saying discussions among MPs remained ongoing and she would not have put her hand up if she didn’t have “significant support”.

Despite repeated questions, she did not rule out forcing a vote among unions and grassroots Labor members, but said she would throw her support behind “whoever becomes our next Premier”.

Miles, giving an update about the looming Cyclone Jasper, refused to say if he was confident the partyroom would back him to take the top job, saying the “best case” he could make for it was demonstrating how he would lead after Palaszczuk’s final press conference on Sunday.

“This press conference, and my focus today, is on that preparedness for the cyclone and taking care of Queenslanders,” he said. “That is absolutely what I should be, and am, focused on today.”

Treasurer Cameron Dick, the next-most senior member of Palaszczuk’s smaller Right faction also spoken of among those with leadership potential and ambition, is yet to endorse either colleague and has told media he was having “thoughtful and sincere” conversations across the party.

While yet to publicly declare his intentions or support, reporting by Nine – confirmed by Brisbane Times – has noted a joint Fentiman-Dick leadership ticket was among the options being discussed.

Duelling pitches and support from the 25-member Left for leader could leave Dick and the Right faction, which counts 18 state Labor MPs and the minority of grassroots members among its ranks, in a key position.

Nine reported on Monday night that Dick would hold meetings with both Miles and Fentiman by the end of the day, when Right faction MPs were also set to have spoken.​

The nine members of the smaller-still Old Guard faction, also known as Labor Unity, could also be key. Both at this stage are signalling they would vote as blocks, with the Old Guard leaning toward Miles.

Of the Left, 12 MPs aligned with the United Workers Union are expected to rally behind their colleague Miles. Among the remaining 13, at least Yeppoon-based Keppel MP and assistant health minister Brittany Lauga has already publicly backed Fentiman as “the best person for the job”.

At a press conference of his own, LNP Opposition Leader David Crisafulli sought to suggest Labor was “talking about themselves” rather than focusing on the cyclone or crime issues in Townsville where he travelled on Monday afternoon.

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