Annastacia Palaszczuk is the last draconian Covid Premier to go and she doesn’t leave behind much

Anthony Albanese will head to the polls by May 2025 with little hope of winning seats in the sunshine state and expectations the handful they have could come under threat, writes Geoff Chambers. Picture: NCA NewsWire / John Gass

Annastacia Palaszczuk – the eighth member of the inaugural national cabinet to either quit or lose an election – leaves behind a rudderless Labor government with no purpose or connection with Queenslanders.

Palaszczuk, who checked out long before announcing her retirement on Sunday, pulled off a political miracle when she returned Labor to power one-term after Campbell Newman’s 2012 election rout left the ALP with 7 MPs.

The 2015 election win, and victories in 2017 and 2020, wrote her into the annals of Labor legend. Palaszczuk’s stunning electoral success, elevating her as Australia’s longest-serving female Premier, contrasts with deep structural paralysis and bureaucratic quagmire that bogged-down her government. Queenslanders stopped listening to Palaszczuk a long time ago and her focus drifted after claiming a four-year term at the height of the pandemic in 2020.

Political insiders felt the 54-year-old was clinging on to leapfrog Peter Beattie – who has never been close to Palaszczuk – as Queensland Labor’s longest serving post-WWII premier. Beattie was premier when Palaszczuk was elected in 2006, replacing her father Henry who represented the southwest Brisbane seat of Inala since its 1992 formation.

Palaszczuk and Albanese at the 2019 Queensland Labor State Conference in Brisbane. Picture: AAP

Beattie, who has criticised the Palaszczuk government, holds on to his record – just. Palaszczuk, a staffer in the Beattie government for just under a decade before running for office, channelled “Hollywood” Beattie’s populist strategy. But that’s where the similarities ended.

Queensland left-wing union boss Gary Bullock wielded unprecedented power inside Palaszczuk’s cabinet room. Palaszczuk, who isn’t fond of journalists, was not a champion of transparency and integrity in politics, often slapping down critical questions.

Similar to Daniel Andrews and Mark McGowan, Palaszczuk’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic will be remembered as draconian, confused and cruel. Palaszczuk, Andrews, McGowan, Scott Morrison, Gladys Berejiklian, Steven Marshall, Peter Gutwein and Michael Gunner – inaugural national cabinet members when it was formed in March 2020 – are all gone.

Palaszczuk and Albanese in 2021. Picture: Richard Walker

The rise and fall of Jackie Trad, and inability of Steven Miles, Cameron Dick and Shannon Fentiman to emerge as genuine contenders, has complicated Palaszczuk’s exit. After three terms of Labor rule, her government is viewed as stale and voters have turned off. Palaszczuk, described as “one of the great overachievers”, leaves behind the 2032 Brisbane Olympics as her legacy achievement.

Labor governments in Queensland, who have ruled for 29 of 34 years since Wayne Goss won the 1989 election, have benefited from Liberal National Party infighting and lack of political coherency in the post-Joh Bjelke-Peterson era

David Crisafulli and his team have displayed solidarity and political nous as they work to return the LNP to power on October 26 next year. Unlike federal elections, where Queenslanders have rejected Labor at successive polls, state elections have proven unpredictable.

If the polls are right, the LNP will return next year.

Anthony Albanese, whose voice referendum was rejected by almost 70 per cent of Queenslanders, will head to the polls by May 2025 with little hope of winning seats in the sunshine state and expectations the handful they have could come under threat.