What did Queensland voters do to deserve this Annastacia Palaszczuk pantomime?

Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles listens to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk as she speaks during a press conference. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

What have Queensland voters done to deserve the depressing pantomime that passes as its state political leadership?

It has apparently just dawned on Annastacia Palaszczuk’s cabinet – not generally known for intellectual heft or policy purpose – that dawdling along behind a checked-out Premier at a time when voters neither feel safe in their homes nor confident in their health system, is unlikely to keep their spots on government benches beyond the next election.

The farcical events of the past four days – sparked by revelations from Sarah Elks and Michael McKenna in The Weekend Australian that sections of the party had lost confidence in Ms Palaszczuk’s leadership – lay bare the decay of a third-term government with a decidedly modest record of achievement.

Ms Palaszczuk promptly left the country for a quietly pre-planned holiday in Italy on Saturday. Meanwhile her potential successors have been engaging in cheap political theatre, providing voters little confidence that even if Ms Palaszczuk is convinced to relinquish the role (party rules make a direct leadership challenge unlikely) Labor has an alternative with the ambitious policy vision and gravitas to reboot the ailing administration.

On Monday Deputy Premier Steven Miles and Health Minister Shannon Fentiman, both of the dominant Left faction, appeared at a pointed joint press conference where they lavished praise on each other.

Treasurer Cameron Dick who is so far out of the loop he hadn’t been told the Premier was headed on vacation, then released what has loosely been labelled by some media as a re-election manifesto.

In truth, it was an underwhelming defence of the government’s record fused with predictable criticisms of the opposition from a Treasurer responsible for a botched and jettisoned land tax grab and a coal royalty hike that is putting a handbrake on investment. Most revealing of all, the next act in this political stage show lies not with the parliamentary Labor Party or the Premier herself, but in the hands of union powerbroker Gary Bullock, on whose support Ms Palaszczuk leadership relies.

If Queenslanders want a new show they can vote for it in 14 months. But rather than relying on the lethargy of the Palaszczuk government, Liberal National Party leader David Crisafulli and his team need to be effective policy wonks, capable of addressing the state’s major financial, tax, energy and social challenges, especially in relation to health, youth crime and education. The opposition has a long way to go to win the 14 seats it needs, but it is in the race. It’s time for a contest with more substance. The current pantomime has gone on for long enough.