Annastacia Palaszczuk: I call the shots, not my deputy Jackie Trad

The Queensland Premier has rejected the ­notion that her deputy, Jackie Trad, runs the government.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Treasurer Jackie Trad (right) walk towards a press briefing to deliver the state government's 2019-20 Queensland budget at Parliament House in June.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has rejected the ­notion that her deputy, Jackie Trad, leader of the dominant Left faction, runs the government as she conceded mistakes were made in the handling of the Adani project.

Ms Palaszczuk blamed some political commentators for a perception that overstated Ms Trad’s influence and that as Premier she ran a “consensus cabinet’’ — unlike the cabinet in which she debuted as a minister under Anna Bligh where “very few people got to have a say”.

In an interview with The Australian leading into the election year, Ms Palaszczuk also defended the growth in the public service since she came to power in 2015, but said she had concerns about the annual wage bill, now $7.1 billion higher.

Public service ranks have swelled by more than 28,000 full-time equivalents, and is forecast to hit 233,000 by the end of the 2019-20 financial year.

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Ms Palaszczuk said the government was “restoring’’ frontline services after her Liberal National Party predecessor, Campbell Newman, sacked 14,000 public servants.

It also had to deal with the demands of a growing population and decentralised state. “I’m very conscious that I have to, as Premier of this state, make sure we spend taxpayers’ money wisely.

“So … in the interests of Queens­landers, I’ve got to have those frontline services.

“I’ve also directed my director-general to make sure that the other departments are keeping a close eye on the levels of jobs that are across their departments.

“We recognise we have to keep a tighter rein on wages.”

Treasurer Jackie Trad and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk inspect construction on the new state secondary college at Fortitude Valley.

After Labor lost two seats and a Senate spot in Queensland at the May federal election, Ms Palas­zczuk ordered her government to fast-track delays in the approvals process for the Adani coal project in central Queensland.

Labor’s disastrous election result was partly blamed on its handling on the Adani project, including the Palaszczuk cabinet reneging on a royalties deal it struck with the Indian conglomerate and the 11th-hour environmental reviews it enforced on the project.

Ms Trad, who told parliament that coal workers needed to reskill as the global energy market moved away from its dependence on thermal coal, led the cabinet revolt on the royalties.

Ms Palaszczuk said she had “sorted out” the government delays to the Adani project. “Over a period of time, I think we did make mistakes,’’ she said when asked whether her government mishandled the issue.

In a thinly veiled reference to Ms Trad’s comments about the need for coal workers to reskill, she said: “I think everybody in my government now understands and appreciates that people who work in a whole variety of traditional industries across our state have good, decent jobs.’’

Deputy Premier Jackie Trad and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk attend a Cabinet meeting at Logan TAFE campus. Picture AAP/David Clark

Ms Palaszczuk, a member of the Right faction, said the perception that Ms Trad, who controls the numbers in cabinet and caucus as leader of the dominant Left faction, runs the government was not true. “I reject that,’’ she said.

“Some commentators put that out there but it is not true.

“I chair cabinet, we have robust debates during cabinet meetings and we actually come to decisions as a consensus.

“It’s very much people are very passionate about different views and everything, but that’s what a cabinet should be like.

“It is very different to the cabinets I’ve been in the past where very few people get to have a say.’’