Annastacia Palaszczuk reveals Queensland cabinet reshuffle
Annastacia Palaszczuk says her third-term government had to improve on health, housing and youth justice issues.
Annastacia Palaszczuk has finalised her cabinet reshuffle with the swearing in of new ministers she hopes will revive her government ahead of next year’s state election.
Conceding her third-term government “needs to do better” on health, housing and youth justice issues, Ms Palaszczuk has promised her government will respond faster to problems.
“I‘ve been listening to the community, and we need to do better,” Ms Palaszczuk said. “I‘ve heard this message loud and clear.”
Two new portfolios have been created in the reshuffle — mental health and treaty — while youth affairs has been axed.
Speaking to the media for the first time since she was dumped as health Minister, Yvette D’Ath acknowledged the Labor government needed a “new focus on health”.
“It is the Premier’s call,” she said. “If the Premier holds the view there was more we could be doing and there is someone who can do that better, then I respect that. Anyone who comes into politics and thinks that everything is certain and you control everything hasn’t spent any time around politics.”
Ms D’Ath, one of the Premier’s closest and most loyal Right-faction allies, will be moved back to her previous role as Attorney-General after facing mounting pressure over ambulance ramping, surgical waitlists and the closure of regional maternity wards.
The Left Faction’s Shannon Fentiman has been tasked with rehabilitating the state’s public health system and fending off criticism from the Liberal National opposition about hospital mismanagement.
“The Premier asked me to do this very challenging job and I said ‘yes’ because I’m up for it,” Ms Fentiman said.
Ms Palaszczuk, who gave a separate press conference to Ms D’Ath at Government House on Thursday, said the government needed to respond faster to issues and work better together.
“I want fresh eyes, I want fresh energy and it is my decision about where ministers go,” she said. “It is my view that Shannon Fentiman is the best person to be the Health Minister and it‘s my view that Yvette D’Ath is the best person to be the state’s Attorney General.”
Meaghan Scanlon, who at 27 became the youngest cabinet minister in Queensland’s history, has taken sole responsibility for housing in the reshuffle. Now aged 30, she will oversee a new housing agenda the government plans to launch in the lead up to the October 2024 election.
Previous Housing Minister Leeanne Enoch has been sworn in as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Minister.
Ms Enoch, the first Indigenous woman elected to Queensland parliament, will be in charge of negotiating and overseeing treaty deals with First Nations groups.
Di Farmer will take responsibility for the youth justice portfolio she has held previously.
No backbenchers were promoted in the reshuffle, though Ms Palaszczuk said that could change before the next election. “There is a lot of talent on the backbench and I don’t know what’s going to happen between now and the election.”
Deputy Opposition Leader Jarrod Bleijie described the reshuffle as the “same old circus with the same old clowns”.
“It’s the same faces, around the same Cabinet table making the same bad decisions,” he said. “There’s not a single fresh face.”
Cabinet changes
Shannon Fentiman: Health, Ambulance Services, Mental Health and Women
Mark Bailey: Transport, Main Roads, Digital Services
Yvette D’Ath: Attorney-General, Justice, Prevention of Domestic and Family Violenc
Leeanne Enoch: Treaty, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Communities, Arts.
Meaghan Scanlon: Housing
Di Farmer: Employment, Small Business, Training, Skills Development, Youth Justice
Craig Crawford: Child Safety, Seniors, Disability Service
Leanne Linard: Environment, Great Barrier Reef, Science, Multicultural Affairs
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