Clever, hard working but can Steven Miles sell Queensland Labor’s plan to voters?

Steven Miles’ polarising image has jittery MPs questioning whether he has the communication skills to convince voters to give Labor a fourth consecutive term in office.

Steven Miles is “incredibly clever” and a “hard worker”, but his ­polarising image has jittery Labor MPs questioning whether he has the communication skills to convince voters to give the party a fourth consecutive term in office.

Mr Miles, 46, will be sworn in as Queensland’s 40th premier on Friday after a factional deal stitched up crucial support to fend off a challenge from leadership rival Shannon Fentiman.

A former official with the Queensland Public Sector Union who holds a PhD on union renewal from the University of Queensland, Mr Miles has enjoyed a ­meteoric rise since entering parliament on the back of Annastacia Palaszczuk’s astonishing 2015 victory. He bypassed the backbench and went straight into Palaszczuk’s cabinet in his first term, where he served as environment minister.

He was at the helm of the health portfolio during Covid, where Labor figures say he “came into his own”, before taking on senior roles in state development and Olympic infrastructure.

When asked to describe his strengths, almost all of Mr Miles’s supporters – and his critics – point to his intelligence, work ethic and decency.

Annastacia Palaszczuk and Mr Miles arrive at a caucus meeting earlier this year. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Tertius Pickard

But several MPs, even those who backed him to become Labor leader, were concerned he lacked the prowess to sell voters on Labor’s election platform.

“He is an incredible strategist and negotiator but he can be quite awkward,” one colleague said.

Face-to-face, he is affable and convincing, but he struggles to project authority when put in front of a microphone.

He is painfully shy and would be the first to admit the performance skills that come naturally to others are not his forte.

The greatest criticism levelled against Mr Miles is his close relationship with Gary “Blocker” Bullock, who is the convener of the dominant Left faction in Queensland Labor. One senior Labor figure said Mr Miles was “completely controlled by Blocker – they are very close, it is almost like a father-son relationship”.

“He doesn’t do anything without Blocker’s say so, he wouldn’t be game to. His entire existence as an MP, minister and now premier relies on that incredible bond.”

Mr Miles served as Ms Palaszczuk’s deputy after his Left faction predecessor Jackie Trad stepped down from cabinet in May 2020. Ms Palaszczuk rewarded his dedication and loyalty with a glowing endorsement when she announced her retirement on Sunday, describing him as compassionate and strong.

But his devotion to Ms Palaszczuk could frustrate his Left faction colleagues who, at times, have longed for Ms Trad’s ruthlessness and fight. One MP said: “Jackie would go in and bat for the Left on a lot of things, which (Ms Palaszczuk) didn’t like. “She preferred having (Mr Miles) as her deputy because he didn’t put pressure her like Jackie did.”

Others see this as one of his strengths. “He is a negotiator who knows when to pick his battles,” one MP said.

Thanks to his close relationship with Mr Bullock, he secured the safe seat of Murrumba in Brisbane’s northern outskirts, after his electorate was removed in a 2017 redistribution.

Mr Miles grew up in Brisbane’s north, where his father worked as a fitter at the Golden Circle cannery and his mother a workplace health and safety inspector.

He joined the Labor Party as a high school student and became the first person in his family to go to university under a scholarship given to him by former Labor premier Wayne Goss.

Initially a member of Labor’s Right, he worked as a ministerial adviser to Andrew Fraser in the Bligh government.

He describes wife Kim, whom he met while working at the QPSU, as his “absolute rock”. ­Together they have three children, Sam 16, Aidan 13 and Bridie 9.

“I could not do this without their support,” Mr Miles said on Tuesday.