I’ll back you: Minister’s pledge to commissioner before early-morning exit

Inside the exclusive Qantas Chairman’s Lounge, Katarina Carroll dropped a bombshell on the Miles government. This is the untold story of that moment.

Katarina Carroll’s early-morning dash to Brisbane Airport caught the state government unprepared, with Police Minister Mark Ryan forced to cancel a planned trip and instead accept the rushed resignation of Queensland’s top cop in the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge.

Some 13 hours earlier Ms Carroll had made up her mind, but had been urged to sleep on the decision before meeting with Mr Ryan the next morning.

The police minister and acting Assistant Commissioner Andrew Massingham checked in to the 7.15am Qantas flight to Rockhampton, before Mr Ryan entered the highly exclusive Qantas Chairman’s Lounge where he had “formal” resignation talks with Ms Carroll.

Amid weeks of speculation about her future Ms Carroll was being reassured by Mr Ryan he would support a renewal of her contract.

While Mr Ryan declared he was “very sad” to see her go, the chance of appointing a new face to lead Queensland Police Service is being met with subdued optimism by some inside the government, which has eight months to convince voters it can get crime under control and keep them safe.

Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll with minister Mark Ryan earlier this month. Picture: Dan Peled/NCA NewsWire

The state government will start recruiting for a new police commissioner, with the eventual appointment requiring the endorsement of the Cabinet and, notably, the head of the Crime and Corruption Commission.

Ms Carroll on Tuesday denied she was a scapegoat for recent controversies inside the police service and declined to be drawn on whether the government’s controversial response to youth crime was up to standard.

Her resignation came a day after The Courier-Mail revealed more than half of regional Queenslanders no longer felt safe in their home or community and as Premier Steven Miles attempts to fix the “crime crisis” gripping the state.

Mr Miles is understood to have privately expected a change at the top of the Queensland Police Service for several days.

Since taking the top job on December 15 the premier has attempted to paint himself as a circuit breaker in the state’s struggle against crime.

Within four weeks he secured a new police helicopter for Townsville and changed the government’s messaging to declare if police weren’t happy with resourcing and the government’s laws, they could ask for change.

Premier Steven Miles with Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll after the slaying of Vyleen White at Ipswich. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

The February 3 death of Vyleen White at Redbank Plains Shopping Centre led to Mr Miles increasingly putting the police at the centre of the response to youth crime.

He put the responsibility on the Queensland Police Service to inform the government what it needed to combat young thugs and took the highly unusual step of inviting Ms Carroll inside the cabinet room to brief ministers on what frontline officers needed.

The commissioner declined on Tuesday to reveal what she had asked for, revealing it would “come out” after the government’s Cabinet Budget Review Committee had met and she’d probably be out of the top job.

“I had the opportunity to talk candidly to government in Cabinet, government was very responsive to that,” he said.

“I’ve always been frank and open about my advice.

“The Queensland Police Service’s response to youth crime has been outstanding, outstanding.”

Mounting speculation that Ms Carroll’s future could be under threat earlier this month was largely ignored in the corridors of power, where rumblings were privately downplayed as isolated concerns from some disgruntled officers.

Some privately criticised the lack of support for Ms Carroll from other senior male officers.

Stabbing victim Vyleen White

With the Queensland Police Union publicly supporting Ms Carroll and talk of a no-confidence motion being confined to a small number of officers, Mr Ryan was not preparing to fill her job vacancy but instead considering the likelihood she would ask for a three-year contract extension instead of the usual five-year term, but the shortest that can be made by law.

Ms Carroll on Tuesday revealed she had hinted to confidants about exiting for several weeks, and had brought forward the resignation following public speculation about her future.

The police commissioner’s exit comes 10 weeks after Annastacia Palaszczuk, who she had a strong relationship with, resigned as Queensland premier.

On April 23, 2019 Ms Palaszczuk – Queensland’s second female premier – appointed Ms Carroll the state’s first female police commissioner.

The former premier later declared she was proud of her choice and told The Courier-Mail it was a memorable appointment.

“I will never forget the morning Katarina was appointed police commissioner. The first person she rang was her mum,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

As premier, Ms Palaszczuk repeatedly stood by Ms Carroll amid burning questions about the culture within the Queensland Police Service.

Her support was unwavering in November 2022 as an inquiry into the service’s response to domestic violence found a “failure of leadership” had contributed to a culture of racism, sexism and fear within the organisation.

Crime remains a top issue among voters, with the government’s taxpayer-funded internal polling in December revealing Queenslanders were feeling more unsafe than ever before.

Targeted government polling undertaken in July 2022 across Townsville – where Labor holds three seats – also revealed 72 per cent of the city’s residents thought the state government was “taking a low level of action to address youth crime in their community”.

While Ms Carroll’s departure will result in the opposition ramping up pressure on Mr Ryan, Mr Miles is unlikely to heed calls he must go.

In Labor’s December leadership change Mr Ryan was touted as the next Attorney-General and had farewelled police stakeholders ahead of a prepared exit from the role, before the Queensland Police Union backed him to stay.

Opposition police spokesman Dan Purdie on Tuesday called on Mr Ryan to follow Ms Carroll out the door.

“Labor has failed to provide police with the laws and resources to keep Queenslanders safe,” he said.

“Despite promising 1450 extra police at the last election, in the past 18 months police numbers have fallen by 322 police under Mark Ryan and Labor.

“Weaker laws and fewer police have delivered the Queensland youth crime crisis.”

Originally published as I’ll back you: Minister’s pledge to commissioner before early-morning exit