Steven Miles is set to become Queensland’s next Premier, with Treasurer Cameron Dick to be Deputy Premier, after Annastacia Palaszczuk’s shock resignation.
The move follows a deal brokered between union leaders in the state late on Monday night.
An emotional Ms Palaszczuk announced the shock move through tears on Sunday saying ‘the time was right’.
The negotiations to find her replacement went beyond 10pm on Monday as the party and its factions were determined to avoid a lengthy period of leadership speculation.
As well as Mr Miles and Mr Dick, the state’s Health Minister Shannon Fentiman was also in the running for to replace Ms Palaszczuk.
Steven Miles (pictured right) is set to become Queensland’s next Premier, with Cameron Dick to be Deputy Premier, after Annastacia Palaszczuk’s (pictured left) shock resignation
But when Australian Workers Union and United Workers Union powerbrokers decided to back Mr Miles from the Left faction as support for Ms Fentiman, also from the Left, fell away.
Mr Dick hailed from the Right, which Ms Palaszczuk also belongs to.
Mr Miles’ is taking over a party heading for an election loss next years, with a YouGov poll for The Courier-Mail newspaper in October showing the LNP leading Labor 52-48 on a two-party-preferred vote.
LNP leader David Crisafulli lamented that the Labor party, not Queensland voters, got to pick the next premier.
‘The common theme from people was a real feeling of being uncomfortable with the fact it was internal machinations of the Labor Party that made this decision,’ he said on Monday.
‘It should have been Queenslanders that got the chance to vote on who should be the next government and next premier, not undermining ministers and factional warlords.’
On Sunday, Ms Palaszczuk said ‘I have given it my all and I have run a marathon. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, and it’s the right time, and it’s time for renewal.
‘I’ve dedicated my whole life to community service, there’s no greater honour. Nine years, it feels like an eternity.’
The Premier wiped away tears as she confirmed her retirement from politics, following months of speculation that she would do so.
Ms Palaszczuk said she began considering retirement during a two-week holiday Italian holiday with her surgeon partner Reza Adib in September.
She had faced stinging criticism for taking the holiday in Italy amid controversial youth justice law changes and poor opinion polling, with some critics calling her a ‘part-time premier’.
Though she repeatedly tried to hose down suggestions of leadership challenges, the end came last weekend.
‘Everyone deserves a break. Finally last week, my mind was made up at national cabinet,’ she said.
‘I was sitting there thinking, this is the fourth prime minister, there were all these new faces sitting around the cabinet table.
‘We got a great deal for Queensland, $4billion, and I thought to myself, renewal is a good thing.’
She said that she did not yet know what she would do next.
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‘I have no job come January. I will be finishing up as (an MP),’ Ms Palaszczuk said.
‘I will be out there promoting Queensland in some form or capacity.’
Queensland’s Treasurer Cameron Dick (pictured) is set to become the state’s Deputy Premier
Health Minister Shannon Fentiman (pictured) was also in the running to replace Annastacia Palaszczuk, but did not have the numbers or union backing
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Ms Palaszczuk was a ‘Labor hero’ as he praised the outgoing premier.
She was ‘A three time election winner, Australia’s longest-serving female Premier and – above all else – a champion for Queenslanders,’ he said.
Mr Albanese wrote on social media that ‘Annastacia’s leadership brought Queensland Labor back from the political brink and on so many occasions since then her government has put Queensland in a position of national leadership.
‘Annastacia leaves office rightly proud of all she has achieved and – as ever – thinking of what is best for Queensland and its future. I wish her all the very best for her future.’
Ms Palaszczuk reminded reporters that when she became the Queensland state Labor leader the party was an Opposition of just seven members.
‘I said that first election would be like climbing Mount Everest. I went on to climb that mountain twice more. I don’t need to do it again.’
She choked up with emotion during her speech, saying ‘Standing here today in this place, with these flags, and standing up for the people of Queensland has been the honour of my life.
‘I don’t believe anyone who comes after me will know how humbling it is… to travel this state and meet so many amazing people.
‘I fought the good fight, I have given everything, but now is the time for me to find out what else life has to offer…
Annastacia Palaszczuk (left) is pictured with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the ALP National Conference 2023 at the Brisbane Convention on Thursday, August 17, 2023
Queensland’s Treasurer Cameron Dick (right) is pictured with Ms Palaszczuk (left)
‘Thank you to every single Queenslander… It has been the greatest honour of my life and our best days are ahead of us.’
She was first elected as Premier in 2015, then at the following election in 2017 became the first female leader in Australia to be reelected.
She also led the first majority female cabinet in Australia.
Ms Palaszczuk went on to lead Labor to increased majorities at the 2017 and 2020 state elections, becoming the first Australian female premier to win three terms, including from Opposition.
Her Covid border closure saw her win coastal retiree electorates, like Caloundra and Nicklin on the Sunshine Coast, along with Hervey Bay, that don’t normally vote Labor.
Mr Miles would be the first Left faction premier to rule Queensland since the Left gained controlled of the party in 2014, and he would be hoping to win the ALP a fourth consecutive term for the first time since Peter Beattie’s re-election in 2006.
The deal to have him elected unopposed spares a drawn-out postal ballot of MPs, party members and unions less than year before the October 2024 state election.
