Annastacia Palaszczuk said she is “absolutely determined” to remain as Premier of Queensland, despite lowering popularity in polls and rumours of party discontent.
Palaszczuk returned from her two-week holiday in Italy on the weekend and fronted a press conference on Monday morning, responding to reporters’ questions surrounding her leadership.
“I feel refreshed, I feel energised and I’m absolutely determined to lead the party and this government to the next election. I just want to make that very clear to everybody,” she said.
Palaszczuk also revealed she was rushed to emergency in June while attending a Labor state conference in Mackay. She told reporters she spent around six hours in hospital and had some tests done, but “everything’s fine now”.
The Queensland Premier, who has been in power since 2015, faced public scrutiny and party discontent for taking her two-week leave break in Italy at the end of August.
However, Palaszczuk said it was an “invasion of privacy” when journalists tracked her down and interrupted her holiday. She also said she timed her break so she could be here for the bushfire season, which is expected to hit high levels of severity.
“It’s healthy for leaders to have a break, and I felt I needed a break,” she said.
Controversial legislation
In the last sitting week of Parliament before the Premier’s holiday, the Queensland government faced intense backlash for passing controversial legislation that suspended the Human Rights Act, which legalises the detention of children in adult prisons and police watch houses.
While human rights organisations condemned the government’s actions, police minister Mark Ryan at the time said the change was necessary to address “immediate capacity issues” in Queensland’s detention system and the legislation would not facilitate the detention of young people in adult watch houses.
Palaszczuk admitted to reporters at Monday’s press conference that she needed to “explain things better” to the public and to her colleagues in the Queensland Parliament, particularly concerning the suspension of the Human Rights Act.
Queensland's Premier Anastacia Palaszczuk is under pressure for the state's decision to suspend its own Human Rights Act. #abc730 pic.twitter.com/ogCEDXUUVb
— ABC News (@abcnews) August 28, 2023
“It’s my job to explain things better to the caucus and better to Queenslanders… I’m always happy to improve,” she said.
“In relation to the amendment that went through, we would have preferred it would have gone to committee. However, legal action was being taken and we’ve got legal advice that said we needed to fix it up as quickly as possible.”
‘I can always do things better.’
The next state election in Queensland is scheduled for October 2024. Recent polling by RedBridge group found 41 per cent of the 2,000 respondents listed the Liberal National Party as their first preference, compared to 26 per cent for Palaszczuk’s Labor party.
However, the Premier, who described herself as an inspiration for women and girls in Queensland, maintains confidence in her leadership.
“Politics needs people who care… not selfish people, not ambitious people. They need good, decent people,” Palaszczuk said.
“I believe I’m the best person (to be Premier) because I believe that we have the plans, the policy plans for this state.”
Palaszczuk said she was unaware of any discontent within her Labor government in relation to her role as leader of the Labor party.
“Not one person has raised any issues with me, but of course, as a government and as the leader of the government, I can always do things better,” she said.