Anastasia Palaszczuk resigns before she was pushed

Anastasia Palaszczuk has resigned before she was deposed. She saw the writing on the wall for the 2024 Queensland election and decided it was best to let someone else lose the election. Ultimately, this is not a surprise.

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Palaszczuk’s government was on track to lose. Polls this far from an election are not exactly reliable, but they consistently showed that the LNP would win. Of course, they could have turned it around, in theory. The Voice referendum was on track to win, until it wasn’t. But, the polling changed as people became more informed. With Anastasia Palaszczuk, people have already made up their mind. The LNP would win 52% of the 2pp vote, according to YouGov.

Steven Miles has declared that he will nominate for premier.

He has issued a saccharine statement, replete with the obligatory niceties. Some hilarious highlights include:

It seems that Queenslanders are not so fond of her.

How did we get here? Well, it is death by a thousand cuts. It is the push towards ever more progressive policies, including treaty and the Voice. Queensland overwhelmingly rejected these. She was out of touch. She seemed devoted to inner city priorities to the neglect to the overwhelming majority of Queensland voters. She only grudgingly backed away from Treaty after it was obvious that voters manifestly hated the idea. And this is just the canary in the coal mine. Her agenda overall was trash. Let’s not forget the asinine and failed attempt to massively hike land taxes, which failed only when the NSW Premier said he wouldn’t play ball with Queensland’s proposals and when it became obvious it would result in an investor exodus, and with it an obliteration of new housing construction.

As for whether her successor can turn things around. It is certainly possible. It is inherently difficult for an opposition to win a state election. It typically takes a catalyst. For example, it includes Scott Morrisson’s personal unpopularity, which sunk Dominic Perrottet. But, the Palaszczuk government is despised. It is absurd to think that Miles will gain by tying himself to the Palaszczuk legacy. But, maybe he’ll get lucky.