Barton Deakin Brief – All change as LNP forms government in Queensland

On Saturday 27 October 2024 the Liberal National Party, led by the Hon. David Crisafulli MP,
won government in Queensland for the first time since 2013.

On Friday 1 November, the first Crisafulli Cabinet was sworn in, and the new Premier
announced several changes to the machinery of government in Queensland.

Election Results

At the time of writing, it appears that the LNP have won 53 of the 93 seats in the unicameral
Parliament of Queensland, giving them a comfortable majority over the outgoing Labor Party
who have dropped to 35 seats.

The election delivered a 7 percent swing towards the LNP, who ended up with over 53 percent of
the 2 party preferred vote.

The LNP made significant gains in regional and rural seats, whilst the ALP held on in the more
urban south east of the state – including winning back Ipswich West which it lost to the LNP at a
by-election earlier in 2024.

LNP Immediate Priorities

The LNP, led by David Crisafulli and new Deputy Premier, Jarrod Bleijie, focused on four key
issues in the lead up to, and during, the election campaign.

These four issues – crime (particularly youth crime), cost of living, housing, and healthcare –
dominated the LNP narrative, who were disciplined in their messaging and broadly managed to
not be distracted by attempts by the previous Labor government to drag the public debate onto
other issues (most notably issues around abortion and women’s rights).

Prior to the election, Crisafulli announced a plan for the first hundred days of an LNP
government. The plan can be viewed here.

As an immediate priority, the new Premier has committed to two parliamentary sitting weeks
prior to Christmas (November 26-28 and December 10-12) in order to pass the LNP’s Making
Queensland Safer Laws. Deputy Premier Bleijie has already cancelled the Labor government’s
controversial Pioneer-Burdekin Pumped Hydro scheme.

Of key interest to clients, business and the broader Queensland community, will be the Charter
Letters provided to the new government’s ministers. Premier Crisafulli has promised to make
these public, and it will provide an insight into each individual ministers’ likely focus and
specific priorities – certainly in the first few weeks and months in office.

The New Cabinet

The new LNP Cabinet consists of the same team that made up the shadow cabinet, however
despite statements to the contrary prior to the election, there have been some changes to
portfolio responsibilities.

A printable version of the new Cabinet can be downloaded here.

The new cabinet reflects the LNP’s priorities and provide a clear indication of where the Premier
and the Government will focus over their first term.

Former leader Deb Frecklington becomes Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, leading a
team of ministers focused on tackling the youth crime crisis. Laura Gerber keeps the portfolios
of Youth Justice and Victim Support, and Corrective Services. Dan Purdie has been sworn in as
Minister Police and Emergency Services, and Amanda Camm as Minister for Child Safety and
the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence (along with portfolio of Families, Seniors and
Disability Services).

In recognition of the importance of housing issues to the new government, new Treasurer David
Janetzki has also been appointed Minister for Home Ownership to “open the door to a first
home for more young Queenslanders”. Janetzki also becomes Minister for Energy
demonstrating that the cost of energy is a key challenge to address the cost of living.

Tim Nicholls, another former LNP leader, gets the crucial role of Minister for Health and
Ambulance Services and will be responsible for delivering the government’s Easier Access to
Health Service Plan developed after a series of town hall meetings held by the LNP across the
state whilst in opposition.

Reflecting Crisafulli’s intention to reinvent how the government works and interacts with the
community, Steve Minnikin has been appointed to the new ministry of Customer Services and
Open Data, with a mandate to work across all areas of government.

Assistant ministers will be announced at a later date once the results of the election are
finalised.

Changes to the Public Service

In his first letter as Premier, Crisafulli addressed Labor’s scare campaign during the election
and wrote to the state’s 250,000 public servants reassuring them that there were no plans to cut
public service jobs, and that his government was looking forward to working with them to deliver
for Queensland. He also indicated that he would expect his ministers to work closely with their
respective departments and to be “visible” at government office across the state.

Nevertheless, the new government is making significant changes to the leadership of the
Queensland Public Service.

Immediately after being sworn in after the election, the Premier appointed Public Sector
Commissioner David Mackie as Acting Director-General of the Department of Premier and
Cabinet. Mackie replaces Mike Kaiser, a former Labor MP and party official.

After the Cabinet was sworn in the government then announced ten new Directors-General
would be appointed, with 12 remaining in the current roles.

Three permanent new appointments were announced:

• John Sosso, Director-General of the Department of State Development, Infrastructure
  and Planning
• Dr David Rosengren, Director-General of Queensland Health
• Trish O’Callaghan, Acting Director-General of the Department of the Environment,
  Tourism, Science and Innovation (from 11 November)

The following were appointed Acting Directors-General until permanent appointments can be
made:

• David Mackie, Acting Director-General of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet
• Rachel Crossland, Acting Director-General of Queensland Treasury
• Initially Kate Connors, followed by Brigita Cunnington, Acting Director-General of the
  Department of Justice
• Sharon Schimming, Acting Director-General of the Department of Education
• Kathy Parton, Acting Director-General of the Department of Women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships and Multiculturalism
• Ben Klaassen, Acting Director-General of the Department of the Environment, Tourism,
  Science and Innovation (until 11 November)
• Rob Seiler, Acting Director-General of the Department of Families, Seniors, Disability
  Services and Child Safety
• Steven Koch, Acting Director-General of the Department of Customer Services, Open
  Data and Small and Family Business

The 12 senior public servants remaining in their roles are:

• Peter McKay, Department of Finance, Trade, Employment and Training
• Graham Fraine, Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Manufacturing and Regional and Rural Development
• Stephan Gollschewski, Queensland Police Service
• Paul Stewart, Queensland Corrective Services
• Bob Gee, Department of Youth Justice and Victim Support
• Sally Stannard, Department of Transport and Main Roads
• Linda Dobe, Department of Local Government, Water and Volunteers
• Steve Smith, Queensland Fire Department
• Mark Cridland, Department of Housing and Public Works
• Graeme Bolton, Department of Primary Industries
• Andrew Hopper, Department of Sport, Racing and Olympic and Paralympic Games
• David Mackie, Public Sector Commissioner (following the permanent appointment of Director-General of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet)

Further Information

For further information, please contact Matthew Harris, Director Barton Deakin, at [email protected]

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