{"id":26567,"date":"2015-02-21T18:26:38","date_gmt":"2015-02-21T07:26:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nofibs.com.au\/?p=26567"},"modified":"2019-04-13T23:56:16","modified_gmt":"2019-04-13T13:56:16","slug":"a-baptism-of-sea-and-sky-the-qld-weekly-qldpol-qldaah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/a-baptism-of-sea-and-sky-the-qld-weekly-qldpol-qldaah\/","title":{"rendered":"A baptism of sea and sky \u2013 The Qld Weekly #qldpol: @Qldaah"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

(February 21, 2015) – Aftermath.<\/a><\/h6>\n
(February 20, 2015) – Tropical Cyclone Marcia lands,<\/a><\/h6>\n
(February 19, 2015) – Newman lashes out.<\/a><\/h6>\n
(February 18, 2015) – Health of the state.<\/a><\/h6>\n
(February 17, 2015) – Meeting with business and union leaders.<\/a><\/h6>\n
(February 16, 2015) – More experienced.<\/a><\/h6>\n

Summary<\/h2>\n

A busy first week for new Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.<\/a> She saw the swearing in of her 14 member cabinet which included 8 women, the highest proportion in Queensland’s political history. She met with both business and union leaders in an effort to encourage the two groups to work together to reduce Queensland’s high trend unemployment rate of 6.5 percent. (For more statistical analysis of the jobless rate, see our No Fibs<\/a> coverage, “January 2015 Qld trend unemployment falls to 6.5pc”.<\/a>)<\/p>\n

A quick tour of one of the hospitals was her last engagement before Tropical Cyclone Marcia took hold and she found herself suddenly transformed into former Premier Anna Bligh<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Liberal National Party Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg <\/a>and team spent the first week in opposition complaining and warning against the reduced government ministry size from nineteen to fourteen. They argued that ministers would not be able to handle multiple portfolios such as Kate Jones,<\/a> who has been\u00a0sworn in as Minister for Education, Tourism, Major Events and Small Business and the Commonwealth Games. However, due to parliamentary rules, the LNP would only be paid for a 14 strong shadow cabinet to match. According to the “Legislative assembly of Queensland – Members’ remuneration handbook”<\/a>, the salary for\u00a0“Opposition Spokesperson” is an extra $57,578 on top of the standard MP pay of $148,848. If they kept their nineteen\u00a0member team from the Newman Government, it would mean five members would miss out on the additional salary. As the cyclone raged on the Queensland coast, they eventually decided to supply fourteen paid shadow ministers and five volunteers, perhaps hopeful of a failure in the Palaszczuk administration that would see additional ministers needing to be sworn in.<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

(February 21, 2015) – Aftermath<\/h2>\n

A crushing win at Stafford triggered Labor’s rise<\/h3>\n
    \n
  • Paul Syvret<\/a> writes, “Labor’s\u00a0team struggled to believe the numbers.\u00a0As the state election rolled into the last week of the campaign, veteran strategist and former party secretary Mike Kaiser sums up the disbelief”:\u00a0The ALP\u2019s campaign to win in 2015 began in earnest after the LNP\u2019s crushing loss in the Stafford by-election.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Damage – Rockhampton<\/h3>\n
    \"ABC<\/a>

    ABC News Qld: Rockhampton resident heartbroken over damage from TC Marcia.<\/p><\/div>\n

    \n

    Residents at Jambin Sth of Rockhampton evacuate as Callide Dam overflows after cycloneMarcia #7NewsQ<\/a> @7NewsBrisbane<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/R0H0AjQiJs<\/a><\/p>\n

    — Kim Skubris (@Kim_Skubris7) February 21, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n