Annastacia Palaszczuk

Annastacia Palaszczuk (, Polish: Annastacia Pałaszczuk, ; born 25 July 1969) is an Australian politician who served as the 39th premier of Queensland from 2015 to 2023.

She attended St Mary's College, Ipswich from 1982 to 1986.

She has degrees in Arts and Laws from the University of Queensland, a Masters of Arts from the London School of Economics (where she was a Chevening Scholar), and a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice from Australian National University.

She grew up around other sisters, by the name of Julia.

Palaszczuk worked as a policy adviser to a number of Labor ministers, including Minister for Communities, Disabilities and Seniors, Warren Pitt and former Minister for the Environment, Dean Wells.

She later decided to have a career in the legal profession and was studying for admission as a solicitor when her father announced his intention to retire at the 2006 election.

In the wake of her father's retirement, Palaszczuk contested and won Labor preselection for his seat of Inala in south-west Brisbane, the safest Labor seat in Queensland, and was elected with a margin of more than 30 points.

On 9 October 2008, Palaszczuk was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Main Roads and Local Government in the wake of Ronan Lee's defection to the Greens.

She held several roles in the Bligh Government from 2009 to 2012, when Queensland Labor suffered a historic defeat.

One of only seven remaining Labor Assembly Members, Palaszczuk was elected unopposed as the Leader of Queensland Labor, becoming Leader of the Opposition.

Just over five months later, she was appointed Minister for Disability Services and Multicultural Affairs in the Bligh ministry following the 2009 election.

Palaszczuk lost over 17 percent of her primary vote from 2009, but retained her seat with a 46.2 per cent primary vote and a 56.9 per cent two-party vote, representing a 14-percent swing from 2009.

The day after the election, Bligh resigned as premier and party leader and retired from politics.

Palaszczuk, as one of only three surviving members of Bligh's cabinet, announced that she would be a candidate to succeed Bligh.

Curtis Pitt initially said he would stand, but withdrew.

This left Palaszczuk to take the leadership unopposed at a meeting of the Labor Caucus on 28 March in Ipswich.

Bligh did not attend the meeting.

Tim Mulherin was elected Deputy Leader, also unopposed.

Palaszczuk faced the task of rebuilding a party which had just suffered the worst defeat of a sitting government in Queensland history, and amongst the worst that a governing party has ever suffered at the state level in Australia.

She also faced the difficulty of leading an opposition caucus of only seven members, two short of official status (though Newman subsequently promised that Labor would have the full rights and resources entitled to the official opposition).

After taking the leadership, Palaszczuk said, 'We need to make ourselves relevant to voters.

We need to get back to our basics.

Workers' rights, protecting the environment, investment in education—these are core Labor principles and somewhere along the way we simply lost our way'.

She also said, 'I'm under no illusion of the task ahead, of the rebuild that we need to do and the fact that we need to restore people's faith in the Queensland Labor Party'.

Following her election, Palaszczuk apologised for 'breaching the trust of Queenslanders', a reference to the Bligh government's decision to sell off state assets after promising not to do so at the 2009 election.

This decision had been 'poorly communicated to the community', she said, 'There were other issues, but that is the single point where we lost faith with the community.

In February 2011, she was promoted to Minister for Transport and Multicultural Affairs.

Palaszczuk is a member of Labor Right faction.

She held office as the leader of the Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2012 until her resignation, and has been a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland (MLA) for the division of Inala since 2006.

Palaszczuk is the fifth-most tenured premier in Queensland state history and the first woman to win the premiership from opposition, she also presided over the first majority female cabinet in Australian state and federal history.

Palaszczuk was a political adviser before her election to the Legislative Assembly, succeeding her father Henry Palaszczuk in the seat of Inala.

Despite Labor's heavy loss in 2012, Palaszczuk led Labor to victory at the 2015 election, becoming the first woman in Australian history to become a state premier from opposition.

Her first ministry was majority female, also a first in Australia.

At the 2012 election, the Bligh government was overwhelmingly defeated by the Liberal National Party led by Campbell Newman, losing 44 seats.

She went on to lead Labor to increased majorities at the 2017 and 2020 elections, making her the first Australian female premier to win three terms.

On 10 December 2023, Palaszczuk announced her resignation as Premier.

She resigned as Premier on Friday 15 December and left parliament at the end of the month.

Palaszczuk was raised in the Brisbane suburb of Durack.

Her father, veteran state Labor MP Henry Pałaszczuk, was born in Germany to Polish parents.

Her Australian mother, Lorelle, is descended from German settlers.