WE’VE BEEN TRAD
Curtis Pitt shown the door in Palaszczuk ministerial shake-up
THEY say a week is a long time in politics but for Mulgrave MP Curtis Pitt the last month must seem like an eternity.
When asked in the lead-up to the state election about Mr Pitt’s future as treasurer, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said: “Yes I do guarantee his job.”
Yesterday the Premier denied she had broken a promise as she revealed that her deputy Jackie Trad (right), who holds all the cards as leader of the Labor Left faction, would be the state’s new Treasurer.
“I had a conversation with him and that is the role that he chose to undertake,” she said.
Barron River MP Craig Crawford has been offered a place in Cabinet, likely to be a junior minister’s position.
PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk has already broken a campaign promise and booted Curtis Pitt out of the Treasury to appease a factional brawler.
The Mulgrave MP has been offered the lucrative Speaker’s position as a consolation prize, ending months of speculation the Premier would break her pledge to keep him on as Treasurer.
The direct and unambiguous quote Ms Palaszczuk delivered just last month was: “Yes I do guarantee his job.”
Deputy Premier Jackie Trad, who holds all the cards as leader of the MP-rich Labor Left faction, has already been announced as Mr Pitt’s replacement as Treasurer.
Barron River MP Craig Crawford has been offered a place in Cabinet, likely to be a junior minister’s position.
The Premier called him yesterday with an invitation he happily accepted — an important stepping stone in the second-term parliamentarian’s political apprenticeship.
“I would be very interested in something in the emergency services arena, which is where my obvious background is,” the former paramedic said.
“But I will be happy to take whatever portfolio she sends my way.
“It looks like a very busy Christmas period for me.
“The list of household projects I was going to get into looks like being pushed back a bit.”
Mr Crawford is likely to be the Far North’s lone frontbench voice when Ms Palaszczuk unveils her entire leadership squad today, although greenhorn Cairns MP Michael Healy is still a longodds possibility.
Like Mr Crawford and Cook’s Cynthia Lui, he flew to Brisbane last night ahead of the new government's first caucus meeting this morning.
Mr Pitt will be nominated as Speaker, with a Legislative Assembly majority needed to get him over the line.
In a statement, he said he was proud of his contribution as a member of the executive and “keen to make my mark in the parliamentary sphere as well”.
“I see my role as ensuring that the Parliament will continue to be a House of robust debate, and that its operations are fair and accountable,” he continued.
Current Ministers Cameron Dick and Kate Jones have also been announced for jobs in the Premier’s “Cabinet economic team”.