Cabinet kerfuffle

The Premier may have missed a trick when dishing out portfolios in the latest reshuffle

It was the cabinet reshuffle that had to happen, according to Far North advocates dissatisfied with handling of housing and youth justice portfolios. And the shake up presented a real opportunity for better Far North representation in Brisbane.

However Cynthia Lui remaining on the back bench has been called out as a missed opportunity by former Cairns MP Rob Pyne.

Now a local government councillor Mr Pyne said the Cook MP and Torres Strait Island woman who has recently championed the government’s Path to Treaty would have been a good pick for the role.

“If Cynthia had become (the) minister, she would have a good understanding of what the issues are on the ground and would be in a great position to get more done by way of health and housing for (Indigenous) communities,” he said.

Dubbed a “revitalised cabinet” by the government, the shake-up has split previously grouped portfolios of youth justice and child safety. The heavy burden of the youth justice portfolio has been handed to Di Farmer while the Far North’s own Craig Crawford has been dealt the child safety portfolio. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships has been taken on by Leeanne Enoch. Given generational youth issues, poor morale amid child safety officers, serious issues with the residential care home system and out of control youth crime sweeping the state, the Barron River MP finds himself in a position most would consider unenviable. With a mountain to climb heading into the next election Mr Crawford acknowledged workers of his new department are on the frontline every day dealing with the often horrific fallout of abuse, dysfunctional homes and untreatable mental health.

“Firstly, I want our staff working in child safety across the state to know they are valued, supported, and respected,” he told the Cairns Post. Whoever takes on the child safety portfolio will be measured against whether the lives of Queensland children have been improved. Not a simple task in a three-year term, indeed something governments have grappled with for generations.