In the Brisbane Times (15.2.16), Amy Remeikis provides an assessment of the Palaszczuk government as it marks the end of its first year in office: ‘One year on from promising hope and a better Queensland, the Palaszczuk government has an image problem – it’s too concerned with it. Risk averse to the point of inertia, any tough or controversial decision is delayed, swatted away or ignored in favour of emotional, community-friendly debates that on the surface win hearts, but don’t take a lot of thought. ‘The government has pointed to 33 pieces of legislation it has passed in the past year, but take away party vanity projects – union encouragement, returning Labour Day to May, unwinding Newman government policies, the mechanisations of government and those which were already in the pipeline – and not one of those pieces of legislation could be considered controversial or unexpected. ‘Its work in the domestic violence policy space and the speed with which it responded is to be commended, but was also completely without risk. ‘And a year on, with just one MP standing between power and a trip to the Governor’s office, the Palaszczuk government is still to come up with a narrative outside of “we’re not Newman”.’
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