The Squiz

There are a couple of storms brewing in Queensland – one natural and one political. The natural one is Cyclone Jasper, with the Bureau of Meteorology yesterday issuing a tropical cyclone warning and predicting that its presence will be felt from today. Deputy Premier Steven Miles fronted the media to talk about preparations – and he was asked about his plans to replace outgoing Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. “I understand you’re interested in that,” Miles said, before pivoting: “My focus is absolutely, 100% on the safety of Queenslanders”.

Let’s start with the cyclone…

We’re going to assume you mean Cyclone Jasper, not the storm that can be politics… It’s on track to make landfall tomorrow, and intense winds are expected from today, with the storm getting stronger as it approaches the coast. The Bureau of Meteorology warned those living between Cooktown and Townsville that they should immediately secure their boats and property, and said flash flooding was possible in an area that includes Cairns. Miles said that “if it’s flooded, forget it”. There are 450 staff from Energy Queensland who are in the area to deal with energy outages, while the government has also set up evacuation centres in Cooktown, Douglas, and Cairns. And speaking of evacuations, the Navy has airlifted 4 BOM staff from an island weather station that was in the path of Jasper. Talk about a work emergency…

And the politics?

Steven Miles probably hoped he’d be the only contender for the job of premier, but Health Minister Shannon Fentiman announced her candidacy yesterday, saying “we need a government with fresh ideas and energy”. Media reports also say that Treasurer Cameron Dick is planning to enter the race. Under the rules of Queensland’s Labor Party, a contested leadership could take weeks to resolve… MPs, rank-and-file Labor members and the unions would all get to vote, with each group having equal weight in the final decision. Palaszczuk has endorsed Miles for the job, but we’ll have to wait and see how much weight her recommendation carries…