Crisafulli hopes he’s shed the ‘new’ government tag. That has its own risk

October 24, 2026 — 5:00am

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Approaching the halfway milestone of Queensland’s four-year electoral cycle, Premier David Crisafulli has spent the past week doing plenty of talking – in speech after set-piece speech.

He has spent it talking about what his government has done, and what it’s yet to do. The latter involves fixing the more nebulous “crises” he rode to power vowing to address.

“The big four issues that I spoke about before the election remain the big four issues and the big four challenges,” Crisafulli said at his 2026 CEDA State of the State address on Monday.

“And on all of them [health, housing, crime and cost of living], we are making progress after a long period of time where the numbers went in the wrong direction.”

While Crisafulli can cite numbers heading in a better direction – and did, across several other major speeches this week, including to the property and local government sectors – more than anyone else, he should know the limits of relying on statistics.

During a Queensland Media Club appearance on Wednesday billed as featuring a “significant policy announcement” in the law and order space, no such thing came, beyond confirmation the parliament will pass a........

© Brisbane Times