Heinrich Palaszczuk (,

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

: ; born 12 January 1947) is a former

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

member of the

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembl ...

, and minister of the

Beattie Government The Beattie Ministry was a Ministry of the Government of Queensland, led by Labor Premier Peter Beattie. It commenced on 26 June 1998, thirteen days after the Borbidge Ministry, led by Premier Rob Borbidge of the National Party, was defeated at ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. He was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

as the member for Archerfield in 1984, and held that seat until his

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

as the member for Inala in 1992. Palaszczuk retired from politics in 2006, and was succeeded in his seat of Inala by his daughter

Annastacia Palaszczuk Annastacia Palaszczuk ( , Polish: Annastacia Pałaszczuk, ; born 25 July 1969) is an Australian politician who has been the 39th premier of Queensland since 2015 and the leader of the Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) since ...

, who has been the

Premier of Queensland The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is ap ...

since 2015.

Early life and career

Palaszczuk was born in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

parents. His family moved to Queensland when he was young. Prior to entering politics, he earned a

Diploma of Education The Diploma of Education, often abbreviated to DipEd or GradDipEd, is a postgraduate qualification offered in many Commonwealth countries including Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Overview The diploma can build on the ...

and became a school teacher. From 1980 to 1987, he was a secretary of the Inala Branch of the Labor Party, and served as the president of various electorate committees for state and federal government. Between 1985 and 1993, he worked as the campaign director on elections for the

City of Brisbane The City of Brisbane is a local government area (LGA) which comprises the inner portion of the metropolitan area of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Its governing body is the Brisbane City Council. Unlike LGAs in the other mainl ...

and the federal electoral division of Rankin.

Member of parliament

As a

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

, Palaszczuk served on numerous committees, including the

Estimates {{otheruses, Estimate (disambiguation) In the Westminster system of government, the ''Estimates'' are an outline of government spending for the following fiscal year presented by the cabinet to parliament. The Estimates are drawn up by bureaucrat ...

Committee and Standing Orders Committee, as well as being a Deputy Government Whip between 1990 and 1992. When the Goss Labor Government was re-elected in 1995, the Labor caucus nominated Palaszczuk for

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

, to replace the sitting Labor speaker

Jim Fouras Demetrios "Jim" Fouras, (8 March 1938 – 12 November 2021) was an Australian politician. He was Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. Early life Born in Manesi, Kalavryta, Greece, he migrated to Queensland at the age of ten with ...

. Labor later voted for Fouras in parliament, however, due to fears that Fouras would be re-elected as speaker with the support of the Nationals and Liberals. Wanting to avoid the controversy of Fouras

crossing the floor In parliamentary systems, politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a different political party than which they were initially elected under (as is the case in Canada and the United Kingdom). ...

to elect himself as speaker, Labor decided to support him instead of Palaszczuk.

Shadow Cabinet

After the fall of the Goss Government in February 1996, Palaszczuk joined the Opposition front bench as Shadow Minister for Natural Resources and Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs, later moving to Primary Industries.

Beattie Government Minister

When the Beattie Labor Government was elected in 1998, Palaszczuk was appointed Minister for Primary Industries. In 1999, he was also appointed Minister for Rural Communities. Following the 2004 election, he was appointed Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries. When

Terry Mackenroth Terence Michael Mackenroth (16 July 1949 – 30 April 2018) was an Australian politician from Queensland, who was a member of the Labor Party. He served almost 28 years with a notable parliamentary service history and a number of ministerial r ...

resigned as

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

and

Deputy Premier A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

in 2005, he was appointed Minister for Natural Resources and Mines, and in 2006 he had Water added to his portfolio. He continued in cabinet until he retired at the 2006 election.

Personal life

Palaszczuk is married, and has four daughters, including Premier

, who represents the same seat, Inala. He lives in Brisbane.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palaszczuk, Henry Australian people of Polish descent 1947 births Living people Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland 21st-century Australian politicians