Annastacia Palaszczuk skips cabinet for yacht with celebrity mates of surgeon boyfriend

Annastacia Palaszczuk has been slammed for cancelling a cabinet meeting to party on a luxury yacht in a tropical island paradise.

The Queensland premier took several days off for the Hamilton Island Race Week with her boyfriend Dr Reza Adib, and with celebrities on the Quantum yacht.

Ms Palaszczuk previously shot down claims she is a ‘part-time premier’ who spends too much time socialising with her boyfriend. 

The opposition said her decision to cancel a Cabinet meeting was ‘unfathomable’ but Labor said the attack was ‘puny and cheap’.

Liberal National Party leader David Crisafulli said it was very unusual to cancel a Cabinet meeting, and Deputy Premier Steven Miles should have taken over in Ms Palaszczuk’s absence.

‘Everybody is entitled to a holiday, but if the Premier doesn’t trust her deputy to run things while she is away then the luxury break has to come behind the needs of Queenslanders,’ he told the Courier Mail.

According to the Queensland Government’s Cabinet handbook, the deputy premier can oversee cabinet meetings ‘in the premier’s absence’. 

But that did not happen while Ms Palaszczuk was on her luxury getaway, and no explanation was given.

Mr Crisafulli said cabinet’s role was crucial to run the state and it was longstanding practice across that the deputy chaired meetings when the premier was away. 

Ms Palaszczuk’s spokesman said she took very little time off since the pandemic began.

‘For the opposition to begrudge the premier a rare weekend off when it took the whole pandemic off is puny and cheap even for them,’ he said.

The spokesman added that the premier had to take annual leave to have a weekend off.

But the LNP said scrapping cabinet for a party while Queensland faced health, housing, and cost of living crises was ‘troubling’.

Mr Crisafulli said Ms Palaszczuk’s actions were ‘soul-destroying’ for the Queenslanders caught up in various crises.

Annastacia Palaszczuk (centre) is pictured onboard the Quantum super yacht after cancelling a Cabinet meeting

LNP’s deputy leader also joined the pile on, saying cabinet meetings weren’t an ‘optional extra’.

Jarrod Bleijie said it was ‘unfathomable’ that the government was brought to a halt because the premier was on a superyacht.

‘If Annastacia Palaszczuk is so checked out she’d rather stop government while she swans around with celebrities then perhaps she should sail off into the sunset and give the reigns to someone actually interested in doing the work,’ he said.

Ms Palaszczuk was pictured on the Quantum super yacht while attending the Hamilton Island Race Week

Mr Bleijie said Ms Palaszczuk needed to make up her mind about whether she wanted to be a celebrity or the premier. 

Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman defended the premier, saying she worked incredibly hard, and took a small break with ‘no taxpayer dollars spent’.

Ms Palaszczuk in June denied she was a ‘part-time premier’ who spent too much time socialising, though her reply came while attending a celebrity event.  

Ms Palaszczuk appeared unfazed by the accusations as she arrived at the Logie Awards in the Gold Coast with Dr Adib on June 19. 

Queensland Opposition Leader David Crisafulli has slammed Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk for cancelling a Cabinet meeting while she attended a glamorous event

Grilled by reporters over the claims, Ms Palaszczuk insisted she was on top of her work load – and visiting high-profile events was ‘part of her job’.

‘I work seven days a week,’ Ms Palaszczuk told 7News.

‘And most of these events are on weekends so, we could be at home watching television but we’re out here doing the job Queenslanders expect me to be doing.’

Daily Mail Australia contacted the premier’s office seeking further comment.