Qld opposition demands premier explain rise in deaths of children known to child safety

The Queensland Family and Child Commission's annual report, tabled with more than 100 other reports before and across the AFL grand final weekend, reveals 452 children died in the last financial year. Preliminary figures show 91 of those children were known to the child protection system, a 59.6 per cent increase on the previous year when 57 children known to child safety died.

Labor's Shannon Fentiman said the increase was concerning, disturbing and heartbreaking. “Where is the premier? Why isn't he taking accountability?” she said. “Where is he today fronting up the mess that is the child safety system?”

Labor also invoked Mr Crisafulli's own words. In a 2021 speech to parliament addressing the deaths of children known to child safety, he called on the then-Labor government and premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to “show us what leadership looks like” and to “front up to the messes you have created”. He said then: “Do not do a Friday afternoon dump when no-one is looking.”

Labor leader Steven Miles criticised the government's decision to table the reports over the grand final weekend. “There is no Friday with less people looking than last Friday and that is when David Crisafulli decided to dump all of these reports,” he said. “He should stand up today and explain.”

The premier's office did not respond directly to the calls. A government spokesperson said: “Steven Miles will do, and say, anything to try and hold onto his leadership given media reports today that his own frontbench, backbench, union leaders, strategists, former ministers and their staff, want him gone by Christmas.”

Mr Miles has reiterated his commitment to leading the opposition to the 2028 state election, after media reports that senior Labor figures have raised concerns about the party's leadership and policies.

Police Minister Dan Purdie acknowledged the death of any child. “We are doing more than Labor did in a long time in relation to child safety, whether it's the Commission of Inquiry, the work that we are doing, but we know there is always more work to do like there is with crime,” he said.

Analysis

Why This Matters

The report shows 91 children known to child safety died last financial year, up 59.6 per cent from 57 the year before, raising urgent questions about the state's protection of vulnerable children.
The timing of the release, before the AFL grand final weekend, has turned the figures into a test of government accountability at a moment of low public attention.
The dispute is coinciding with reported unrest inside Labor, meaning the political fallout may stretch well beyond child safety.

Background

The Queensland Family and Child Commission is the state body that monitors and reports on the child protection system, and its annual report is a key public measure of how the system is tracking. The current argument echoes a 2021 parliamentary exchange in which Mr Crisafulli, then the opposition leader, pressed Labor's then-premier over the deaths of children known to child safety and demanded she “front up”. Labor now points to those words as the standard Mr Crisafulli is failing to meet as premier. The government, for its part, points to its Commission of Inquiry into child safety as evidence it is taking the issue seriously.

Key Perspectives

The opposition (Labor): Shannon Fentiman and Steven Miles argue the premier is avoiding accountability, releasing the report at a time when few people were watching. They want Mr Crisafulli to explain the rise in deaths publicly and in person. The Crisafulli government: The premier's office did not answer the calls directly, and a government spokesperson framed Labor's attack as a distraction from media reports of internal opposition dissatisfaction. Police Minister Dan Purdie says the government is doing more than previous administrations, citing the Commission of Inquiry. Critics and skeptics: The figures are preliminary, meaning the final number could shift as cases are reviewed. There is also a risk that the political fight over the report's timing overshadows the underlying question of why more children known to the system are dying.

What to Watch

Whether Mr Crisafulli addresses the report publicly in the coming days, as Labor has demanded.
The progress and eventual findings of the Commission of Inquiry into Queensland's child safety system.
Labor leadership speculation: media reports suggest internal pressure on Steven Miles to stand aside before Christmas, which could shift how the opposition pursues the issue.

Analysis

Why This Matters

Background

Key Perspectives

What to Watch

Sources