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Jacklyn Anne Trad (born 25 April 1972) is an Australian former politician. She was Deputy Premier of Queensland from 2015 to 2020,
Treasurer of Queensland Treasurer of Queensland is the title held by the Cabinet (government), Cabinet Minister (government), minister who is responsible for the Queensland Treasury, and by extension, all financial matters of the Government of Queensland, Queensland Go ...
from 2017 to 2020 and represented the Electoral district of South Brisbane for the Labor Party from April 2012 to October 2020. Trad also served as Queensland's Minister for Transport, Minister for Trade, Minister for Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning, and Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships in the Palaszczuk Government.


Personal life and family

Trad is the second daughter of Lebanese immigrants;
Lebanese Arabic Lebanese Arabic ( ; autonym: ), or simply Lebanese ( ; autonym: ), is a Varieties of Arabic, variety of Levantine Arabic, indigenous to and primarily Languages of Lebanon, spoken in Lebanon, with significant linguistic influences borrowed from ...
was her first language. The family returned to
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
in 1979 to live in
Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
for one year where she attended the International College. Back in Australia, she attended Lourdes Hill College in
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
and her parents became local
small business Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have a small number of employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being ...
owners, operating a fruit shop in
Woolloongabba Woolloongabba ( ) is an inner southern Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Woolloongabba had a population of 8,687 people. Geography Woolloongabba is located by road south of the ...
. She began an arts degree at
Griffith University Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...
and completed a
Master of Public Policy The Master of Public Policy (MPP) is a graduate-level professional degree. It provides training in policy analysis and program evaluation at public policy schools. The MPP program places a focus on the systematic analysis of issues related to pu ...
at the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
. She grew up in South Brisbane and currently lives in the suburb of West End with her husband and two children. Trad identifies as
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and with her
Maronite Church The Maronite Church (; ) is an Eastern Catholic '' sui iuris'' particular church in full communion with the pope and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. The head of the Maronit ...
heritage.


Political career

Trad was elected to the legislature at the South Brisbane by-election held on 28 April 2012. The by-election was held after the resignation of the previous Labor Party incumbent and former Premier
Anna Bligh Anna Maria Bligh (born 14 July 1960) is an Australian lobbyist and former politician who served as the 37th Premier of Queensland, in office from 2007 to 2012 as leader of the Queensland Australian Labor Party (Queensland Branch), Labor Party. ...
. Trad has also held several positions within the structure of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She was formerly the Queensland ALP Assistant State Secretary, President of the Kurilpa Branch, a delegate to the ALP National and State Conferences, member of the National Executive Committee and also the Secretary of Labor Women's Organisation Queensland. She is the former leader of Queensland Labor's Left Faction. Trad is on the record as being a supporter of
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...
. She is also a supporter of adoption by same-sex partners.


Opposition

On 29 April 2012, Opposition Leader
Annastacia Palaszczuk Annastacia Palaszczuk ( , born 25 July 1969) is an Australian politician who served as the 39th premier of Queensland from 2015 to 2023. She held office as the leader of the Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2012 unt ...
appointed Trad as Shadow Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Environment and Heritage Protection, Small Business, Consumer Affairs and the Arts. Trad was appointed as a member of the Parliamentary Ethics Committee and Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Committee respectively, and served from May 2012 to January 2015. On 11 September 2012, Leader of the House
Ray Stevens Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country music, country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian. He is best known for his Grammy-winning recordings "Everything Is Beautiful" and "M ...
referred to Trad as " Jihad Jackie" during parliamentary debate. Believing the term to be referring to her Lebanese heritage, Ms Trad objected and requested that the remark be withdrawn. Immediately following this interaction, Premier
Campbell Newman Campbell Kevin Thomas Newman (born 12 August 1963) is an Australian former politician who served as the 38th Premier of Queensland from 26 March 2012 to 14 February 2015. He served as the member for Ashgrove in the Legislative Assembly of Que ...
said that Jackie Trad was "precious" and needed to "harden up." Trad commented outside parliament that "It is outrageous to think that the Queensland Parliament should be condoning these sorts of racist barbs when they are unacceptable in the community." Her comments were echoed by Ethnic Communities Council executive manager Ian Muil when he said Mr Stevens' comment would upset people, especially in the Muslim community, describing it as "dog-whistle type stuff."


First Palaszczuk Ministry

Following the Queensland state election on 31 January 2015, Tim Mulherin stood down as deputy leader, and Trad was named his successor. She thus became Deputy Premier of Queensland in the Palaszczuk Ministry on 14 February 2015. In addition to being sworn in as the Deputy Premier, Trad became the Minister for Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning, Minister for Transport and Minister for Trade. Following changes to the Palaszczuk Ministry in December 2015, which included expanding its size from 14 to 17, the transport portfolio was transferred to new minister Stirling Hinchliffe. Following Mr Hinchliffe's resignation as Minister for Transport in February 2017, Trad regained the portfolio and held it until the Second Palaszczuk Ministry was sworn in on 12 December 2017.


Tree clearing laws

On 17 March 2016, Trad introduced the Vegetation Management (Reinstatement) Amendment Bill into parliament, the Palaszczuk Government's bill intended to reverse the previous government's repeal of the Wild Rivers Legislation, enacted in 2005 in an attempt to preserve native vegetation. The changes in legislation under the Newman Government in 2013 had allowed increased rates of tree-clearing in Queensland. The Statewide Landcover and Tree Study (SLATS) report showed 296,324 hectares was cleared in 2013–14, a threefold increase on 2009–10 and the highest level since 2006. The 2014–15 Report found that a further 207,000 hectares was cleared. Trad called the proposed legislation "nation-leading" and one of the Palaszczuk Government's key commitments for protecting the Great Barrier Reef. Despite widespread public campaigning by conservation groups, the bill failed to pass the Legislative Assembly with a vote of 42 in favour and 44 against. It was the first time the Palaszczuk Government had failed to get one of its own bills through parliament. Ms Trad announced in October 2016 that Labor would re-introduce the legislation if it won the next election. Following their victory at the 2017 Election, Labor re-introduced the bill as the Vegetation Management and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2018 and it passed on 9 May 2018.


Abortion reform

On 10 May 2016, Independent former-Labor MP Rob Pyne introduced two pieces of legislation to the Legislative Assembly aimed at decriminalising abortion in Queensland. Trad became the first government MP to support the bill and described herself as “unashamedly pro-choice”. She said it was time for Queensland law “to catch up with legal precedent and treat pregnancy termination as a health issue, not a criminal issue.” Her public statements in support of abortion law reform prompted Brisbane Catholic Archbishop Mark Coleridge to offer to "counsel" her and her Labor colleagues. At a rally in opposition to Mr Pyne's bills, Archbishop Coleridge also likened the practice of abortion to
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
. Ms Trad responded: "I would have thought the archbishop had more important things to focus on, like the inquiry into institutional abuse and the findings that are coming out of that inquiry than what is before the Queensland parliament," a reference to the
Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was a royal commission announced in November 2012 and established in 2013 by the Australian government pursuant to the Royal Commissions Act 1902 to inquire into and repo ...
. Following the decision by the LNP to vote against the bills, Mr Pyne withdrew them both in February 2017. The Palaszczuk Government referred the issue to the Queensland Law Reform Commission and pledged to introduce its own bill to decriminalise abortion in the next term of parliament. The Termination of Pregnancy Bill 2018 was introduced to the Queensland Parliament on 22 August 2018, and passed on 25 October the same year.


Planning reform

On 12 November 2015, Trad introduced 3 government bills into the Legislative Assembly aimed at reforming the infrastructure and planning framework in Queensland, including what would become the Planning Act 2016. The new Planning Act made several changes to planning rules in the state including introducing 'bounded' code assessment that ensures proposed developments are more strictly assessed against the planning code, independent examination of proposed developments that may impact heritage buildings, a requirement for local government to publish reasons for development decisions for the first time, providing the ability for local governments to increase infrastructure charges to deliver community infrastructure, and affording residents and community groups the ability to appeal development decisions without adverse cost orders being awarded against them.


Local Government electoral reform

On 1 December 2016, Trad introduced the Local Government Electoral (Transparency and Accountability in Local Government) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill into Queensland Parliament. The bill was passed into law on 10 May 2017, and amended a number of existing laws, most notably the Local Government Electoral Act 2011. The Crime and Corruption Commission’s December 2015 report regarding transparency and accountability in
local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...
was noted as a major catalyst for the bill’s introduction. A number of reforms to local government elections resulted, including ‘real-time’ political donation disclosures (in line with reforms to state elections introduced by the Palaszczuk Government), setting the candidate and third-party election disclosure donation threshold at $500 to align with a councillor's register of interest gift disclosures threshold, and a requirement that all unspent campaign donations are either to be held for future campaign expenditure, returned to the relevant political party or transferred to a registered charity.


Second Palaszczuk Ministry

On 12 December 2017, Trad was sworn in as Deputy Premier, Treasurer and Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships in the Second Palaszczuk Ministry.


First Budget

Trad delivered her first budget as Queensland Treasurer in June 2018, for the 2018–19 financial year. Official budget papers unveiled a $1.512 billion surplus in 2017–18 – more than three times the forecast in the Mid Year Fiscal and Economic Review in December 2017. The 2018–19 budget also forecast operating surpluses for the next four years. The increase in forecast surpluses meant general government sector debt in 2017–18 was approximately $2.4 billion less than estimated in the 2017–18 budget. However, government debt was forecast to increase from a total of $70.8 billion in 2018/19 to $83 billion in 2021–22. The Budget included $50 million in 2018–19 as a capital grant to support the development of concentrated solar thermal projects to provide clean baseload power, and included additional funding over three years for solar and energy efficiency measures through the $97 million Advancing Clean Energy Schools program.


Mining Rehabilitation Reforms

Trad introduced the Mineral and Energy Resources (Financial Provisioning) Bill on 15 February 2018, and was passed in November the same year. The MERFP Act aims to ensure that land disturbed by mining activities is rehabilitated to a safe and stable landform that does not cause environmental harm, and can sustain an approved post-mining land use through requiring mining companies to develop Progressive Rehabilitation and Closure Plans. The Progressive Rehabilitation and Closure Plan requirements commenced on 1 November 2019 and have been integrated into the existing environmental authority processes for new mines.


Second Budget

Trad's second budget as Queensland Treasurer was delivered in June 2019 for the 2019–20 financial year. A significant expenditure unveiled by the budget was the allocation of $250 million to CleanCo, a recently established government-owned clean energy generator operating and growing a portfolio of low and zero emission electricity generation assets to help Queensland achieve its 50 per cent renewable energy target. The budget also included a $330 million five-year allocation for the
Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...
including to the Joint Field Management Program for reef protection measures implemented by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) is a business division of the Department of Environment and Science within the Government of Queensland. The division’s primary concern is with the management and maintenance of Protected areas ...
.


Questions over investment property

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk removed Trad from all dealings with Brisbane's Cross River Rail project in the wake of controversy that emerged surrounding an investment property. The property was purchased by Trad's family trust in the Brisbane suburb of Woolloongabba for $695,000 in March 2019. The location was within proximity of the proposed Boggo Road station in the $5.4 billion Cross River Rail Project for which Trad had ministerial responsibility. Trad was subsequently referred to the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) by Opposition Leader
Deb Frecklington Deborah Kay Frecklington (born 3 September 1971) is an Australian politician who serves as the member for Nanango in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, having won the seat at the 2012 state election. She was the Leader of the Queensland ...
. The chair of the commission recused himself from the investigation after questions about a call he received from Trad, which both parties described as a courtesy call. In September 2019, the commission announced it would not investigate Trad, stating that they saw no evidence that supported a reasonable suspicion of corrupt conduct. The commission did make several recommendations about rule changes and legislation to lower corruption risks.


Resignation and CCC investigation

On 9 May 2020, the Crime and Corruption Commission launched an investigation into Trad's potential misuse of power in the selection of a principal of a newly constructed school in her electorate. On the same day, she announced she would stand down from all her ministerial positions (including Deputy Premier and Treasurer) until the conclusion of the CCC's investigation. Health minister Steven Miles would become Deputy Premier, while Cameron Dick would become Treasurer. She formally resigned from the positions the following day. The CCC investigation cleared Trad in July that year, stating that "there is no prima facie case that the Deputy Premier has committed a criminal offence or that she was motivated by any dishonest or corrupt intent". However, it also stated that the way in which the Department of Education had handled the recruitment exercise had created a corruption risk. Trad later said to reporters that she felt vindicated by the CCC's findings, and that referrals by the LNP opposition to the corruption watchdog were politically motivated. Trad later took the CCC to court to prevent the release of the commission's report into her conduct, with litigation funded by the State Government. Another case before the state's High Court at the same time, into former public trustee and Labor figure Peter Carne, set a precedent that CCC is not able report publicly on investigations without an explicit corruption or disciplinary finding from the commission. Trad's case was subsequently dismissed in Trad's favour. The CCC Chair has requested the Labor State Government change the law to allow the publication of reports in the public interest, which is yet to be enacted.


2020 Queensland state election

Trad approached the 2020 election under significant pressure. The combination of a
marginal seat A marginal seat or swing seat is a constituency held with a small majority in a legislative election, generally one conducted under a single-winner voting system. In Canada, they may be known as target ridings. The opposite is a safe seat. T ...
targeted by the Greens and the LNP's decision to preference Greens above
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 labour ...
sparked speculation that Trad could lose her seat to second-time Greens challenger Amy MacMahon. Trad herself declared that she was in 'the fight of her political life.' A
Newspoll Newspoll is an Australian opinion polling brand, published by ''The Australian'' and administered by Australian polling firm Pyxis Polling & Insights. Pyxis is founded by the team led by Dr Campbell White, who redesigned Newspoll's methodology ...
for the electorate of South Brisbane in late October found that the Greens would win the seat on a 54.5%
two-party-preferred vote In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP), is the result of an opinion poll or a projection of an election result where preferences are distributed to one of the two major parties, the Labor Party and the Liberal/Nati ...
. On election night, ABC psephologist
Antony Green Antony John Green (born 2 March 1960) is an Australian Psephology, psephologist, Data science, data scientist, journalist, and commentator. He was the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's chief election analyst until his retirement from the r ...
called the South Brisbane seat for the Greens candidate. Despite only a small swing away from her primary vote, Trad slipped from first position to second and subsequently suffered an 8.90% two candidate preferred swing following the distribution of LNP preferences.


See also

* First Palaszczuk Ministry * Second Palaszczuk Ministry *
2015 Queensland state election The 2015 Queensland state election was held on 31 January 2015 to elect all 89 members of the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The centre-right Liberal National Party (LNP), led by Premier Campbell Newman, attempted to win a seco ...
* 2017 Queensland state election * 2020 Queensland state election


References


External links


Member Biography: Ms Jackie Trad
Queensland Parliament {{DEFAULTSORT:Trad, Jackie 1972 births Living people Deputy premiers of Queensland Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Labor Left politicians University of Sydney alumni Griffith University alumni Australian people of Lebanese descent Politicians from Brisbane Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland 21st-century Australian politicians Women members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 21st-century Australian women politicians