Bligh to inject new blood into cabinet

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh says she has taken a message from the swing against Labor in the state election, and will address her government's failings, starting with the health system.

Labor suffered a four per cent swing across the state in Saturday's poll but will
retain a comfortable majority over the Liberal National Party (LNP), who campaigned
strongly on health.
Ms Bligh on Sunday announced her first move as an elected premier would be to oust
Health Minister Stephen Robertson from his portfolio, replacing him with Deputy
Premier Paul Lucas.
"There is no doubt that the mandate comes with a message, and the message is a very
clear one," she told reporters in Brisbane.
"Queenslanders want me and my government to do better, and they want us to do better
on some of the biggest areas of responsibility, and without a doubt one of those is
health."
Mr Lucas said he was honoured to accept the position, which many consider a poisoned
chalice.
"Health is at the forefront of what state governments do to make the lives of people
better," he told reporters.
"It is a great honour to serve the premier ... she asked me to do a tough job, I'm
here to do a tough job."
Mr Robertson's time as health minister had been littered with problems, the most
recent involving a nurse who was raped in her run-down quarters in the Torres
Strait.
The incident prompted a review of all Queensland Health housing in remote areas, but
Mr Robertson embarrassed Labor when, during the election campaign, it was revealed
most of the problem homes had not been fixed.
Ms Bligh would not speculate on Mr Robertson's future role, but has already
foreshadowed serious renewal in her unpopular cabinet.
She intends to handpick her team, rather than negotiating with Labor's factions, and
has already assured she will keep Treasurer Andrew Fraser in his job and Mr Lucas as
deputy premier.
"I will put together a ministry that has a combination of new talent and experienced
people," she said.
"I'll be asking experienced people, as I've done with health this morning, to take
on new challenges."
The new cabinet will be sworn in on Thursday, and new faces could include MPs Karen
Struthers, Annastacia Palaszczuk and Stirling Hinchliffe.
The election win gave Labor a historic fifth consecutive term in office in
Queensland, and also made Ms Bligh, a 48-year-old mother of two, Australia's first
elected woman premier.
She said being premier was "not even a distant possibility" when she was a girl.
"When I was growing up on the Gold Coast, being a member of parliament was not on my
radar," Ms Bligh said.
The election of a female premier was a reflection on Queenslanders, rather than her,
she said.
"I was asked many times whether Queensland was ready for a woman premier," she said.
"Queenslanders have shown that they'll make a decision about someone on the basis of
what their talents and abilities and merits are."