Introduction
Jacklyn Anne "Jackie" Trad (born 25 April 1972) is an Australian politician. She has been Deputy Premier of Queensland since 2015, Treasurer of Queensland since 2017 and has represented the Queensland Legislative Assembly seat of South Brisbane for the Labor Party since the 2012 South Brisbane by-election.
Personal life and family
Trad is the second daughter of Lebanese immigrants; Lebanese Arabic was her first language. The family returned to Lebanon in 1979 to live in Beirut for one year where she attended the International College. Back in Australia, she attended Lourdes Hill College. She began an arts degree at Griffith University and completed a Master of Public Policy at the University of Sydney. She currently lives in South Brisbane with her husband and two children.
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.
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 on the record as being a supporter of same-sex marriage. She is also a supporter of adoption by same-sex partners.
Opposition
On 29 April 2012, Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk 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 served from May 2012 to January 2015.
On 11 September 2012, Leader of the House Ray Stevens 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 Believing the term to be referring to her Lebanese heritage, Ms Trad objected and requested that the remark be withdrawn.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 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 20115, 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.
Vegetation Management Bill
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. 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. 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 decriminalize abortion in the next term of parliament.
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.