Mark Bailey, Qld shadow health minister, on his brushes with death, cabinet dumping, and plans to win back voters
Mark Bailey does not feel he has been given a poisoned chalice, despite being given a portfolio that has historically been perceived as a burden reserved for political rivals.
Following the resignation at the end of 2023 of former prime minister Annastacia Palaszczuk, who remained staunchly loyal to Bailey throughout periods of intense scrutiny, the former transport minister left the cabinet before being almost certainly sacked by new leader Steven Miles.
But less than 12 months later, he was back in the front row as shadow health spokesman following Labour’s election loss.
“I took it on the chin,” Bailey said of the cabinet resignation in a wide-ranging interview with this masthead at his election office in Yeerongpilly.
“This is politics. Sometimes things happen.”
Bailey says his promotion to the healthcare portfolio shows Miles has “a lot of confidence in me” and he is adamant the role is an opportunity.
“[Health is] something that touches everyone’s life in many ways.
“Certainly, [it’s] One of the most difficult portfolios… but it must be something to aspire to.
“This isn’t something to complain about. It’s something to take action on.”
The LNP, meanwhile, based its health sector “results” on Labour’s failures; He has promised to reduce ambulance surge rates, reduce long elective surgery waiting lists and deliver infrastructure within budget.
Almost every week for the past year, Prime Minister David Crisafulli and Health Minister Tim Nicholls have said these initiatives were needed to “heal Labour’s health crisis” and revive services after a “decade of decline”. And many voters agree.
Polling ahead of the 2024 state election has shown that healthcare and aged care are among the top issues affecting Queenslanders.
Although the abortion misstep caused Crisafulli’s campaign to near-deadlock, voters ultimately entrusted the LNP with the task of running the state’s health system for the next four years.
It leaves a long road ahead for the shadow health spokesman, who now has three years to convince Queensland he can return to the driver’s seat in a portfolio where Labor has traditionally been strong. But Bailey is confident he has the courage to do so.
“We are going back to the grassroots, reconnecting with the community and aiming to gain that trust by the next election,” he says.
Bailey’s office is located on the corner of King Arthur Terrace in Yeerongpilly’s Green Riverside Village; It’s a short drive from his home on Brisbane’s southside, where he’s lived since moving from the Gold Coast with his family when he was six.
His parents divorced seven years after moving in, leaving his mother to support the household as a single parent. “It was a little more challenging, but my mom always made it happen,” he says.
Bailey’s interest in politics – the “contest of ideas” – was sparked during his time at Cavendish Road State High School. During his senior year, he would meet with a group of students in the library every day before school to “review” them. Courier Post and discuss the issues of the day.”
“We realized we were progressive people and a year later we all joined the Labor Party,” he says.
Two deaths during his adolescence added extra weight to Bailey’s existing political ambitions.
The 15-year-old was on his way to school on Logan Road when a car door hit him and he was “thrown” into oncoming traffic. Paramedics in the ambulance to Princess Alexandra Hospital were convinced the teenager had been run over after seeing black tire marks on the back of her legs.
Two years later, Bailey spent more than a week in the Mater Hospital’s intensive care unit with Salmonella food poisoning.
“The healthcare system saved my life twice,” he says. “I don’t come from a rich background, it was [because of] “A strong public health system and amazing staff and doctors.”
After high school, Bailey studied at the University of Queensland. Although he graduated with a teaching degree, he spent the next nine years as deputy chairman of the Brisbane City Council’s planning committee.
He left the council after almost a decade to spend time outside the “political bubble” and briefly moved to Byron Bay before moving to New York City to pursue acting.
“I felt in my bones that I wanted to be in a big city,” Bailey says of her 2.5-year sabbatical. “It was a great experience… I don’t regret a single day.”
But politics eventually brought him back to Australia. “There are many actors in the world [but] There are not enough activists… not enough people making progressive change. “I thought this was where I was needed the most.”
He returned to Queensland at the height of Campbell Newman’s reign as LNP premier. “We quickly returned to the 1980s almost overnight in terms of evil. [and] disrespectful to people,” says Bailey.
“That made me angry… and then I decided to go back and run for state politics again.”
Bailey won the seat of Yeerongpilly and was given the roads, ports and energy portfolios after Labor ousted Newman in 2015.
Two years later he replaced Jackie Trad as minister for transport and main roads.
He cites efforts across these portfolios, accelerating the Gold Coast’s light rail project and the Coomera Connector, as some of his proudest political achievements. However, the years did not pass without controversy.
During his time as transport minister, Bailey faced criticism over cost overruns on key projects, particularly a $960 million overage at Cross River Rail in Brisbane.
He was briefly suspended from cabinet during the Crime and Corruption Commission investigation into his use of his personal email address in 2017, but was later cleared of corruption.
Last week he was named in the ongoing CFMEU investigation, accused of directing his department and its contractors to negotiate with the embattled union and running a “sham” consultation on the government’s Best Practice Industrial Conditions policy.
Asked about the latest review, Bailey said it would be inappropriate to comment at this early stage. “Obviously, like many people, I am following the investigation closely.”
Bailey was among the crowd on Tuesday when Nicholls gave a keynote speech outlining the LNP’s Hospital Rescue Plan, drawn up after a review of Labour’s Hospital Expansion Program found significant budget blowouts and delays.
Bailey says such criticism overlooks the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. “The criticisms were politically expedient, but the reality is that the pandemic has had major impacts on both public and private construction costs,” he says.
“We said criticism is code for cuts and costs. What’s the first thing to do?” [the LNP] Did he do it? “They reviewed and cut many of their hospital expansion programs.”
If Bailey sees his current portfolio as compensation for past concerns, he’s wasting no time making his case to Queenslanders.
As he took to task over the LNP’s alleged “decade of decline”, Crisafulli spoke out about his government’s mishandling of last year’s flu season, its ban on pill testing and child sex services, and pay talks with public health workers.
“You need a government from top to bottom where public health is the top priority in every decision,” he says. “This is not happening [in Queensland] Right now.
“And you need a prime minister and a health minister who are on the same page… and a health minister who will support best medical practice rather than ideology.
“There are many things you can achieve through pressure and advocacy in opposition… and [the LNP] They will take maximum pressure from me.”
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