Annastacia Palaszczuk
27 April 2026
Annastacia Palaszczuk: The Politics of Being Me
7:30pm, Monday 27th April 2026
Powerhouse Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse
When Annastacia Palaszczuk became leader of Queensland Labor, the joke went that her party’s opposition caucus was so small it could fit inside a seven-seater Toyota Tarago. But the joke, as it turned out, wasn’t on her: in 2015, she became the first woman to win the premiership of Queensland from the opposition; in 2021, she made history again when she became Australia’s longest serving female government leader. In conversation with the wonderful Frances Whiting, Palaszczuk reveals the triumphs and struggles of her storied career, the challenges of life in the public eye and the truth of what it takes to win as a woman in politics.
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Artwork credits:
2025 hero image by Phoebe Paradise
2024 hero image by Samuel Tupou
2023 hero image by Brent Wilson
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Brisbane Writers Festival is held on the lands of the Yuggera and Turrbul people, on the banks of the Maiwar river. We recognise the important and ongoing contributions of Indigenous Australians to art and literature, and pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging.