Premier’ Annastacia Palaszczuk under fire as she heads overseas for two weeks with rumours of a ‘coup brewing’

Queensland’s deputy premier has poured cold water on speculation about a leadership challenge against Annastacia Palaszczuk following controversial changes to the juvenile justice bill and poor polling.

After the Queensland premier flew to Europe for a two-week holiday, Ms Palaszczuk’s deputy Steven Miles lent her support amid reports of dissension in the ranks of Labour.

Critics have started labeling Ms Palaszczuk as a part-time prime minister, while insiders claim the state leader has quit her job and seems more interested in attending red carpet events and festivals.

Mr Miles has been proposed as a potential prime minister but insisted Ms Palaszczuk was safe and declared she would lead the government to the next election.

The acting prime minister said Ms Palaszczuk was doing a fantastic job and that the leadership speculation was inconsistent with his talks with Labor colleagues.

“I understand it will always be small talk, it will always be rumors and gossip,” Miles told reporters in Brisbane on Sunday.

“What I know is a great strength of our government: our stability and our unity, and the leadership Annastacia has provided, and I intend to continue that unity and stability.”

Mr Miles would not be attracted to the view of the prime minister stepping down after the state government introduced a series of new laws this week allowing children to be held in police guardhouses.

“I don’t think a lot of people pay much attention to that,” he said.

‘Annastacia works hard; she’s entitled to a vacation.’

Ms Palaszczuk, who will return to work on September 11, has been Queensland’s Prime Minister for more than eight years and has led Labor to three successive election victories.

She is poised to overtake Peter Beattie next year as the fourth longest-serving prime minister in the state’s history.

Despite a poll last month showing Labour’s primary vote had fallen to 34 per cent, Mr Miles suggested this was not unusual, noting that the election was over a year away.

“People have written us off since 2015, even since 2012,” he said.

“I know that David Crisafulli (Queensland’s Liberal leader) has already sworn in, but it will be a long time before the people of Queensland have a chance to make a decision.”

The prime minister crossed the line this year because he canceled a cabinet meeting to party on a luxury yacht.

Ms. Palaszczuk also took several days off in August on the Quantum yacht for the Hamilton Island Race Week with her friend Dr. Reza Adib and with celebrities.

She was also spotted partying at the Splendor in the Grass music festival in Byron Bay.

The opposition Liberal National Party said its decision to cancel the cabinet meeting was ‘unfathomable’, though Labor said the attack was ‘puny and cheap’.

Since then, things have only gotten worse in the Sunshine State.

Figures released in May show Queensland’s healthcare system is under severe strain as ambulance numbers – when paramedics are unable to transfer care for patients to a hospital’s emergency department – ​​have risen to the worst in Australia.

The statistics showed serious delays in service at hospitals across the state, with patients waiting “dangerously” long before they were helped.

“Nearly one in two Queensland residents are affected in an hour of distress and the blame falls squarely on Palaszczuk’s chaotic government, which is swinging from crisis to crisis,” LNP leader David Crisafulli said at the time.

In June, Ms Palaszczuk was spotted enjoying a long weekend in Sydney as Queensland grappled with a spiraling juvenile delinquency epidemic.