Why Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is under fire from bitter locals for this photo at a fruit festival
- Annastacia Palaszczuk angered Toowoomba locals
- She didn’t attend its crisis meeting on Wednesday
- She went to a nearby fruit festival on Saturday
Fed-up locals of a crime-ridden town have slammed Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk for snubbing them to pose for pictures at a fruit festival instead.
The Labor Premier repeatedly declined invitations to meet residents at a crisis meeting on Wednesday to tackle the out of control crime wave hitting Toowoomba.
Instead she promised to ‘imminently’ visit the Darling Downs town 125km west of Brisbane.
But locals were infuriated when they saw their premier at Chinchilla’s Melon Festival on Saturday – just a two-hour drive from Toowoomba.
The premier was seen laughing with locals, waving to parades and posing with emergency workers.
But while Ms Palaszczuk said the event ‘puts smiles on people’s faces’, Toowoomba residents were feeling less festive.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has come under fire for attending the Chinchilla Melon Festival on Saturday after refusing an invite to Toowoomba’s crisis meeting on Wednesday (pictured, Ms Palaszczuk waving to a parade on Saturday)
Ms Palaszczuk (left) was seen laughing with locals, waving to parades and posing with emergency workers instead of addressing the nearby region’s crime epidemic
National Party leader David Littleproud called for the Premier to move visiting Toowoomba to the top of her priority list.
‘She flew right over Toowoomba so she could have landed and she could have had a conversation with the community,’ he said.
‘To do her job she’s got to listen to people, get in front of people and if she gets that opportunity she needs to take it with both hands.’
The Toowoomba Community Safety Forum on Wednesday night saw hundreds of furious locals meet with high-ranking police officials to find solutions to the town’s growing crime epidemic.
Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll, head of the Youth Justice Taskforce Assistant Commissioner George Marchesini and Darling Downs District Superintendent Doug McDonald all attended the forum.
It follows the death of 75-year-old photographer Robert Brown who was killed in Toowoomba’s CBD earlier this month while waiting for a taxi.
Three teenagers have been charged with murder in relation to his death.
One devastated resident at the forum said ‘at least 95 per cent’ of the people who attended were victims of crime.
Toowoomba Mayor Paul Antonio wrote Ms Palaszczuk a personal invitation to the forum after she turned down several other invitations to the event.
Hundreds of upset Toowoomba locals (above) attended a Community Safety Forum on Wednesday night follow a rise in violent crime
Ms Palaszczuk (pictured on Saturday) turned down several invitations to the forum, including a personal letter from the mayor
She refused again, instead saying she would visit the suffering small town ‘imminently’, Courier Mail reports.
Of Toowoomba’s worsening situation, Mr Antonio said: ‘We’ve seen shootings in the street, a stabbing in the street in Toowoomba and that’s not what Toowoomba is about.
‘This is a far better community than that and the people who are perpetrating those crimes – we really don’t want them here.
‘We have to work together to make sure we preserve the liveability, viability and beautiful environment of which we live.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Premier for comment.
