David Crisafulli | |
|---|---|
 Crisafulli in 2025 | |
| 41stPremier of Queensland | |
| Assumed office 28 October 2024 | |
| Monarch | Charles III |
| Governor | Jeannette Young |
| Deputy | Jarrod Bleijie |
| Preceded by | Steven Miles |
| Leader of the Opposition in Queensland | |
| In office 12 November 2020 – 28 October 2024 | |
| Premier | Annastacia Palaszczuk Steven Miles |
| Deputy | David Janetzki Jarrod Bleijie |
| Preceded by | Deb Frecklington |
| Succeeded by | Steven Miles |
| Leader of the Liberal National Party | |
| Assumed office 12 November 2020 | |
| Deputy | David Janetzki Jarrod Bleijie |
| Preceded by | Deb Frecklington |
| Minister for Local Government | |
| In office 3 April 2012 – 13 February 2015 | |
| Premier | Campbell Newman |
| Preceded by | Paul Lucas |
| Succeeded by | Jackie Trad |
| Member of theQueensland Parliament forBroadwater | |
| Assumed office 25 November 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Verity Barton |
| Member of theQueensland Parliament forMundingburra | |
| In office 24 March 2012 – 31 January 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Lindy Nelson-Carr |
| Succeeded by | Coralee O'Rourke |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1979-04-14)14 April 1979 (age 46) Ingham, Queensland, Australia |
| Party | Liberal National |
| Spouse | Tegan Crisafulli |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence(s) | Hope Island, Queensland, Australia |
| Website | Government website Party website |
David Frank Crisafulli (/ˌkrɪsəˈfʊli/,Italian:[kri.zaˈful.li]; born 14 April 1979) is an Australian politician who has served as the 41stpremier of Queensland since 2024 and leader of theLiberal National Party since 2020. He has been themember of parliament (MP) for the districtBroadwater since 2017.
Crisafulli previously held ministerial positions in theNewman government. He is the first Queensland premier to be ofItalian heritage.
Crisafulli was born on 14 April 1979 inIngham, Queensland.[1][2] He is one of two children born to Karen and Antonino "Tony" Crisafulli; his parents are both of Italian origin. His father's family originates from the village ofNovara di Sicilia inSicily,Italy. His paternal grandfather Francesco Crisafulli immigrated to Australia in 1960 to work as a cane-cutter and later established his own sugarcane farm on theHerbert River.[3]
Crisafulli was raised in Ingham, where he attended Canossa Primary School andGilroy Santa Maria College.[3] He graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism degree fromJames Cook University inTownsville in 2000.[2] While at university he also worked full-time as a cadet reporter at theHerbert River Express.[3]
In 2000, Crisafulli moved into television, becoming a journalist withWIN News in Townsville, and was made chief of staff of the Townsville newsroom in 2002.[4] During that time, he also worked as a correspondent forThe Australian andSunday Mail newspapers, did weekly work forDMG Regional Radio as a newsreader, and lectured in journalism atJames Cook University.[citation needed]
In 2003, Crisafulli was appointed a ministerial media advisor to the thenHoward government Minister and LiberalSenator for Queensland,Ian Macdonald. In 2004, Crisafulli successfully stood for what was then the 100% Labor Party-controlledTownsville City Council, on aconservative platform. He became the youngest person ever elected to the council.[5] In 2008, when theTownsville andThuringowa councils were merged, he stood as a candidate at thefirst election for the enlarged council.[6] Crisafulli made a deal withLes Tyrell, the former mayor of Thuringowa, to stand in partnership for the mayor and deputy mayor positions; Tyrell won election as mayor and Crisafulli as deputy mayor.[7] He served as deputy mayor until his resignation in 2012 to stand for a seat in theQueensland Parliament. During his second term on Council, he became the chairman of the Townsville City Council Planning Committee.
In the2012 Queensland state election, Crisafulli was elected to theLegislative Assembly of Queensland in the seat ofMundingburra, as a member of theLiberal National party.[8] He was appointed the Minister for Local Government in the newNewman government. In February 2013, his role was expanded when he became Minister for Local Government, Community Recovery and Resilience.[9] He re-contested Mundingburra at the2015 Queensland state election but was defeated by theLabor candidateCoralee O'Rourke.[10]
Following his 2015 election loss, Crisafulli and his family relocated toHope Island on Queensland'sGold Coast.[11] He subsequently ran a small business giving advice about dealing with government and business development opportunities.[citation needed]
In May 2017, he defeated incumbent Broadwater MPVerity Barton for LNP preselection to contest the2017 election,[12] and subsequently won the Broadwater seat.[13] In December 2017, after the election ofDeb Frecklington as Leader of the Opposition, Crisafulli was appointed the Shadow Minister for Environment, Science and the Great Barrier Reef, and Shadow Minister for Tourism.
On 12 November 2020, Crisafulli becameLeader of the Opposition in Queensland, after the Liberal National Party elected him as party leader following the resignation ofDeb Frecklington.[14]
Crisafulli led the LNP into the2024 Queensland state election. The LNP gained a 51 seatmajority in theQueensland Parliament, and he subsequently became the 41stPremier of Queensland.[15]
Crisafulli was sworn in as Queensland's 41st Premier byGovernorJeannette Young on 28 October, alongside his deputyJarrod Bleijie.[16] The pair formed an interim ministry, with thefull ministry sworn in later that week.[17][18]
Crisafulli has prioritised curbingyouth crimes as part of his electoral campaign promise during his premiership, with the slogan "adult crime, adult time", promising and eventually implementing adult sentences for youth crimes during his premiership, which apply to children as young as ten years of age.[19][20] The laws have been passed in tranches establishing substantial penalties for an increasing number of crimes, with the first tranche in late 2024 and the second tranche, which increased the number of crimes to 33, in May 2025.[21][22]
These laws have garnered criticism as being contrary to child rights, including a report from theUnited Nations special rapporteur on torture criticizing it as "incompatible with basic child rights".[23][24] Crisafulli has pushed back on the criticism, saying, "Here's my message to the United Nations, 'You don't control me, and I don't answer to you, I answer to Queenslanders'".[22][25]
On 2 September 2025 Crisafulli was referred to the QueenslandCrime and Corruption Commission, Queensland's peak anti-corruption body over allegations that Crisafulli, along with health ministerTim Nicholls, inappropriately intervened to pushQueensland Health's senior public servant, Director-General Dr David Rosegren to rescind an offer of employment made to Dr Krispin Hajkowicz for a permanent Chief Health Officer role. The intervention came after discussion from the Premier to Dr Rosegren and resulted in the job offer being withdrawn after the would be candidate had already taken publicity photographs for a draft media release regarding the appointment. Crisafulli stated that he had "advised Rosegren" of "the concerns of the Government", prior to the withdrawal of the role despite the expert recruitment panel identifying Dr Hajkowicz as the preferred candidate. The submission to the CCC alleged that Crisafulli intervened to block the appointment in order to punish Dr Hajkowicz for his wife's political views, after she made a submission to Parliament regarding laws exempting the futureBrisbane Olympic stadium from legal oversight.[26] Acting PremierDavid Janetzki refused to comment on the investigation.
Crisafulli claims and describes his political views ascentrist[27] anddecentralist.[28]
Crisafulli opposes allowingtrans womento compete against cisgender women in sport and voted for an unsuccessful bill tabled byKatter's Australian Party (KAP) leaderRobbie Katter that sought to ban trans women from playing women's sports in Queensland.[29]
Crisafulli personally opposed theIndigenous Voice to Parliament, but decided not to campaign against it and members of the LNP were given afree vote on the issue.[30]
Crisafulli has said, that in the event he was elected as premier, he would not roll backIndigenous treaty legislation. This was despite facing pressure from the LNP grassroots to do so.[31][32] However, on 19 October 2023, a few days after the2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum Crisafulli announced the LNP will be dropping its support for Treaty.[33][34][35]
Crisafulli opposed theTermination of Pregnancy Bill 2018, which decriminalisedabortion in Queensland, and theVoluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2021, which legalisedvoluntary assisted dying. Both Bills were passed inconscience votes (50–41 and 60–29 respectively).[36][37] During the 2024 election campaign, he stated he supported a "woman's right to choose" and noted that six years had passed since the bill was voted on.[38]
After becoming Premier, Crisafulli banned discussions and debate on abortion in parliament for four years.[39]
Crisafulli is a skeptic ofnuclear energy, despite the federal oppositionCoalition's affirmative stance towardsmodular nuclear reactors.[40]
Crisafulli has been outspoken about his opposition to youth crime, including promises during the 2024 election campaign to implementsolitary confinement for said offenders,[41] as well as subsequent legislation as Premier.[19][20]
Crisafulli lives inBulimba, Queensland with his wife Tegan and their two children. He does not maintain a residence inside of his electorate.[42] He owns acane farm near Ingham.[43] He is a supporter of theNorth Queensland Cowboys rugby league club[43] and theGold Coast Suns in theAustralian Football League.[44]
I'm someone who grew up in regional Queensland who saw the value of hard work and agriculture and I grew up in a conservative household, but I probably drift a little further to becoming moderate as I get older, which is maybe in contrast to how others go. I'm a centrist, I'm a political centrist. I'm not driven by hard ideologies on either the left or the right. I'm driven by making sure that people who go to work can do so and build a business free from the regulation of government. I'm driven to make sure that people who are disadvantaged can be able to get access to a health system to be able to lift their lot in life. I do believe in government conducting themselves with integrity and decency. (34min 34sec)
Handing control back to the members, ensuring that power was decentralised, which has been my philosophy. It was my philosophy as a minister to hand power back from my desk as Local Government Minister back to Councils. I am a decentralist at my heart. (21min 33sec)
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Leader of the Opposition in Queensland 2020–2024 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Premier of Queensland 2024–present | Incumbent |
| Parliament of Queensland | ||
| Preceded by | Member forMundingburra 2012–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member forBroadwater 2017–present | Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Leader of theLiberal National Party 2020–present | Incumbent |
