Steven Miles

Steven John Miles (born 15 November 1977) is an Australian politician who is the 40th and current premier of Queensland, in office since 2023. He is the state leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and previously served as deputy premier from 2020 to 2023.

Miles was born in Brisbane and completed a PhD on the trade union movement at the University of Queensland. Prior to entering parliament he worked as a union official, political adviser, and public relations consultant. He was elected to parliament at the 2015 Queensland state election, initially representing the seat of Mount Coot-tha before switching to Murrumba at the 2017 election. Miles was appointed to state cabinet after the 2015 election victory and replaced Jackie Trad as Annastacia Palaszczuk's deputy in 2020. He succeeded Palaszcuk as ALP leader and premier unopposed following her retirement in December 2023.

Early life
Miles was born in Brisbane on 15 November 1977. He attended St Paul's Anglican School, Bald Hills. He went on to complete the degrees of Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at the University of Queensland. Miles' PhD thesis was titled "Trade Union Renewal in Australia: rebuilding worker involvement".

Miles was a co-founder and managing director of Reveille Strategy, a public relations agency working with progressive organisations to "mobilise for campaigns and trumpet their message to the community". Prior to his election to parliament he also worked as an adviser to state treasurer Andrew Fraser and as industrial relations director of state public sector union Together.

Political career
Miles was initially a member of the Labor Right faction, but switched to Labor Left after he failed to win a preselection ballot for the seat of Pine Rivers prior to the 2009 Queensland state election. He was the unsuccessful Labor candidate for Ryan at the 2010 Australian federal election.

In 2014, Miles defeated Fiona McNamara for preselection in the state seat of Mount Coot-tha, and was elected in the 2015 state election. He was sworn in as Minister for Environment and Heritage Protection and Minister for National Parks and the Great Barrier Reef in the First Palaszczuk Ministry on 16 February 2015.

Following an electoral redistribution in 2017, Miles stood for the North Brisbane electorate of Murrumba and was elected in the 2017 state election. He was appointed and sworn in as the Minister for Health and Ambulance Services in the Second Palaszczuk Ministry after the election. He was health minister for the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia and in January 2020 declared a public health emergency, the first such declaration by an Australian state.

On 10 May 2020, Miles was announced as the new Deputy Premier of Queensland and was sworn in the following day, following the resignation of the previous Deputy Premier Jackie Trad. He continued to be Minister for Health and Ambulance Services until the state election in October 2020, after which he was appointed the Minister for State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning in the Third Palaszczuk Ministry.

Premier of Queensland
In December 2023, following Palaszczuk's resignation, Miles announced he would be a candidate to succeed her as state premier and ALP leader in Queensland. It was reported that he was aligned with the dominant left faction and enjoyed the support of the United Workers Union. He was initially opposed for the leadership by Shannon Fentiman, but Fentiman subsequently withdrew after a deal was struck between Miles and Cameron Dick of the right faction in which Dick would become deputy premier. He was elected unopposed on 15 December 2023 and sworn in as premier on the same day.

Personal life
Miles has three children with his wife Kim McDowell. Miles supports the Brisbane Broncos.