A former Newman government minister in his first term in office, David Crisafulli has had a meteoric rise through Queensland LNP ranks (The Liberal National Party of Queensland).
He is now being touted as a potential future leader of the party if rumours of a backroom plan to topple Deb Frecklington are true.
This is despite him having served less than two terms in office.
He only entered state politics in 2012 when the LNP thumped Labor.
Before then he had worked as a journalist and chief-of-staff at a country TV station and then served as deputy mayor of Townsville for four years.
Then-Premier Campbell Newman saw enough in the fledgling politician to make him minister for local government.
However, Crisafulli became collateral damage when Newman’s government was kicked to the kerb in 2015, with Labor winning back his Townsville seat of Mundingburra.
Not done with politics, the then-36-year-old packed his bags and family and headed to the Gold Coast to a four-bedroom waterfront home on Hope Island.
It was from here he returned to the corridors of power via the safe LNP seat of Broadwater at the 2017 state election.
He was pre-selected for Broadwater ahead of sitting LNP member Verity Barton.
While familiar to his electorate, Crisafulli has become more widely known across the state during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Using his media skills to spin coronavirus stories, rarely has a week gone by that the 41-year-old has not either been seen on TV, heard on radio or had his name in print.
He’s been front and centre asking for borders to open, begging for restrictions to be eased for struggling Gold Coast businesses, and urging the government to allow pilots to perform flyovers on ANZAC Day.
His growing media profile has been to the detriment of Frecklington.
Her detractors say she is failing to cut through to voters and the LNP is headed for another election loss unless she is replaced.
They say the rising star in the LNP ranks is the media-savvy Crisafulli.
Former LNP member Jann Stuckey has agreed, saying Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s Labor party would be “scared out of their wits if it was David Crisafulli” who led the LNP to the polls in October.
Frecklington’s shadow cabinet and the LNP party room are meeting in Brisbane on June 15, ahead of parliament resuming on Tuesday.
