Jackie Trad

On 9 May 2020, the Crime and Corruption Commission launched an investigation into Trad's potential misuse of power in the selection of a principal of a newly constructed school in her electorate. On the same day, she announced she would stand down from all her ministerial positions (including Deputy Premier and Treasurer) until the conclusion of the CCC's investigation. Health minister Steven Miles would become Deputy Premier, while Cameron Dick would become Treasurer. She formally resigned from the positions the following day.

The property was purchased by Trad's family trust in the Brisbane suburb of Woolloongabba for $695,000 in March 2019. The location was within proximity of the proposed Boggo Road station in the $5.4 billion Cross River Rail Project for which Trad had ministerial responsibility.

Trad was subsequently referred to the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) by Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington. The chair of the commission recused himself from the investigation after questions about a call he received from Trad, which both parties described as a courtesy call. In September 2019, the commission announced it would not investigate Trad, stating that they saw no evidence that supported a reasonable suspicion of corrupt conduct. The commission did make several recommendations about rule changes and legislation to lower corruption risks.

Trad delivered her first budget as Queensland Treasurer in June 2018, for the 2018–19 financial year. Official budget papers unveiled a $1.512 billion surplus in 2017–18 – more than three times the forecast in the Mid Year Fiscal and Economic Review in December 2017. The 2018–19 budget also forecast operating surpluses for the next four years. The increase in forecast surpluses meant general government sector debt in 2017–18 was approximately $2.4 billion less than estimated in the 2017–18 budget. However, government debt was forecast to increase from a total of $70.8 billion in 2018/19 to $83 billion in 2021–22.

In addition to being sworn in as the Deputy Premier, Trad became the Minister for Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning, Minister for Transport and Minister for Trade. Following changes to the Palaszczuk Ministry in December 2015, which included expanding its size from 14 to 17, the transport portfolio was transferred to new minister Stirling Hinchliffe. Following Mr Hinchliffe's resignation as Minister for Transport in February 2017, Trad regained the portfolio and held it until the Second Palaszczuk Ministry was sworn in on 12 December 2017.

On 12 December 2017, Trad was sworn in as Deputy Premier, Treasurer and Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships in the Second Palaszczuk Ministry.

On 17 March 2016, Trad introduced the Vegetation Management (Reinstatement) Amendment Bill into parliament, the Palaszczuk Government's bill intended to reverse the previous government's repeal of the Wild Rivers Legislation, enacted in 2005 in an attempt to preserve native vegetation. The changes in legislation under the Newman Government in 2013 had allowed increased rates of tree-clearing in Queensland. The Statewide Landcover and Tree Study (SLATS) report showed 296,324 hectares was cleared in 2013–14, a threefold increase on 2009–10 and the highest level since 2006. The 2014–15 Report found that a further 207,000 hectares was cleared. Trad called the proposed legislation "nation-leading" and one of the Palaszczuk Government's key commitments for protecting the Great Barrier Reef. Despite widespread public campaigning by conservation groups, the bill failed to pass the Legislative Assembly with a vote of 42 in favour and 44 against. It was the first time the Palaszczuk Government had failed to get one of its own bills through parliament. Ms Trad announced in October 2016 that Labor would re-introduce the legislation if it won the next election. Following their victory at the 2017 Election, Labor re-introduced the bill as the Vegetation Management and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2018 and it passed on 9 May 2018.

On 10 May 2016, Independent former-Labor MP Rob Pyne introduced two pieces of legislation to the Legislative Assembly aimed at decriminalising abortion in Queensland. Trad became the first government MP to support the bill and described herself as “unashamedly pro-choice”. She said it was time for Queensland law “to catch up with legal precedent and treat pregnancy termination as a health issue, not a criminal issue.” Her public statements in support of abortion law reform prompted Brisbane Catholic Archbishop Mark Coleridge to offer to "counsel" her and her Labor colleagues. At a rally in opposition to Mr Pyne's bills, Archbishop Coleridge also likened the practice of abortion to Nazi Germany. Ms Trad responded: "I would have thought the archbishop had more important things to focus on, like the inquiry into institutional abuse and the findings that are coming out of that inquiry than what is before the Queensland parliament," a reference to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Following the decision by the LNP to vote against the bills, Mr Pyne withdrew them both in February 2017. The Palaszczuk Government referred the issue to the Queensland Law Reform Commission and pledged to introduce its own bill to decriminalize abortion in the next term of parliament.

Following the Queensland state election on 31 January 2015, Tim Mulherin stood down as deputy leader, and Trad was named his successor. She thus became Deputy Premier of Queensland in the Palaszczuk Ministry on 14 February 2015.

Trad was elected to the legislature at the South Brisbane by-election held on 28 April 2012. The by-election was held after the resignation of the previous Labor Party incumbent and former Premier Anna Bligh.

On 29 April 2012, Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk appointed Trad as Shadow Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Environment and Heritage Protection, Small Business, Consumer Affairs and the Arts.

Trad was appointed as a member of the Parliamentary Ethics Committee and served from May 2012 to January 2015.

On 11 September 2012, Leader of the House Ray Stevens referred to Trad as "Jihad Jackie" during parliamentary debate. Believing the term to be referring to her Lebanese heritage, Ms Trad objected and requested that the remark be withdrawn. Immediately following this interaction, Premier Campbell Newman said that Jackie Trad was "precious" and needed to "harden up." Trad commented outside parliament that "It is outrageous to think that the Queensland Parliament should be condoning these sorts of racist barbs when they are unacceptable in the community." Her comments were echoed by Ethnic Communities Council executive manager Ian Muil when he said Mr Stevens' comment would upset people, especially in the Muslim community, describing it as "dog-whistle type stuff."

Trad is the second daughter of Lebanese immigrants; Lebanese Arabic was her first language. The family returned to Lebanon in 1979 to live in Beirut for one year where she attended the International College.

Jacklyn Anne Trad (born 25 April 1972) is an Australian politician. She was Deputy Premier and Treasurer of Queensland from 2015 to 2020 and has represented the Legislative Assembly seat of South Brisbane for the Labor Party since the 2012 South Brisbane by-election. Trad resigned as Deputy Premier and Treasurer in May 2020, after the Crime and Corruption Commission commenced an investigation into the recruitment of the Principal of a new secondary school in Brisbane.