{"id":483305,"date":"2026-02-16T08:34:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T08:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/483305\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T08:34:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T08:34:16","slug":"brett-pointing-to-replace-steve-gollschewski-as-queensland-police-commissioner-on-12-month-interim-basis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/483305\/","title":{"rendered":"Brett Pointing to replace Steve Gollschewski as Queensland police commissioner on 12-month interim basis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brett Pointing has been chosen to head up the Queensland Police Service (QPS) in an interim capacity, replacing outgoing commissioner Steve Gollschewski.<\/p>\n

Mr Pointing, who served four decades on the police frontline, is a former QPS deputy commissioner who left the service to take on the role of deputy commissioner of operations in the Australian Federal Police (AFP).<\/p>\n

He said it was a “great honour” to be appointed as the state’s top cop.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Like Steve [Gollschewski], I am also very proud to have been part of a police family, with my father and two brothers retiring in senior positions \u2026 I also had many uncles and other relatives in the Queensland police,” Mr Pointing said.<\/p>\n

“I enjoyed more than 40 years’ service in the QPS, and in addition, my experience in the AFP in the operational role has given me both a national and international network and perspective on policing that will be very valuable.<\/p>\n

“Returning to the QPS feels like coming home.”\"A<\/p>\n

Queensland Police commissioner Steve Gollschewski is retiring after 46 years of service. (ABC News: Curtis Rodda)<\/p>\n

Mr Pointing was recently part of an external independent advisory panel into the QPS’s workforce<\/a>, which found staff were overworked and needed more support on the frontline.<\/p>\n

“This gave me an insight into the organisation, its challenges and more importantly, its potential,” Mr Pointing said.<\/p>\n

“The review was very clear \u2014 the QPS must refocus on core policing across all categories, strengthen governance and invest resources where it matters most [and] it must also focus on the well-being of members and ensure they are supported.<\/p>\n

“I intend to continue the changes and improvements that Steve [Gollschewski] has started.”<\/p>\n

Mr Pointing said areas of “high priority” included reducing car thefts, unlawful entry and robbery, decreasing road fatalities, addressing domestic and family violence and combating child exploitation.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Brett Pointing says car theft and domestic violence are among his top priorities.\u00a0 (ABC News)<\/p>\n

Police Minister Dan Purdie said he had “exercised a power” available to him to appoint Mr Pointing as commissioner on a 12-month interim basis without the usual independent merit-based selection panel process.<\/p>\n

“In circumstances where a commissioner wants to leave before the end of his term and there’s work to be done, I can appoint an interim commissioner and that’s what I’ve done.”<\/p>\n

“There will be time to do that search and find a full-time commissioner,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Pointing said he would apply when the job is advertised.<\/p>\n

‘One of the best policing minds in Australia’<\/p>\n

Mr Purdie said he and Mr Gollschewski had jointly agreed Mr Pointing was the “stand-out” candidate.<\/p>\n

“He led a bikie-busting taskforce, he reformed domestic and family violence, and I thank him for answering the call to service to come back,” Mr Purdie said.<\/p>\n

“Steve Gollschewski has set the Queensland Police Service up for success and Brett Pointing is the best person to take those steps forward.”<\/p>\n

Queensland police commissioner announces retirement<\/a><\/p>\n

Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski has announced his retirement to focus on his family and health after a 46-year career with the service.<\/p>\n

Mr Gollschewski said his replacement has “one of the best policing minds in Australia”.<\/p>\n

“This gives me the opportunity to hand the baton over to someone who I know will probably do a better job than me.”<\/p>\n

Mr Pointing will take up the role on Friday.<\/p>\n

Mr Gollschewski was appointed to the top job in April 2024 but stepped down 10 months into his five-year term after being diagnosed with stage four cancer, which had spread from his lungs.<\/p>\n

He later returned to the role after undergoing treatment but announced his retirement last week to focus on his family and health after more than 46 years on the frontline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brett Pointing has been chosen to head up the Queensland Police Service (QPS) in an interim capacity, replacing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":483306,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,244951,131825,44,131828,244952,10471,131826],"class_list":{"0":"post-483305","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-brett-pointing","11":"tag-dan-purdie","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-qps","14":"tag-queensland-police-commissioner","15":"tag-queensland-police-service","16":"tag-steve-gollschewski"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/483306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}