And with those words, Premier Campbell Newman is hoping to draw a line under the last two-and-a-bit years and start afresh.

His mea culpa follows an 18.6 per cent swing against the government at the recent Stafford by-election, a worse result than what the government suffered in Redcliffe at the beginning of the year.

It doesn’t include asset sales or large scale changes to legislation which has raised the eyebrows and the ire of the voting public.

But on Monday afternoon, clutching a small piece of paper on which he had sketched notes about his peace offerings, Mr Newman stood, flanked by the majority of his cabinet and promised change.

Those charged under the government’s anti-gang legislation will no longer have to don a pink jumpsuit or be segregated from the rest of the prison population. But the strict bail conditions and extra jail time for club members and officer bearers remain.

Bipartisanship support for the head of the crime and corruption watchdog will be reinstated, but as acting chair, Ken Levy can continue to serve out his term without the support of the Opposition.

Mr Newman said he, his senior leadership team “and the Attorney-General”  will seek a meeting with the heads of the legal and judicial fraternities, but Tim Carmody will remain Chief Justice.

And estimates will return to its usual scheduling, with the ‘trial’ deemed to have not sold the right message.

“There has been criticism that this wasn’t allowing enough scrutiny by both the media and indeed the opposition, there were claims that this was, in some way, not the right way to do it,” Mr Newman said.

“We are listening.”

But the government will not be making any changes to its electoral and donation laws, which saw voters need to show ID for the first time on Saturday before the Stafford poll, and raised the donation declaration threshold to $12,400 from $1000.

“We certainly discussed things like that today, but again I stress a couple of things – that we had the need to line those up with the federal arrangements, so there wasn’t an inconsistency, and we had legal advice that said that was the case,” Mr Newman said.

And asset sales remain the only way forward for the “bright future” the government has been touting.

"We believe that this is the only way in which to repair the state's finances and to get the infrastructure that Queenslanders need," he said.

And there will be no cabinet reshuffle, Mr Newman said, gesturing to all but a handful of his ministers on Monday.  Ian Walker, Jeff Seeney, Jann Stuckey, Tim Nicholls and Tracy Davis all got spots in the front row, in line with Mr Newman.  Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie, on who so much attention has been spent, and from who’s department the majority of changed legislation has come, stood towards the back.

But Mr Newman said it hadn’t been all bad.

“If you go back and have a look at what this government has done over the last two and a half years, there are many, many important reforms that we have undertaken,” he said.

“I am sorry, I can’t let the history of the 20 years prior to us be forgotten.

“We have done 10 years' worth of reform in two years and there are so many decisions that have been made that actually get our economy going, get rid of red tape and bureaucracy and business, got our hospitals working, getting money for schools, ensuring that this is a safer state, all those things stand.

“But yes, we have made some mistakes, which we acknowledged today and I am apologising for it and we are moving on.”

But for the Opposition, who were all but gifted a ninth member on Saturday, it is too little too late.

“This government has gone from crisis to crisis,” Opposition Leaders Annastacia Palaszczuk said.

“It doesn’t listen, it doesn’t understand and it simply does not care about people.

“ Enough is enough.  Premier -  get out of the executive building, get out and start talking to people, get out on the streets, go door knocking, meet some real people and listen to what their concerns are.

“And perhaps then, Queenslanders will start thinking that you are starting to listen.”