The $5 million-dollar, 30-year Queensland Plan released this week is not so much a plan but the equivalent of a Christmas wish list.
For instance, how does the government plan to enable Queensland to have the “highest income… levels in the country” while achieving the “narrowest gap between the wealthy and the poor”?
Please make us all rich – some just a little bit more than others.
On a more serious note, there is a ‘wish’ for strong and prosperous regions which the plan says will contain 4 million people, half the State’s projected population, by 2043.
Despite an emphasis on regional development the terms “regions” and “regional Queensland” are not defined anywhere in the document.
The Nationals will be thinking about centres west of the Great Dividing Range.
So how do we add tens of thousands of people to centres such as Longreach, Winton or Hughenden – all with existing populations of less than 4,000?
Where would the water supply come from? The Great Artesian Basin is just that – a basin rather than an inexhaustible supply.
And jobs? The government could locate a section of a department in somewhere like Julia Creek but what would the partners of the public servants do for a living?
Let’s face it, some local councils out west have advertised plots of land for nominal amounts and they’ve not exactly become thriving new towns.
Being realistic, such regional development has to refer predominantly to a massive influx to our cities on or near the coast.
The big question is: how could the government make even this happen.
The State Government’s own figures show that South East Queensland is likely to grow to a population of 4.6 million by 2031 while the rest of eastern Queensland right up to Cairns is likely to increase only to 2.1 million.
Put another way, the south east will grow by 1.4 million while the rest of eastern Queensland grows by only 533,000, with a band of shires stretching nearly the length of the State’s heartland actually losing population.
Two-thirds of Queensland’s population will live in the extreme south east and projections show the trend continuing towards 2043.
What’s more, the South East Queensland Regional Plan is set in legislative concrete to identify sufficient land to accommodate a projected population of 4.4 million people and their employment and economic development needs.
(Why one set of figures says 4.4 million and another says 4.6 I can’t fathom.)
So can the Government change this trend?
It can’t suddenly move an entire department to, say, Cairns unless hundreds of new homes are built for the arrival of the department and its public servants. And if there was an attempt to move a department tiny section by tiny section over several years the damage to efficiency and disruption to services would be enormous.
If Cairns was to grow enormously there is only a narrow plain between the Great Dividing Range and the sea and we would end up with a city shaped like an enormous chipolata with the possibility of traffic problems worse than Los Angeles.
Building costs in Cairns and Townsville are also higher due to the need for cyclone proofing.
Do we go back to that old fancy of building a completely new city between Rockhampton and Mackay?
The Queensland Plan is based on a searching examination by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) of the challenges facing mankind in this era of climate change.
This study, “Our Future World: Global megatrends that will change the way we live” was followed by a specific examination in 2012 by the CSIRO and the Queensland Government called “Signposts for Queensland: An analysis of future pathways”
One of its findings was: “With the elderly comprising a greater portion of Queensland‘s population the number of persons productively engaged in the workforce will diminish as a ratio of the total population. The potential labour shortage will create economic challenges as some citizens may struggle to secure sufficient funds for their retirement. Current projections show a sizeable shortfall in superannuation savings with difficulty in identifying sufficient fiscal resources to cover the gap.”
But the Queensland wish list tends to ask Queenslanders how wonderful they would like life to be in 2043, rather like asking what people would do if they won Lotto.
Why weren’t Queenslanders asked tough questions such as:
We will need massive additional water sources, with, for example, water consumption in South East Queensland projected to rise by 122 per cent by 2026 - do you prefer new dams or desalination plants for the vast regional expansion you are envisaging?
How highly do you value good health? We currently spend 27% of the Queensland budget on health – as the population ages how much more will be needed to maintain our health and what government services should be cut to enable this to happen?
How highly do you value education? We currently spend 23% of the Queensland budget on education: The Queensland Plan calls for our teachers to become the highest paid in the country – how much more of the budget should be spent on education and what government services should be cut to enable this to happen?
We want to be able to move quickly and easily around our cities but studies and experience show that car-dependent communities clog – do you want our large population centres to be dependent on cars with attendant traffic jams or should the focus be predominately on providing infrastructure for public transport?
I’m sure there are many more pertinent questions which should have been asked in a survey to ascertain where we should be in 30 years.
Crucially, one desire was made very plain. Queenslanders want us to become the Smart State.
Just read these desires in The Queensland Plan of what Queensland should become:
“We work with local and international specialists to develop ground breaking processes and products. We embed innovation into our education and training, providing our workers with the skills to identify and act on opportunities to innovate.
“We encourage and support innovative industries. We have the highest proportion of start-ups and entrepreneurs in Australia. We are world renowned for our facilities and innovative delivery of education.
“We feed our ‘knowledge economy’, specifically in science, professional services and research and development. We ensure universities, industry and government work together to put us at the forefront of innovation
“We are future-focused with significant investment in research and development and innovation. We generate commercially viable and competitive alternative energy sold in the retail market.
“Our centres of excellence drive innovation.”
They were very much the aims and ideals of the successful Smart State concept introduced by the Queensland Government in 2000 and ditched by the Newman Government in 2012.
The Newman Government introduced its regressive plan to have our economy reliant on farming, mining, tourism and construction rather than in seeking to lead the way in the global knowledge economy.
As one of the contributors to The Queensland Plan said: “We must transition from an economy reliant on farming, mining and manufacturing to one reliant more on our intellect and innovations.”
Which brings us to the question of how the government is measuring up when it comes to providing what people want – as enunciated in The Queensland Plan.
For a start the plan says: “We strive to minimise disruption to strategies or projects when a new administration assumes office.”
Well, the Newman Government has botched that completely with its ditching of the Smart State strategy.
It’s also failed completely on two more desires expressed in The Queensland Plan: “We operate our government in an open, transparent, accountable and trustworthy manner at all times. We inform and involve the community in decision-making processes.”
There are already examples of the government breaking election promises (think lower electricity prices) and failing to consult before introducing controversial legislation.
The plan creates major challenges for the government to tackle.
By 2043 The Queensland Plan foresees that coal-fired power stations will largely have been phased out.
The plan says categorically: “Renewable energy will be the norm.”
And if we are to have “the most highly valued education in Australia” there will be massive demand for more university places – something which is not even mentioned in the plan.
It will be interesting to see if the Newman Government starts to deliver on the plan by increasing teachers’ wages in 2014.
Surely this $5 million wish list is not just a gigantic and expensive public relations exercise to suggest that the Liberal National Party government is listening to us while, in fact, it’s doing precisely the opposite?
For instance, how does the government plan to enable Queensland to have the “highest income… levels in the country” while achieving the “narrowest gap between the wealthy and the poor”?
Please make us all rich – some just a little bit more than others.
On a more serious note, there is a ‘wish’ for strong and prosperous regions which the plan says will contain 4 million people, half the State’s projected population, by 2043.
Despite an emphasis on regional development the terms “regions” and “regional Queensland” are not defined anywhere in the document.
The Nationals will be thinking about centres west of the Great Dividing Range.
So how do we add tens of thousands of people to centres such as Longreach, Winton or Hughenden – all with existing populations of less than 4,000?
Where would the water supply come from? The Great Artesian Basin is just that – a basin rather than an inexhaustible supply.
And jobs? The government could locate a section of a department in somewhere like Julia Creek but what would the partners of the public servants do for a living?
Let’s face it, some local councils out west have advertised plots of land for nominal amounts and they’ve not exactly become thriving new towns.
Being realistic, such regional development has to refer predominantly to a massive influx to our cities on or near the coast.
The big question is: how could the government make even this happen.
The State Government’s own figures show that South East Queensland is likely to grow to a population of 4.6 million by 2031 while the rest of eastern Queensland right up to Cairns is likely to increase only to 2.1 million.
Put another way, the south east will grow by 1.4 million while the rest of eastern Queensland grows by only 533,000, with a band of shires stretching nearly the length of the State’s heartland actually losing population.
Two-thirds of Queensland’s population will live in the extreme south east and projections show the trend continuing towards 2043.
What’s more, the South East Queensland Regional Plan is set in legislative concrete to identify sufficient land to accommodate a projected population of 4.4 million people and their employment and economic development needs.
(Why one set of figures says 4.4 million and another says 4.6 I can’t fathom.)
So can the Government change this trend?
It can’t suddenly move an entire department to, say, Cairns unless hundreds of new homes are built for the arrival of the department and its public servants. And if there was an attempt to move a department tiny section by tiny section over several years the damage to efficiency and disruption to services would be enormous.
If Cairns was to grow enormously there is only a narrow plain between the Great Dividing Range and the sea and we would end up with a city shaped like an enormous chipolata with the possibility of traffic problems worse than Los Angeles.
Building costs in Cairns and Townsville are also higher due to the need for cyclone proofing.
Do we go back to that old fancy of building a completely new city between Rockhampton and Mackay?
The Queensland Plan is based on a searching examination by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) of the challenges facing mankind in this era of climate change.
This study, “Our Future World: Global megatrends that will change the way we live” was followed by a specific examination in 2012 by the CSIRO and the Queensland Government called “Signposts for Queensland: An analysis of future pathways”
One of its findings was: “With the elderly comprising a greater portion of Queensland‘s population the number of persons productively engaged in the workforce will diminish as a ratio of the total population. The potential labour shortage will create economic challenges as some citizens may struggle to secure sufficient funds for their retirement. Current projections show a sizeable shortfall in superannuation savings with difficulty in identifying sufficient fiscal resources to cover the gap.”
But the Queensland wish list tends to ask Queenslanders how wonderful they would like life to be in 2043, rather like asking what people would do if they won Lotto.
Why weren’t Queenslanders asked tough questions such as:
We will need massive additional water sources, with, for example, water consumption in South East Queensland projected to rise by 122 per cent by 2026 - do you prefer new dams or desalination plants for the vast regional expansion you are envisaging?
How highly do you value good health? We currently spend 27% of the Queensland budget on health – as the population ages how much more will be needed to maintain our health and what government services should be cut to enable this to happen?
How highly do you value education? We currently spend 23% of the Queensland budget on education: The Queensland Plan calls for our teachers to become the highest paid in the country – how much more of the budget should be spent on education and what government services should be cut to enable this to happen?
We want to be able to move quickly and easily around our cities but studies and experience show that car-dependent communities clog – do you want our large population centres to be dependent on cars with attendant traffic jams or should the focus be predominately on providing infrastructure for public transport?
I’m sure there are many more pertinent questions which should have been asked in a survey to ascertain where we should be in 30 years.
Crucially, one desire was made very plain. Queenslanders want us to become the Smart State.
Just read these desires in The Queensland Plan of what Queensland should become:
“We work with local and international specialists to develop ground breaking processes and products. We embed innovation into our education and training, providing our workers with the skills to identify and act on opportunities to innovate.
“We encourage and support innovative industries. We have the highest proportion of start-ups and entrepreneurs in Australia. We are world renowned for our facilities and innovative delivery of education.
“We feed our ‘knowledge economy’, specifically in science, professional services and research and development. We ensure universities, industry and government work together to put us at the forefront of innovation
“We are future-focused with significant investment in research and development and innovation. We generate commercially viable and competitive alternative energy sold in the retail market.
“Our centres of excellence drive innovation.”
They were very much the aims and ideals of the successful Smart State concept introduced by the Queensland Government in 2000 and ditched by the Newman Government in 2012.
The Newman Government introduced its regressive plan to have our economy reliant on farming, mining, tourism and construction rather than in seeking to lead the way in the global knowledge economy.
As one of the contributors to The Queensland Plan said: “We must transition from an economy reliant on farming, mining and manufacturing to one reliant more on our intellect and innovations.”
Which brings us to the question of how the government is measuring up when it comes to providing what people want – as enunciated in The Queensland Plan.
For a start the plan says: “We strive to minimise disruption to strategies or projects when a new administration assumes office.”
Well, the Newman Government has botched that completely with its ditching of the Smart State strategy.
It’s also failed completely on two more desires expressed in The Queensland Plan: “We operate our government in an open, transparent, accountable and trustworthy manner at all times. We inform and involve the community in decision-making processes.”
There are already examples of the government breaking election promises (think lower electricity prices) and failing to consult before introducing controversial legislation.
The plan creates major challenges for the government to tackle.
By 2043 The Queensland Plan foresees that coal-fired power stations will largely have been phased out.
The plan says categorically: “Renewable energy will be the norm.”
And if we are to have “the most highly valued education in Australia” there will be massive demand for more university places – something which is not even mentioned in the plan.
It will be interesting to see if the Newman Government starts to deliver on the plan by increasing teachers’ wages in 2014.
Surely this $5 million wish list is not just a gigantic and expensive public relations exercise to suggest that the Liberal National Party government is listening to us while, in fact, it’s doing precisely the opposite?
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