Queensland election issues: open letter from 7 public policy professionals

Posted on October 30, 2017 by in Economics, Education, Employment, Environment, Government, Health, Housing, Infrastructure, Law, Mining, News

We the undersigned call on all political parties and candidates contesting this state election to commit to run campaigns which address the key issues for Queensland’s future.

Research shows decreasing trust in government. We believe that campaigns which concentrate on side-issues, and avoid the real issues facing governments, contribute to this. It robs governments of a meaningful mandate to address real issues when they do win power. As a result electors feel that they have been betrayed and have no real say in what happens in government.

In this Queensland election we call on all political parties and candidates to be open and honest about the issues they believe are important and to present plans to address them. We also call on them to engage honestly with each others’ platforms.

This is a list of issues that we believe are crucial to the future of Queensland, and we call on all parties and candidates to address them.

  • Reduce total government sector debt and restore Queensland’s AAA credit rating
  • Reduce the cost of Queensland’s electricity to be competitive with our trading partners
  • Increase efficiencies in the public service to meet the benchmarks set by the most efficient state governments
  • Improve education results to the best in Australia
  • Provide infrastructure to meet the needs of an expanding population
  • Increase private sector involvement in infrastructure provision to reduce budgetary pressures, including privatisation of existing government assets to pay for new ones
  • Increase the flexibility of the workforce
  • Encourage business investment
  • Reduce unnecessary business regulation
  • Ensure sufficient housing supply
  • Increase transparency in government investment decisions, and ensure public investment generates an acceptable rate of return

Yours faithfully,

Professor Tony Makin (Professor Economics Griffith University, Director APEC Study Centre)
Professor Jim Allan (Garrick Professor in Law, TC Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland)
Michael Knox (Chief Economist & Director of Strategy Morgans)
Gene Tunny (Principal Adept Economics)
Nick Behrens (Principal Queensland Economic Advocacy Solutions)
Andrew Cooper (Founder and President LibertyWorks Inc)
Graham Young (Executive Director Australian Institute for Progress)

For further information contact:

Tony Makin 0432 684 166
Gene Tunny 0409 727 635
Nick Behrens 0448 034 355
Graham Young 0411 104 801