Queensland Premier David Crisafulli governs a state with enormous potential, but also some formidable challenges: rapid population growth, pressure on infrastructure, the need for regional development, and a budget that requires tighter management.

As the Australian Institute for Progress’s 11th Sir Thomas McIlwraith Lecturer, he follows in the footsteps of another Queensland Premier who believed the state’s potential was something to be seized rather than merely admired.

Sir Thomas McIlwraith was a pastoralist, businessman and innovator. He experimented with land-grant railways to open Queensland to development and persuaded his shipping-magnate brother to send migrant ships around northern Australia, bringing settlers directly to Queensland ports such as Townsville and Rockhampton.

Nearly 150 years apart, the two premiers share intriguing points of connection: both were shaped by regional Queensland and the land, and both confronted the question of how a resource-rich, fast-growing state turns opportunity into lasting prosperity.
What does Queensland’s potential look like today, and what will it take to realise it?