Archived News for Professionals in State Government

Queensland’s public servant numbers have fallen by more than 4400 full-time equivalents since the state election.

WA Attorney General Michael Mischin has announced the appointment of Neil Douglas as an acting commissioner of the Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC).

The committee that will guide the preparation of the Central Queensland Regional Plan has met for the first time to begin development of the region’s Statutory Regional Plan to help resolve land use conflicts.

The committee includes the mayors of five councils, six Members of State Parliament and 11 members representing business, industry and community groups.

Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning Jeff Seeney said the Central Queensland Regional Planning Committee would be a forum to address community issues and interests.

“This committee will oversee the regional planning process and increase understanding within the community of the Central Queensland Regional Plan,” Mr Seeney said.

“Communities will be represented by their mayors who will put forward the views of their local regions during the process. Industry representatives will also have a voice at the table.

“The committee will make sure the views of both local and wider groups are considered in its work.”

There will be widespread community consultation throughout the development of the regional plan and a number of opportunities for community members to have input.

Mr Seeney said including land use mapping in the statutory regional plan would help resolve conflict between landholders and the agricultural and resources sectors.

“Central Queensland has diverse agricultural assets and an abundance of resource deposits,” he said.

“This plan will ensure the region grows in a managed and sustainable way and will let us deal with urban expansion, the timing and sequencing of infrastructure and enhancing agricultural, resource and tourism opportunities while ensuring management of environmental impacts.”

Mr Seeney said the committee would increase transparency of the regional plan development process, following an expression-of-interest process for community and industry representatives.

He said the committee would represent a range of regional viewpoints and interests during the preparation of the Central Queensland Statutory Regional Plan which is expected to be finalised in August 2013.

There will be opportunities for community input during the drafting of the plans over the next six months and a formal consultation period for submissions on draft plans early next year.


Members of the Central Queensland Regional Planning Committee are:

Councillor Ron Carige – Mayor of Banana Shire Council
Councillor Peter Maguire – Mayor of Central Highlands Regional Council
Councillor Terry Munns – Mayor of Woorabinda Aboriginal Shire Council
Councillor Gail Sellers – Mayor of Gladstone Regional Council
Councillor Margaret Strelow – Mayor of Rockhampton Regional Council

Mr Stephen Bennett MP – Member for Burnett
Mr Bill Byrne MP – Member for Rockhampton
Mrs Liz Cunningham MP – Member for Gladstone
Mr Vaughan Johnson MP – Member for Gregory
Mr Ted Malone MP – Member for Mirani
Mr Bruce Young MP – Member for Keppel

Ms Mary Carroll – Chief Executive Officer, Capricorn Enterprise, Rockhampton
Ms Elyse Riethmuller – Senior Executive, Fitzroy Basin Association Inc. Rockhampton
Ms Sandra Hobbs – General Manager, Central Highlands Development Corporation, Emerald
Ms Diane Morris – Treasurer, Enterprise Biloela Association Inc
Mr Andrew Barger – Director, Resource and Environment Policy, Queensland Resources Council, Brisbane
Mr Paul Bell – Acting Chair, Regional Development Australia - Fitzroy and Central West, Parkhurst
Ms Mabel Quakawoot – Director, Port Curtis-Coral Coast Aboriginal Corporation, Erakala
Mr Ian Burnett – Vice President, AgForce Queensland, Emerald
Mr Sam Bradford – Member, Golden Triangle Community, Springsure
Ms Saleena Ham – Project Officer, Moura Chamber of Commerce
Ms Elizabeth Alexander – Dawson Valley Cotton Growers Assn. & Central Highlands Cotton Growers & Irrigators Assn.

The Queensland Education, Training and Employment Minister John-Paul Langbroek has announced a series of measures to reduce expenditure in his portfolio.

The Queensland Government is planning to freeze all Queensland Rail bonuses.

Three external reports on potential savings and efficiencies in Health have been released for public consultation by the South Australian Government.

The South Australian Government has announced the seven-member board of the Urban Renewal Authority  which will be charged with delivering and increasing the supply and diversity of affordable housing and accelerating the renewal of social housing stock.

The Victorian Government’s State Services Authority is seeking a new CEO.

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG)  meeting this week received a report from its Future Competition and Regulatory Reform Taskforce which has been consulting with peak business bodies and organisations including conservation groups which have an interest in environmental regulation reforms.

COAG has agreed to establish an independent review panel to conduct a broad ranging investigation into cost, competitiveness and productivity challenges in the commercial, civil and large scale residential construction industry. 

Liberal state governments have been accused of lack of leadership and political point scoring following the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in Canberra which failed to reach agreement on the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

The Western Australian Education Minister Peter Collier has announced 48 more schools that have been selected to become Independent Public Schools to start in 2013, bringing the overall total in the reform of WA’s education system to 255 (one third of Western Australia’s public schools).

The Northern Territory Chief Minister Paul Henderson has accused the Liberal Premiers of colluding to take at least $1 billion from the Territory under a new GST carve up.

The Northern Territory Government has launched two new housing initiatives to help people renting accommodation to buy their own homes.

COAG has released two report cards on the implementation of its deregulation priorities and competition reforms under the National Partnership Agreement to Deliver a Seamless National Economy.

Queensland’s Ministerial Environmental Roundtable has met for a question and answer session with representatives from a range of interest groups including the Queensland Conservation Council, Sunshine Coast Environment Council, National Parks Association and the Environmental Defenders Office.

The Western Australian Government has partnered with Australian crowdfunding platform Pozible, to launch the ‘3 to 1’ initiative -  an incentivised fundraising program to make up to $250,000 available for WA digital projects.

Culture and Arts Minister John the ‘3 to1’ initiative will inspire digital creators to be entrepreneurial about how they raise capital for their production budget, as well as capture the interest of their audiences at the outset of their creative process.

“Creative teams will need to attract contributions online from individuals to secure the ScreenWest grant. This will in effect quadruple their production budget.”

Instead of the more traditional grant allocation, the ‘3 to 1’ initiative will see ScreenWest treble those funds raised by successful Western Australian creative teams.

This means for every dollar teams raise through online crowdfunding, ScreenWest will contribute a further three dollars to the budget, from a minimum of $15,000 to a maximum contribution of $150,000, (meaning creative teams must crowdfund between $5,000 and $50,000 respectively).

The program will support professional narrative-driven screen-content for digital platforms that is not reliant on a television broadcast or film distribution outcome.

Projects can be drama or documentary, traditional short form or challenge convention with interactivity and user generated content, but they must be delivered on at least one digital platform.

More information is at http://www.screenwest.wa.gov.au

NSW Minister for Mental Health Kevin Humphries has announced the appointment of John Feneley as the inaugural Commissioner of the NSW Mental Health Commission.

The Tasmanian Minister for Health, Michelle O'Byrne, has announced that a new lead clinicians group and a community advisory body would be formed to help ensure Tasmania's health system responded to the needs of the community.

Ms O'Byrne said with national reforms now underway and the Tasmanian Health Organisations in place, these bodies would play a vital role in health care delivery.

"There are significant reforms underway in how health is delivered, leading to greater local control and local decision making.

"Tasmanians now have more information, more involvement and more control over how health is delivered than ever before.

"We will engage directly with clinicians and consumers to ensure we are taking all perspectives into account as we deliver health services.

Ms O'Byrne said she had also discussed potential membership and scope of the Federal Commission into the Tasmanian Delivery of Health Services with the Federal Health Minister, Tanya Plibersek, this week.

"The lead clinicians group will inform the work of the commission agreed to under the Federal Government's $325 million health funding package.

"The Tasmanian Health Plan has delivered much for our health system during the past five years, and these groups will engage with the review of the plan as we work together to respond to the changing nature of our health system under national reforms," Ms O'Byrne said.

The Tasmanian Premier, Lara Giddings, has put a positive spin on prospects for Tasmania outlined in the latest Access Economics Business Outlook and CommSec State and States reports.