Premier Statement: HIGH-LEVEL TEAM TO HELP QLD STAY AHEAD OF GROWTH

[ozbob]

Premier and Minister for the Arts
The Honourable Anna Bligh
07/12/2009

HIGH-LEVEL TEAM TO HELP QLD STAY AHEAD OF GROWTH

Premier Anna Bligh today announced a high-level advisory team to help Queensland tackle the challenges of population growth.

The announcement comes ahead of the Council of Australian Government meeting where population growth, and planning for it, will be a key issue.

"Growth is real and I'm determined to tackle it head on and protect Queensland's unique lifestyle," Ms Bligh said.

"SEQ is the fastest growing region in the country and 2000 people call Queensland home every week. We have to seize this opportunity and get this right.

"Next year, we'll have a growth summit which is a great opportunity to bring together people from across Queensland to help us lead the nation into the next period of prosperity and continue to enjoy the best lifestyle in Australia.

"This team of experts, with a wealth of knowledge areas such as population trends, climate change, architecture, planning and industry, will play an important role in the summit."

The seven-member group is:

    * Tim Flannery, 2007 Australian of the Year, leading scientist
    * Bernard Salt, leading demographer and trend forecaster
    * Michael Rayner, Qld director of Architecture firm Cox Rayner
    * Dyan Currie, Qld president, Planning Institute of Australia
    * Brendan Gleeson, Professor of Urban Policy, Griffith University
    * Heather Ridout, CEO Australian Industry Group
    * Ian Lowe, President of the Australian Conservation Foundation

Ms Bligh also announced today the South East Queensland Growth Summit would be held over two days next year on March 30-31.

"I'm looking for strong representation at the summit from regions, including mayors and community leaders to discuss issues including growth, liveability and sustainability, and public transport.

"COAG being held in Brisbane is a great chance to talk about these issues and I welcome the opportunity to sit around a table with the Prime Minister and state and territory leaders. Properly dealing with the challenges we face requires a national approach. I can think of nowhere better to do it than in Brisbane - in Australia's fastest growing region."

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[ozbob]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

Population growth 'a chance to prosper': Bligh

Population growth 'a chance to prosper': Bligh
MARISSA CALLIGEROS
December 7, 2009 - 10:25AM

It may be putting more cars on the road and increasing competition in the housing and jobs markets, but Premier Anna Bligh has denied South-East Queensland's rapid population growth is a bad thing, instead insisting it presents an opportunity for the Sunshine State to prosper.

Ms Bligh warned managing the region's expansion was one of the biggest challenges faced by her government.

Last month, Treasury Secretary Ken Henry said Brisbane's population was set to expand to 4 million people by 2050.

The Premier this morning announced she had gathered an advisory team to guide population growth and "protect Queensland's unique way of life", ahead of the Council of Australian Government meeting with her interstate colleagues and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in Brisbane.

"South-East Queensland is the fastest growing region in the country ... we have to seize this opportunity and get this right," Ms Bligh said

Discussions of population growth will be a precursor to issues surrounding a national health reform, which is expected to be the key talking point at today's COAG meeting.

The Premier has announced a summit on population growth at the end of March next year, "which is a great opportunity to bring together people from across Queensland to help us lead the nation into the next period of prosperity," she said.

The summit will be led by her seven-strong team of population growth experts, including 2007 Australian of the Year Tim Flannery; leading demographer Bernard Salt; Queensland director of architecture firm Cox Rayner; and the Queensland president of Planning Institute of Australia Dyan Currie.

"I'm looking for strong representation at the summit from regions, including mayors and community leaders to discuss issues including growth, liveability and sustainability, and public transport," Ms Bligh said.

According to figures released by the Premier's office today, more 2000 people a week are moving to Queensland, the bulk of them from from overseas.

Earlier this year, Treasurer Andrew Fraser said of those, about 383 were crossing the border from interstate in search of a better lifestyle.

Last month the Premier floated the idea of a housing grant for first-home buyers to set up in regional areas outside the south-east corner, though it was widely panned.

Queensland's population increased by a record 112,666 people, or 2.6 per cent, over the 12 months to March 31 this year.

One baby was born about every four minutes and 33 seconds.

In the past 12 months overseas migration accounted for the population spike, with 1011 foreigners moving to the sunshine state each week. If a similar growth rate were to continue as many as six million people may reside in South-East Queensland by 2050.

Hope for health reform

Ms Bligh said the unprecedented pressure on the state's public health system brought about by rapid population growth can only be fixed by Commonwealth intervention.

She argued the lack of aged care places in Queensland was the responsibility of the Federal Government and has called for the Commonwealth to foot the bill for hundreds of elderly patients who are in hospital because there aren't enough beds in nursing homes.

"It will take some time for us to carefully work this through. Ultimately it won't matter who will run the system if we don't get the problems in the system fixed," Ms Bligh told ABC Radio this morning.

Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon said hopes the Commonwealth would fix the system were dependent on a finite health budget.

"There is an expectation that the Commonwealth would have more resources, but of course there is a finite amount of money for health services," Ms Roxon told ABC Radio.

The Prime Minster has already postponed his final decision on national health reform until next year.

Yet Australian Medical Association president Andrew Pesce said he is hopeful the COAG meeting will not be a mere "talk-fest" among the nation's leaders.

"Everyone is being very patient and giving the Government and the Prime Minister leeway to do his consultation, go through the COAG process," Dr Pesce said.

"We've been waiting for reform for over a decade; if we have to wait until next year that's fine, so long as we see it happening. We live in hope."