Yes Graham, but will Campbell get the message?
The extremely autocratic Bligh government ignored the will of the people and went ahead with privatization or be dammed, when what they needed was to cut their cloth to suit their budget.
Moreover, there is never ever a case for the proceeds of privatization to fund recurrent spending!
And nowhere can the proponents of privatization, point to so much as a single example of privatization resulting in reduced fees and charges to consumers!?
For example, the privatization of Brisbane's NG supplies by an extremely autocratic and incredibly short sighted Bligh, was followed within weeks by a 400% increase in domestic gas bills!
If public ownership and costs could have been retained, it could have resulted in the mass migration of manufacturing and high tech jobs to Queensland?
Say what you like about the Joh Bjelke Petersen Government, but they left a balanced budget, and a surplus?
And at no stage did they advocate the privatization of the people's property; in fact, Joh described himself as a social democrat at heart. Quote unquote.
His oft reported problems were cronyism, nepotism and corruption in the ranks? And doesn't that have a familiar ring, with the results and very recent history of the Newman govt; and indeed, the very reason we had to have the by election!
If Campbell wants to privatize, he ought to have the courage of conviction, take his plans to the people at the next election, and see how well that flys.
That's the only essential lesson he needs to take home, I believe, from the recent by election.
Rhrosty.

In a history of corrupt Govts in QLD Newman is just reverting to type the LNP just cant help themselves they are crooks, comes with the hangover of the white shoe brigade,Russ Hinze,& others.
You have an AG who at best is incompetent & at worst has no idea about the separation of Powers,& why do I have a feeling that Newman left the Brisbane Council in more debt than he started with,the VLAD laws are unconstitutional,you would think they should have checked.
There is also a smell lingering over the Santoro part of the LNP,Your generally not bad Graham but I think you have given Newman a clean bill of health when he and his party have kicked the Labour party out of the Parliament and gone out of their way to make it difficult for them.
The LNP don't want scrutiny & like Joh its a "don't you worry about that" Govt,at the next election, after another year of their clone in Canberra they may find the boot on the other foot

Graham, as I see it the LNP were faced with a monumental task, the minute they gained office.

Our state was in such a mess, from prolonged incompetence from both Beaty, then Bligh, that CN had no choice but to act fast, because his, and the LNP's only chance of re election, was to turn the state around in less than one term.

There is no doubt he upset many by his slash and burn approach to trimming the fat from the public sector, yet, voters can't see that most of the jobs he aced (numbers not positions) were jobs that would not have been created had we had competent leadership in the first place.

The Scott Dristle affair could not have come at a worse time for CN because he was effectively two thirds through the task of making a distinctive difference, so I lay the blame squarely on his (SD) shoulders.

Unfortunately with the compulsory voting system we have, people who don't understand, or can't see beyond today, have to vote.

What many don't understand is that to fix a problem, one first has to stop the bleeding and there are always casualties in doing that, and distractions such as caused by SD are surely not helpful.

It remains to see if CN can achieve his aim, but this sure does put him back a few steps.

John, I don't know how you could possibly justify your position. Crooks exist in all political parties, as they do in all other organisations in society. But not all organisations are equally endowed with the corrupt.

When it comes to corruption Labor is the leader, and has been for all of Australia's history. Recent highlights (low lights) include Craig Thompson, Michael Williams (former ALP federal president), and Eddy Obeid. In Queensland we had Gordon Nuttall, and a number of other unhung scoundrels.

Bjelke-Peterson was a blight on non-Labor politics in Queensland, but he was opposed by many in his own party, and my party, the Liberal Party, broke with the coalition because of him.

The test is not whether there are corrupt people in your ranks - there will be - but how you deal with them. The Labor record is appalling, and that is because corrupt practices are embedded in the party, mostly via the union movement, and they bestow the spoils of office on politicians and would-be politicians.

I spoke with some technicians I used to see whilst working with QLD health & they told me that their numbers were greatly reduced yet the top bureaucrats stayed on. That's what Newman needs to sort out. I see it in several other systems where they put off workers yet the managers etc stay on. This is not only morally wrong, it is dumb & political suicide on top of it. The utterly useless ALP cronies from the previous Government are now being highly paid as consultants ?? Go figure. I for one wanted Newman in & still do but if he really wants to get Qld back on track he needs to rid us of the ALP bureaucrats who are dragging us down, not the workers. Newman will be history if he doesn't learn from history.

Indi, I have always likened government funding as being poured into a funnel, where it swirls round and round, being eaten up by admin, then, a small portion dribbles out the spout to where it is actually needed most.

It hurts me to say, but privatization is the only real answer to this, as they run a business, not a charity.