Queensland Premier Anna Bligh is considering offering a $3000 boost to the Federal Government's first-home owner's grant as a bonus for those buying in regional areas: http://wl.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26366364-5006786,00.html

The motivation is to try and slow population growth in the burgeoning southeast corner of the state.

Well! At least Bligh is effectively finally admitting that there is a real population problem in SEQ and that something really tangible needs to be done. Of course this has been bleedingly obvious to anyone with more than two active braincells for at least a couple of decades, but I suppose we here in Qld should be grateful that our great leader has lifted her blinkers, just a tiny bit.

But sending people elsewhere is hardly the solution. It could be part of a solution, in combination with disincentives for people to move to Queensland and a strong ongoing rebuke from the Qld Government to Rudd for imposing such an absurdly high population growth rate upon the country.

Now that Bligh has made the first move on the population subject, the Greens, the Opposition and all sorts of other organisations and individuals must not let it end there.

We all MUST push for much more to be done in order to quickly achieve stable populations in overloaded areas and then for the whole country in a slightly longer timeframe.

Incidentally, if Bligh is successful in redirecting a significant portion of new home buyers, then most of them will presumably end up going to Cairns, Townsville, Hervey Bay and other big population centres that already have rapid growth rates with all the concomitant problems and really also need to be directed towards stable populations. Yes, these regional cities are presumably what Bligh means by going 'bush'!

Bligh's bonus is more a matter of spreading the problems around than implementing any sort of real solution.

3 grand cash and a job and I'll go.

I agree that it's a dumb idea.

All it will do is artificially inflate house prices in regional areas.

Did anybody hear AM this morning, broadcast from the Logan urban nightmare just south of Brisbane? Scary.

I think the State Government should relocate. In the US where they have less centralisation, State Government capitals are always different to the financial capitals.

They could choose a town already with a pretty good airport or a town where an airport could be useful. Up north logical due to water availability but would require non invasive collection process.Hmm .

Moving people before jobs makes no sense.

A joke surely, from our Anna.

This, when governments have the means of decentralisation at their finger tips. In fact equaity demands it should be done.

Each electorate should recieve similar government expenditure, by locating a similar number of the public service, in their location.

Would a paper shuffling public servant notice the difference if they worked in a sealed high in the brisbane CBD, or a now abandoned bank valt in longreach, provided the air con worked.

I do not suggest moving Brisbane people out to the bush, although some may choose to follow the jobs, but just some of the jobs. Locals could then choose to stay in their home area, with decent prospects, & not gravitate to Brisbane. Done over 15 years, there would be little pain involved, & much to be gained, with a real slowing in the growth of our capitals.

In the UK, where you can miss a county, & it's capital, if you blink, & the US, with it's much smaller states, this spreading of government has been done, by accident. Here it will take an inteliigent act, so perhaps I should not hold my breath.

There was a rumour doing the rounds that Peter Beattie anointed Anna Bligh as his successor as a clever strategic ploy to dilute any future criticism of himself.

Decisions like this might turn out to be the fulfilment of that strategy.