The latest local government elections in Queensland … may point to a fundamental shift in popular mood back in favour of growth and development. After many years of anti-growth policy paranoia, it’s a refreshing wind if it lasts. >>

Whaaat??

Hells bells, what planet have you been on Ross?

At what point was growth and development not a maximised government objective in Queensland??

What a non-sensical start to your article. And yes, the rest of it, being based on this absurd premise, is completely off the rails.

You wrote:

<< In Cairns, another region fast developing a reputation for an economy strangled in anti-development red and green tape and excessive planning controls… >>

Crikey! When Cairns took off in the 80s with a massive growth rate and poor regulation, it had all sorts of problems – increased unemployment, crime, rents, rates and other expenses for established citizens, etc, etc. It needs to be carefully managed. There is just about no unnecessary green or red tape up here.

<< The point of all this is that the new political mandate for growth shouldn’t be dismissed as some isolated reaction to the past government’s failings. >>

I think you’re inventing this notion of a new political mandate for growth. People in southeast Queensland in particular are very concerned about continuous population growth in a region where it has obvious enormous downsides.

What the people really want is a better personal deal, which means a better average per-capita rate of economic growth amongst other things. One essential prerequisite is a big reduction in population growth.

So now we’ve got Can-do Cram-em-in Campbell Newman running Queensland, who shows no signs of mitigation the population part of growth so that the economic part of growth can actually possibly start to win some results for the community. Wonderful!

"The pro growth and pro business candidate Mark Jamieson (33%) scored more than double his nearest two rivals, each on 17%."

Gosh Ross did you do maths at school, 33% if more than double would require his nearest two rivals to have only scored a maximum of 16%, while you go back to school, perhaps you could do a subject like physics so that you can get informed about growth, the laws of thermodynamics and while you are at it, do some geography, you will realise we live on a finite planet, with finite resources.

Your "The community seem to be making their views clear: bring back growth, bring back economic prosperity, restore the state’s balance sheet and with it, restore some health to personal balance sheets"

Sorry but the only reason we had growth over the last 30 years was the result of a credit (read debt) bubble that has now burst globally.

Obviously the utopian cloud you live on is different from the rest of us.

Usually when a political party is on the nose it get's tossed out, QLD is no different. Your spin on the ‘why’ is absolute rubbish.

Get out and smell the roses, or better still some home grown organic vegetables.......what a clown.

A better question would be 'Hells bells, what planet have you been on, Ludwig?

The entire population of Australia has had it with the constant increase in growth-strangling green & red tape - except for an increasingly out-of-touch residual of atavistic bitter-enders, much like yourself no doubt.

Take population growth as an example: in the not-too-distant future, this county will easily support a population of 50 million, perhaps 10 million of whom will live in Qld. This will occur, whether you like it or not, because economics and market forces - not no-growth greenies, nor I-got-there-first NIMBYs - will determine the labour force, which will determine the population. Nothing you can do about it mate.

Yes, governments will have to furnish roads, schools, hospitals and other infrastructure; but on balance it's easier to do so with growth than without it.

Look at Tasmania - a now-mendicant state that has basically stood still for 30 years, partly because it has said 'no' to growth-sustaining policies. It has become a fly in amber and no sensible person wants that for the rest of the nation.

Ham

Part 1: The first thing that must be understood in Australia's electoral process is that it is cyclical – the Australian electorate gets disenchanted very easily so it votes for the other side. So in Qld, Labor was ousted primarily because it was time to look at someone else on the tele - Bligh was on the nose because the electorate had become cynical of her double standards – she talked about managing development but behind the scene was pushing a ‘development at all cost’ mentality to make Brisbane and the south east bigger than Sydney and Melbourne, best witnessed by her development push along the western corridor and north to Gympie. The very astute and personally ambitious ‘Can-do’ Campbell saw the opportunity to cash in on her deceit and realise a change in leadership so he jumped, boots and all, into the fray.
Despite this authors claim, local Australian politics does not have the clout to go against global economic trends as Australia is a minnow in the overall scheme of things. The political change we are currently experiencing is not driven by the need to see a revitalised growth process but more about the need for a change in who is the heading up our governments. Local politics is powerless against the will of the global economic processes and new leaders at state and local level will not get the growth process happening – well not until the global economy is ready for it to happen and then the results will trickle down to us. Local politics can soften the hit but they will not stop it. The author is deluded if he thinks this is not the reality reinforced by the fact that every incentive that can be thought of to get the Australian population to spend money on housing or in retail is not working! But as with politics, such economic surges are cyclical and development will come back but not until the northern hemisphere says it is ok to do so.

Part 2: As for the regions, Ipswichs politically and socially savvy Paul Pissale has been working very hard for a long time on behalf of Ipswich so that it doesn’t disappear into the eclipse of Brisbane and the two coasts and their ruthless and relentless need for development. Ipswich has always been at risk of becoming 4th world since the demise of Australia's manufacturing base. Pissale has worked hard to promote alternatives for Ipswich so that it survives. I don’t believe his mantra is driven by property development but moreso the wellbeing of the community he represents informed by his ability to understand George Street. And full credit must go to him for that.
And then the Sunshine Coast – (you said) ‘another Council which became notorious for being difficult to deal with … ‘. What might have been more accurate to point out is that it was difficult for the developers and monied pro growth movement to deal with the council, just as it was for the deceitful Bligh government. There were powerful elements within the Sunshine Coast region and the first Sunshine Coast Council that were a thorn in the side of the pro-development camp so there was a need to bring in the big gun pro growth and pro business heavily monied and strategically backed candidate Mark Jamieson ‘to score more than double his nearest two rivals …’ and oust the physically and emotionally exhausted green element. Slick business hits town and the sad little wannabes want what he’s got. But the property developing real estate agent gets even more and the community loses the lifestyle that they moved to the coast for as the beach becomes even more distant on the horizon

Part 3: Tony Wellington, who ousted pro business Lew (who) Brennan to represent the northern end of the Sunshine Coast has his job cut out for him in the council process but at least he has the unrelenting support of the dedicated band of warriors who are not suffering but thriving ‘in their anti growth paranoia’ by fighting to preserve the lifestyle and responsible growth that they moved to the Sunshine Coast for.
I left the Sunshine Coast two years ago driven out by the growth in bogan mediocrity that the coast has become which meant it was no longer safe to walk around Maroochydore’s café precinct at night and because we couldn’t get to the beaches because of overcrowding.
Fortunately I have found a nice little green haven where I feel safe in a supportive and caring and respectful community, I can walk to the beach and have space and safety on that beach and I am not deafened by the drone of relentless traffic.
And I am not telling you where this place is!