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The Forum > Article Comments > Newman could do better > Comments

Newman could do better : Comments

By Mikayla Novak, published 31/8/2012

Queensland is in bad shape, but can Campbell Newman get it back on track.

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...Campbell Newmans’ Government shows originality on many fronts, but the most refreshing approach of all, is the Qld Governments “rollback” of homosexual reforms! Take note…
Posted by diver dan, Friday, 31 August 2012 9:40:26 PM
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Labor gets plaudits for spending like a drunken sailor with a credit card. The libs are the bad boys for behaving like adults.
Posted by Shadow Minister, Saturday, 1 September 2012 3:47:26 PM
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I support this premier's view that a reduction in Public Servant numbers is imperative for the run-down state of Qld. I don't however agree with job-slashing. It does smell of knee-jerking. In my view it'd be way wiser, effective, compassionate & economic to go in steps via natural attrition & pay cuts. I believe that a blanket pay cut of say 3-5 % across the Public Service would allow Qld to continue unhindered instead of denying people to earn a wage. Public Servants CAN AFFORD a pay reduction. Surely they can't be so selfish as to put themselves before the recovery from the Labor sentence although 95% of them are Labor supporters.
Show some integrity & concern Campbell & leave our playing field level. You won't be able to reform this State in only one term in office because one term is what you'll get if you barge in too harshly. Curb the excesses by all means but curb them where they need to be curbed & for those who can absorb a small shock. The damage done by Labor should not be paid for by those who weren't at fault.
Posted by individual, Sunday, 2 September 2012 10:15:44 AM
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CN has a hero just like Mr Abbott. QlD is 40 years behind the rest of AU another term of Joe like politics and QLD will be 3 rd world. If he wants to bring the deficit down , it should be done by future growth. Not slash and burn.
The federal deficit is scheduled for reduction, after peaking in 2012.
The reduction being funded by growth.
Posted by 579, Sunday, 2 September 2012 12:31:09 PM
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The federal deficit is scheduled for reduction, after peaking in 2012.
579,
ha,ha,ha that's seriously funny. Did Wayne Swan tell you that joke ?
Posted by individual, Sunday, 2 September 2012 1:04:53 PM
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That has been a known fact for 2 years, read all about it. Company's that carry debt don't slash and burn, the only ones that do that is the liberal govt; it's how they govern, they like the people to be under stress, so they can finance big business with taxpayers money.
It's probably a point of govt that needs to be explained to the wider community. Who owes what and why it's necessary to have a deficit.
Without a deficit business would be borrowing money at commercial rates, and this would serve to slow the economy down.
Posted by 579, Sunday, 2 September 2012 1:56:32 PM
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579,

Sorry to dispel your myth, but heavily indebted companies do slash and burn, and cut costs to the minimum.
Posted by Shadow Minister, Sunday, 2 September 2012 2:50:59 PM
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...And what silence from the OLO pro-homosexual lobby...sucking eggs are they?
Posted by diver dan, Sunday, 2 September 2012 4:00:17 PM
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...And what silence from the OLO pro-homosexual lobby: Sucking eggs are they?
Posted by diver dan, Sunday, 2 September 2012 4:02:48 PM
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Wishful thinking let me down on this one.
I'd hoped it was a piece dealing with the governments poor handling of some issues rather than a push for the government to be even more extreme.

I agree that the pattern of rapidly escalating government which Beatty and Bligh had run is not sustainable, that has to change (even if the big government fanatics committed to fund it themselves I don't want it).

I think Newman could do better.
- Jobs for family members and mates should have been a major no-no for the incoming government. It looks like a changing of the guard but the same rot that their predecessors were so fond of. If family members are talented enough to get jobs on merit in ministers offices at a time when major cutbacks in public service numbers are being considered they should have no trouble getting jobs elsewhere. Politically it undermines the governments credibility as does the appointment of mates to key positions.
- The attacks on same sex marriage might cheer up some but at most it was a trivial issue compared to the bigger issues and gives the appearance of too much power in the hands of biggots.
- Dumping large numbers of white collar workers into the unemployment pool at the same time will cause a lot of harm to a large number of people. There may have been creative ways of achieving the goals of reducing the size of the public service that helped the state and those directly effected in other ways. I don't have those answers but a creative government might have found some other options.

The new government looks heavy handed, they look like they are being driven by some extreme agenda's. Newman's claims of humility and responsibility not to abuse the majority they have seem to have been forgotten.

Regardless of how bad federal Labor is the idea of Tony Abbott leading a government with a similar majority must be giving a lot of people cause for concern as they look at the actions of the LNP in Qld.

R0bert
Posted by R0bert, Sunday, 2 September 2012 6:59:05 PM
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R0bert,
This is the first I hear of nepotism in this Govt. I'd be very disappointed if that were the case. Have you got more detail on this ? Or are you one of those who can't understand that things are grim in Qld due to Labor not due to Campbell Newman. I watched an interview with the Qld opposition leader the other night. She relentlessly denounced the Newman Govt but when asked 4 times in a row what Labor would do she evaded answering as many times. It was simply embarrassing to watch & to see what lack of political quality there is in those ranks.
Wholesale Job slashing is the wrong approach though. Pay slashing is the only way out & also natural attrition. Probably the only way to regain control of the QLd Public Service is to change the heads of Departments right now.
Posted by individual, Monday, 3 September 2012 6:33:43 AM
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individual, I'm not close enough to the detail to call it nepotism. Perhaps the individuals concerned got their jobs entirely on merit however having ministers children getting jobs with other ministers is not a good look especially at a time when jobs are being slashed.

I'm of the view that Newman had the opportunity to set some new standards in the way government is done which he appears to have ignored. They got their majority because people were utterly sick of the rot with Labor, I don't think that was just about the size of government debt but all the other self serving stuff that has become the trademark of modern politics.

Newman could have set some new standards that would have made things very uncomfortable for the business as usual approach.
- New rules to cabinet secrecy which would have stopped it being used for political protection rather than the well being of the state.
- Making sure that they were squeaky in terms of anything that looked like nepotism or jobs for mates.
- Leading by example, pay cuts for pollies and the introduction of an independently assessable performance pay system based on the overall health of the state after decisions have had time to have effect.

I think a great opportunity has been wasted. Labor took the self serving rot to an extreme, I've not seen any signs that the LNP are serious about reversing most of that rot. Newman had an opportunity to change the face of politics in Australia that has been ignored.

R0bert
Posted by R0bert, Monday, 3 September 2012 7:24:01 AM
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I feel QLD is going to pay dearly for the appointment of MR Newman.
Why do we need radicals, in govt; Unemployment is one way of dragging people to their knees, while the ones still in a job are controlled by the thought that i might be next to lose employment.
In an already degraded state, the timing is in question for any contraction. A deliberate recession bought about by on mans ideals. Mr Newman has his own agenda that he forgot to tell the people about before the election.
It's the radical coalition ways, cut services to the bone, education and health, are all good money savers.
People thought they were missing out with the former govt; that has nothing on this lot.
Posted by 579, Monday, 3 September 2012 8:43:11 AM
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I feel QLD is going to pay dearly for the appointment of MR Newman.
579,
Did you predict the state of affairs in Qld under Anna Bligh ? If you have any posts from the very early Bligh Govt. could you please re-post them ?
Would be a great comparison. Don't dismiss the fact that we're in this bind now because of Beatty/Bligh & not Newman. I agree he could do it smarter but it still doesn't alter the fact that he's had to start from scratch with only a heavy debt to work with.
Posted by individual, Monday, 3 September 2012 6:42:27 PM
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