Farm and Quarry or Smart State? Queensland's Economy Since 1989

Abstract

A generation ago, Queensland's economy relied heavily — as did the standing of the state government — upon a booming resources sector, a bountiful agricultural sector and a still-growing tourist market. ‘Rocks and crops’ (to use a favourite phrase of Peter Beattie's) were mainstays of the state's economic activity, and had long underpinned the government's investment, development and budgetary planning. While to a large extent the same might be said today, critical changes have taken place in the local economy in the intervening period, cultivated by successive state administrations with the express aim of diversifying an economy that was overwhelmingly geared towards primary production. Now it can be argued that Queensland's economy has metamorphosed into a modern, knowledge-based economy that demands greater emphasis on technology, expertise and innovation — what Premier Peter Beattie liked to promote with his catch-all phrase ‘Smart State’. But how effective was this push for diversification in renewing the state's economic foundations? Since the advent of the Goss Labor government in late 1989, has Queensland really moved from a ‘farm and quarry’ to a ‘smart’ economy?

‘A long revolution’: The historical coverage of Queensland politics and government

“…understanding of coordinated policy platforms and political agendas, especially as witnessed recently in Queensland (Sullivan Mort and Roan 2003;Bowden 2011;Salisbury 2011).…”

Politics, Policy and Public Administration in Theory and Practice

“…understanding of coordinated policy platforms and political agendas, especially as witnessed recently in Queensland (Sullivan Mort and Roan 2003;Bowden 2011;Salisbury 2011).…”

Commentary: 'It was "year one"'

“…This was a path that Ahern had tried to initiate during his premiership, only to meet with stonewalling resistance from within his own party and the Nationalvoting heartland. 31 After the watershed election win -Goss took office with a comfortable majority, holding fifty-four of the parliament's eighty-nine seatsthe new premier set about reforming the state's administrative and legislative machinery. Anne Warner, sworn in as Labor's first female cabinet minister in December 1989, recalled the challenges posed by Goss's move to bundle several key policy areas into multi-portfolio departments.…”