tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/dear-premier-palaszczuk-14999/articlesDear Premier Palaszczuk – The Conversation2015-02-22T19:11:47Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/377602015-02-22T19:11:47Z2015-02-22T19:11:47ZJobs versus the environment: the debate Queensland can end<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/72465/original/image-20150219-24276-36ravh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C2%2C1838%2C1179&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Not at loggerheads: jobs and the environment can coexist in Queensland's north.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACSIRO_ScienceImage_4364_Rural_scene_in_far_north_Queensland_Melon_crop_in_foreground_banana_plantation_behind_with_pine_forest_and_rainforest_in_the_background_15_Kms_north_of_Cardwell_QLD.jpg">Willem van Aken/CSIRO/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Queensland has a new Labor minority government, led by Annastacia Palaszczuk, after the shock defeat of the Liberal National Party. Labor’s pre-election promises were <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/20/palaszczuk-opts-for-frugality-and-federal-help-in-queensland-labor-election-bid">“modest”</a>, leaving many now wondering about the new government’s policy agenda. Our experts examine some of the big challenges facing Australia’s third-biggest state.</em></p>
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<p>The tension between the two aims of protecting the environment and promoting economic development has been a major factor in the unprecedented swings from Labor to the Liberal National Party and back again in the past two Queensland state elections. If Labor doesn’t want to fall foul of that trend again in three years’ time, it has a tricky balancing act ahead of it.</p>
<p>Can Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk deliver on her pledge that “fundamentally it’s about <a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/premier-annastacia-palaszczuk-pledges-new-queensland-government-will-not-talk-negatively-about-economy/story-fnn8dlfs-1227222645912">job creation</a>, kick-starting our economy, restoring our confidence and restoring our trust”, without undermining her environmental promises, including that “only Labor will <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2015/s4162324.htm">protect the Great Barrier Reef</a>”?</p>
<p>There is a way to finally get off the outdated jobs-versus-environment seesaw – and many of the lessons for Queensland are relevant for other parts of the country too, especially across northern Australia.</p>
<h2>How the environment has shifted votes both ways</h2>
<p>At the 2012 election, one of the big contributors to Labor’s devastating loss was an increasing regional backlash against a raft of poorly engaged environmental regulations. That election left Labor with just seven MPs, having lost previously safe seats in areas like North Queensland.</p>
<p>In contrast, at the 2015 election, the public perception that the Liberal National government was cutting back on established environmental <a href="http://www.tjryanfoundation.org.au/cms/page.asp?ID=758">protections</a> contributed to the Newman government’s stunning defeat.</p>
<p>Yet with sensible policy, both environmental and economic outcomes can be achieved jointly, not just in Queensland but across northern Australia. My new book, <a href="http://www.springer.com/earth+sciences+and+geography/geography/book/978-3-319-05596-1">Beyond the North-South Culture Wars</a>, suggests that there are key policy initiatives that either Labor or an LNP government could use to escape the political see-saw between rampant developmentalism and environmental regulation without social justice. </p>
<p>It needn’t be an either/or choice. It’s possible to create policies that give certainty to the environment while also encouraging good economic outcomes, in Queensland and in other states and territories too. Here are some tips.</p>
<p><strong>Tip 1: Implement stable, long-term land use planning</strong></p>
<p>Somewhere along the way, planning gave itself a bad name. LNP governments tend to see it as an impediment to development, whereas Labor governments have typically used it with regulatory zeal as an environmental protection mechanism. But planning should be about providing everyone in the community with certainty: certainty to investors that they will be welcomed to invest in areas that are well served by infrastructure; and certainty to communities that special places will be protected. Planning needs be consensus-based, and decisions need to be durable.</p>
<p><strong>Tip 2: Reform the approvals system for major projects</strong></p>
<p>Major development project approval systems should be about facilitating development in the right places, while also securing adequate and stable environmental standards. They should not be about bolstering development at all costs, or being an impassable barrier. Our major project approval systems have become too politicised, with no clear underlying philosophy. Regular staff changes and inconsistent decision-making could end up scaring off investors while making no real environmental gains.</p>
<p><strong>Tip 3: Improve regional development and natural resource management</strong></p>
<p>Both Labor and LNP governments have increasingly recognised the need to invest in improved natural resource management (NRM), but for the past decade, this area has been in decline in Queensland. With limited resources for big jobs (such as rehabilitating reef catchments) we need stable regional NRM plans and capable delivery agents (such as landcare and conservation groups, farmers, Indigenous rangers, councils and others). Strategic regional coordination and capacity building is key.</p>
<p><strong>Tip 4: Encourage ‘ecosystem service markets’</strong></p>
<p>Queensland and northern Australia have the potential to be ecosystem service suppliers of international repute; providing conservation works that meet the demands of an international economy that increasingly values and pays for the environmental cost of consumption. Neither state Labor or LNP governments have taken cohesive policy approaches to identifying, fostering and growing these markets to the benefit of jobs and the environment. High value bio-carbon and reef water quality products will inevitably become major new markets in Queensland. </p>
<p><strong>Tip 5: Invest in new and innovative regional industries</strong></p>
<p>Queensland has the natural and human capital to shift its dependence on mining, agriculture and tourism. With a lifestyle to die for, it can proactively attract many emerging industries that require high-tech operators who are not tied to a particular location (such as IT, research, education, and services). A lack of policy focused on transitioning our energy base will also leave us with high costs and stranded assets. </p>
<p><strong>Tip 6: Support traditional owners to plan their own future</strong></p>
<p>Both parties continue to focus attention on welfare or the integration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people into the mainstream economy. There has been little focus on supporting traditional owners to plan for their own future use and enjoyment of their land and sea resources, which in turn will <a href="http://capeyorkpartnership.org.au/news/tribal-wealth-an-inclusive-prosperity-agenda">generate wealth</a>. In many developed nations, Indigenous-led development is often becoming a very fast-growth economic sector as well as well as providing international leadership in the establishment of Indigenous Protected Areas.</p>
<h2>Securing both jobs and the environment</h2>
<p>Queensland isn’t the only place where the political narrative has <a href="https://theconversation.com/end-of-tasmanias-forest-peace-deal-heralds-more-uncertainty-31010">see-sawed from heavy-handed regulation to blinkered developmentalism</a>. But the Sunshine State now has an opportunity to show the rest of the nation how this mindset can be overcome. </p>
<p>Queenslanders now expect a more nuanced approach that delivers better environmental outcomes and economic growth and jobs. Neither of the major political parties in Australia has yet devised such an approach. Hopefully, these six tips might encourage the Queensland, Commonwealth and other governments around the country shift their thinking.</p>
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<p><em>Read more of The Conversation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/queensland-election-2015">Queensland election 2015</a> coverage, and more ‘Dear Premier’ policy articles at the <a href="https://medium.com/the-machinery-of-government">Federal Future blog</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/37760/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>As Professor in Tropical Regional Development at the Cairns Institute at JCU, Allan Dale receives research funding from Commonwealth and State Governments and various not-for-profit institutions. He is also Chair of Regional Development Australia Far North Queensland and Torres Strait. </span></em></p>Do politicians really have to choose between being pro-development or pro-environment? No, says Allan Dale, and Queensland’s new government has the chance to prove it.Allan Dale, Professor in Tropical Regional Development, The Cairns Institute, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/370202015-02-19T01:57:18Z2015-02-19T01:57:18ZIf you want to cut crime, you can’t ignore the evidence<p><em>Queensland has a new Labor minority government, led by Annastacia Palaszczuk, after the shock defeat of the Liberal National Party. Labor’s pre-election promises were <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/20/palaszczuk-opts-for-frugality-and-federal-help-in-queensland-labor-election-bid">“modest”</a>, leaving many now wondering about the government’s policy agenda. Our experts examine some of the big challenges facing Australia’s third state.</em></p>
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<p>Dear Premier Palaszczuk,</p>
<p>The areas of law and justice are both difficult and contentious. As one former state attorney-general has described, governments often feel pressured to respond to media by enacting <a href="https://theconversation.com/justice-reform-a-better-way-to-deal-with-sexual-assault-19692">“tougher” law and order policies</a> – even if being tough doesn’t always cut crime or help the victims of it.</p>
<p>As you move into government there are three key messages to keep in mind: make law and justice policy decisions based on evidence, not populism; be open to public scrutiny on any changes you propose; and keep testing what works and what doesn’t.</p>
<p>Most of these recommendations don’t only apply to Queensland, but to other states and territories too.</p>
<h2>The crimes to watch</h2>
<p>Focus on policies that work to prevent or reduce real crime problems. Don’t be distracted by populist issues, pet projects or knee-jerk reactions. Instead, look to the substantial evidence base on what does and doesn’t work to reduce real offending.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that overall crime rates in Queensland, like the rest of Australia, have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-revealing-facts-on-bikie-laws-and-crime-in-queensland-35892">steadily declining</a> for about the last 15 years. </p>
<p>But while overall crime rates are decreasing, some specific types of crime are increasing, or causing significant community harm. This is where resources should be concentrated.</p>
<p>Switch the focus from issues that do not significantly impact on crime rates, such as one-punch laws or bikies, to those that do, such as domestic and alcohol-fuelled violence, mental health issues and deprived communities.</p>
<h2>A blueprint for action</h2>
<p>You have a ready-made blueprint for evidence-based crime policy in last year’s parliamentary legal affairs and community safety committee report on <a href="http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/committees/LACSC/2014/CrimeInquiry2014/rpt-082-28Nov2014.pdf">reducing criminal activity in Queensland</a>. It made 88 recommendations, including to:</p>
<ul>
<li>establish an independent agency to collate, analyse and interpret crime data and develop evidence-based policy</li>
<li>reverse the recent trend to increased imprisonment, especially for those on remand and those convicted of relatively minor offences</li>
<li>invest in prisoner education, rehabilitation and post-release support to reduce re-offending</li>
<li>trial and properly evaluate a justice re-investment approach, diverting money from jails to community-based prevention measures</li>
<li>invest in evidence-based early intervention programs to reduce offending by young people, including social support for at-risk youth</li>
<li>review decisions to abolish or reduce diversionary programs including drug, Indigenous and special circumstances courts</li>
<li>tackle the underlying issues leading to over-representation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system, such as the lack of educational and social services in some communities.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Domestic and family violence</h2>
<p>The committee made more than 40 recommendations aimed at reducing the impact of domestic and sexual violence.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.qld.gov.au/community/getting-support-health-social-issue/dfv-taskforce/">special taskforce on domestic and family violence in Queensland</a>, chaired by Dame Quentin Bryce, will hand its report to your government at the end of this month. </p>
<p>Those findings – and your government’s response to them – will be closely watched not only here in Queensland but nationally, amid growing community concern about the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/we-must-support-rosie-batty-as-she-highlights-domestic-violence-20150206-136v6r.html">deadly toll</a> of family violence.</p>
<h2>Consultation, collaboration and evaluation</h2>
<p>Your government should also focus on rebuilding engagement and trust with the institutions of law and justice, and with the community. </p>
<p>Good relationships with the judiciary, legal profession, police and correctional staff are essential to an effective criminal justice system. Proposed changes to law and policy are strengthened – not threatened – by scrutiny and debate. Re-introduce or respect parliamentary and other processes that facilitate this, and welcome input from the community and relevant experts.</p>
<p>Your government should also maintain and build the evaluation, research and policy capacity of your key agencies. Cutting capacity in these areas is a false economy, resulting in poor policy and inappropriate targeting of operational staff and resources. </p>
<p>Build partnerships with the private sector and with universities to assist in developing the evidence base essential for good policy. Support your public servants to provide independent and experienced insights on difficult problems. </p>
<p>Listening to that kind of frank and fearless advice before you bring in new policies is the best way to avoid a public backlash in the long run.</p>
<p>Some people will urge you to simply tackle “law and order” problems. Aiming for law and justice for all citizens is, in many ways, a much tougher ask for a new government.</p>
<p>But if your goal is a safer Queensland, law and justice is the best way to achieve it – and that means starting with the evidence before you, and using it to build a case for change.</p>
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<p><em>Read more of The Conversation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/queensland-election-2015">Queensland election 2015</a> coverage, and more ‘Dear Premier’ policy articles at the <a href="https://medium.com/the-machinery-of-government">Federal Future blog</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/37020/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janet Ransley has received funding from the Australian Research Council and the National Drugs Law Enforcement Research Fund.</span></em></p>Queensland has a new Labor minority government, led by Annastacia Palaszczuk, after the shock defeat of the Liberal National Party. Labor’s pre-election promises were “modest”, leaving many now wondering…Janet Ransley, Head of the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/374082015-02-16T19:35:30Z2015-02-16T19:35:30ZQueensland’s biggest economic challenge isn’t debt – it’s growth<p><em>Queensland has a new Labor minority government, led by Annastacia Palaszczuk, after the shock defeat of the Liberal National Party. Labor’s pre-election promises were <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/20/palaszczuk-opts-for-frugality-and-federal-help-in-queensland-labor-election-bid">“modest”</a>, leaving many now wondering about the government’s policy agenda. Our experts examine some of the big challenges facing Australia’s third most populous state.</em></p>
<p>Dear Premier Palaszczuk,</p>
<p>As you meet with <a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/business/business-looks-for-economic-diversity-infrastructure-stability/story-fnihsps3-1227220692715">Queensland business leaders</a> on Tuesday and get down to the business of governing, you’re sure to face many immediate preoccupations and challenges. But considering <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-23/regional-queenslanders-worried-about-downturn-of-state-economy/6035220">the economy was the dominant issue</a> of this election, I would like to provide three pieces of advice for your new Labor minority government.</p>
<h2>The economy is ultimately about people</h2>
<p>First of all, I would encourage you to remember that the ultimate objective of economic policy is to promote inclusive economic growth and welfare. I use the word inclusive here to mean that all individuals, especially those at the bottom end of income distribution, should be guaranteed access to the benefits and opportunities arising from the increasing pace of economic activity. It is only by being inclusive that growth can effectively generate “development”. </p>
<p>Budget, taxes, debt and expenditure are only tools that the government can use to achieve the fundamental goals of inclusive growth and welfare. Unfortunately, in the recent past both the federal and Queensland governments have mistaken tools for objectives. </p>
<p>This has led to a policy of “minimisation”: to minimise debt, minimise deficit, and minimise expenditure. This is hardly a good way to run fiscal policy. On the contrary, inclusive growth and welfare become more difficult to achieve when the only purpose of policy is to shrink the size and scope of government, thus compromising its ability to supply public goods and to stabilise the economy against cyclical shocks.</p>
<p>There are two important features that should instead characterise good fiscal policy.</p>
<p>One is the synchronisation of expenditure with the business cycle. Cutting expenditure just to balance the budget in a time of economic contraction will only make the contraction worse. Conversely, when the economy slows down, the government should increase expenditure and possibly run a deficit. This will help the economy recover.</p>
<p>That is not just theory: my own research on Australia indicates that one extra dollar of government expenditure generates <a href="https://www120.secure.griffith.edu.au/research/file/dd80d33e-ccac-46f9-ac58-d9ff7d41b5b7/1/2014-08-does-government-expenditure-multiply-output-and-employment-in-Australia.pdf">more than one dollar</a> of gross domestic product (GDP). I have done similar research for Queensland, which is yet to be published but which found a similar result.</p>
<p>Of course, the increase in expenditure and deficit in time of contraction must be offset by expenditure cuts and surpluses in time of economic expansion. This counter-cyclical pattern of government expenditure and deficit will ensure that the economy is stabilised in response to shocks, and there is no accumulation of debt in the long-term.</p>
<p>The second feature of good fiscal policy is attention to quality considerations in public investment. It is rather common to think that economic growth is just a matter of investment, and hence that the best (and possibly only) way in which governments can support growth is by throwing money into some infrastructure projects.</p>
<p>But the quality of investment and spending is as important as its quantity. Quality, for instance, means that upgrading the curriculum or promoting work-integrated learning is as important as building a new school. </p>
<p>Similarly, the growth payoff from building a tunnel that does not really address any transport bottlenecks or does not facilitate connectivity between market nodes is going to be small. I guess that the general message here is: public investment in infrastructure is not a panacea, and there is more that the government should/can do to promote inclusive growth.</p>
<h2>Obsession with debt</h2>
<p>My second bit of advice Premier is to get some perspective on the “debt problem” of Queensland. </p>
<p>There is no question that <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-true-state-of-queensland-debt-36345">Queensland debt has grown considerably</a> since 2006-07, and that today the debt to GDP ratio in Queensland is higher than in the rest of Australia, as I showed <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-true-state-of-queensland-debt-36345">in a recent article</a>.</p>
<p>But from a policy perspective, what matters is not much the comparison with other states, but instead the extent to which debt is sustainable. Sustainability refers to the dynamics of the debt to GDP ratio in the long-term. It is a simple matter of algebra to show that debt is sustainable as long as the economy grows sufficiently fast.</p>
<p>So, the issue of sustainability is essentially a question of economic growth. If in the attempt to reduce debt you were to undertake cuts or actions that undermine the growth potential of the economy, then the debt problem would simply get worse. </p>
<p>Now, this does not mean that Queensland should take a course of fiscal profligacy. It means, however, that there is no need at this stage to make drastic measures to repay debt. The type of counter-cyclical fiscal policy previously described, coupled with sound interventions in support of growth, will be enough to prevent further debt accumulation and hence to ensure its sustainability.</p>
<p>I welcome your government’s decision to re-consider the proposed plan of asset privatisations. It is the wrong response to a problem that does not require any such strong choice.</p>
<p>From an economic perspective, there is simply no evidence to support the notion that the private sector always does it better. Certainly, there are several examples of successful privatisations of public assets. But there are also many instances where privatisation has not resulted in a decrease in price and/or an increase in consumer’s satisfaction. </p>
<h2>What does the economic data tells us?</h2>
<p>And this brings me to the last bit of advice: make sure that your team takes a comprehensive look at the economic data before making any big decisions.</p>
<p>If good fiscal policy means that government expenditure must be synchronised to the business cycle, then the government must be able to identify and even predict the phases of the cycle. This in turn requires making the most efficient use of the large volume of statistical information that is available today. That is, good economic policy must be guided by a good understanding of the economic data.</p>
<p>A good look at the data is also important in terms of communication. I do not think that it helps the cause of any government to advertise a strong economy when – as is the case in Queensland today – gross domestic income per capita <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-true-state-of-queenslands-economy-without-the-spin-35959">is declining</a>, the only jobs that are being created <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-unemployment-figures-really-say-about-queensland-36305">are part-time</a>, and the unemployment rate <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-unemployment-figures-really-say-about-queensland-36305">is higher</a> than what it was three years ago (with or without seasonal adjustment).</p>
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<p><em>Read more of The Conversation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/queensland-election-2015">Queensland election 2015</a> coverage, and more ‘Dear Premier’ policy articles at the <a href="https://medium.com/the-machinery-of-government">Federal Future blog</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/37408/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fabrizio Carmignani receives funding from the Australian Research Council for a project on the estimation of the piecewise linear continuous model and its macroeconomic applications.</span></em></p>Queensland has a new Labor minority government, led by Annastacia Palaszczuk, after the shock defeat of the Liberal National Party. Labor’s pre-election promises were “modest”, leaving many now wondering…Fabrizio Carmignani, Professor, Griffith Business School , Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.