Steve Greenwood |
Thursday, 26 November 2009 12:01 AM |
2 Comments
It is no secret that the Property Council has strongly welcomed the Premier’s recent statements on the issue of population growth management for Queensland.
For too long the property industry has been on its own; pushing for government action to address the population challenge.
For too long the property industry has been the lone voice of sanity; opposing local politicians running the ridiculous argument on the need to ‘cap population growth’.
As recently as two weeks before the Premier’s announcement, the Property Council was again expressing its strong opposition to this crazy proposal being driven by a number of councils and ‘community groups’ – “Population Cap Calls Nonsensical: Property Council”
Well, the very good news is that our message has got through; our advocacy efforts have achieved real traction with the Government. This is no accident; this is what the Property Council does very well.
The Premier has now waded into the debate and stated unequivocally that capping population growth simply cannot be done. She is on the public record once and for all and the minority groups and local politicians opposing growth should clearly note this – they have run the race and lost.
However, while the Government’s entrance to the debate is welcome, it is clear that some of its ideas just won’t work. While the idea of attracting people to locate in other parts of the state has merit; a small handout to offset the cost of housing was never going to work.
I suspect the Premier knew this too; however there is no doubt that that the inclusion of this idea in the announcement guaranteed very strong media interest. If the controversy was planned, it was a good plan.
The real solution to managing Queensland’s future population is jobs – pure and simple. Ask anyone that has moved cities or towns recently, why have they moved, and 9 out of 10 times the answer will be that they ‘moved because of their job’.
Job creation and job location will be the critical factors in the future of managing Queensland’s population growth. Create them and they will come.
A big part of job creation is creating employment centres – industrial, commercial, retail and government – in places where we want people to move. If we want people to move to Toowoomba, Ipswich or Townsville – then we must create very significant employment opportunities in these areas. This means producing employment lands efficiently and affordably.
Unfortunately this is not what is happening at the moment – employment land supply is limited and it is expensive relative to most other States.
If we are serious about better managing our population growth, then employment land supply must be increased dramatically, regulatory hurdles and charges must be reduced.
The Property Council’s “The Great Growth Debate – a symposium on new ideas and solutions to managing Queensland’s burgeoning population” will be held on 5 March 2010 and will include discussion on the issues surrounding employment lands – and much more.
I look forward to seeing you there.
For event information on The Great Growth Debate, click here.
For sponsorship information for The Great Growth Debate, click here.
Steve Greenwood |
Thursday, 26 November 2009 12:01 AM |
2 Comments
