Queensland releases a draft of its 30-year vision

In brief

The Queensland Government has released a working draft of its 30-year vision for the state. Special Counsel Rosanne Meurling looks at those aspects of the plan that are relevant to development.

The Queensland Government is seeking feedback on the working draft to confirm whether it accurately reflects the views expressed by the community during the extensive consultation process that occurred during 2013. The focus of the working draft is on the vision for the Plan, with the method of implementing this vision to be developed at a later date.

The final document will be released in mid-2014.

Content and implementation

The Plan will be a high level, strategic plan for the state, covering a period to 2044.

It is envisaged that the Plan will be implemented in a collaborative fashion by state and local government, industry and the community through yet to be developed strategies, plans and actions.

The Queensland Government intends to prepare a whole-of-government strategic plan that will focus on policy development and service delivery over the short to medium timeframe. The Government will also convene a group of eminent Queenslanders from diverse backgrounds to be advocates for the Plan's implementation.

The working draft states that the Plan will be given legislative force 'to make it central to all government policy and planning'. It is not clear how this outcome will be achieved, and how important the Plan will be to the day-to-day decision making of the Government.

The working draft of the Plan identifies nine key areas of interest, which are called 'foundation areas'. These are:

Education – building life skills and inspiring bright minds.
Community – making connections.
Regions – building thriving communities.
Economy – forging diversity and prosperity.
Health and wellbeing – being healthy and active.
Environment – achieving balance.
People – creating opportunities for everyone.
Infrastructure – being connected.
Governance – balancing all our interests.

For each of the foundation areas, the working draft identifies preliminary targets, describes the goals and outcomes that would represent the successful achievement of each target, and specifies the indicative measures to be used to gauge success. The measures are both quantitative and qualitative. For those which are quantitative, baseline data needs to be established. The working draft acknowledges that this information may not be available for all areas and that further work needs to be done.

Of the many issues addressed in the working draft, we discuss below some issues having particular relevance to development. The issues are interrelated and the manner in which they are addressed in the working draft is consistent with their treatment in other planning processes currently occurring in Queensland, including the State Planning Policy released in late 2013.

Regions

The preliminary target is for half of Queensland's population (which is estimated to be 8 million by 2044) to live outside of South East Queensland. The focus is on attracting people, investment and employment to the regions, making regional economies strong and diverse, providing infrastructure in regional areas to connect regions to each other and beyond, and allowing decisions to be made at the local and regional levels. The importance of the agricultural sector is recognised in terms of both the domestic and international sectors, particularly Asia.

Economy

The focus is on a diverse and prosperous economy in terms of income, trade and employment and being a key player in the Asian region. There is an acknowledgement that the regions will be central to this outcome. There is also a recognition that innovation should be fostered through education, training and other means of support.

Environment

The target is on balancing environmental protection and economic development.

A strong link is made between the preservation of the environment and economic development in areas such as agriculture, mining, tourism and alternative energy sources.

With respect to agriculture and mining, the working draft refers to increasing production with less impact on natural resources, more rigorous standards for environmental rehabilitation and the use of more renewable energy sources. The working draft identifies one successful outcome as being a situation where 'agricultural and mining industries are integrated, equitable, profitable and environmentally responsible'.

Urban sprawl is also targeted, with the working draft advocating increased density over outward growth, the implementation of best practice urban renewal and integrated communities which, among other things, reduce time spent commuting.

Infrastructure

The preliminary target is to deliver 'the right infrastructure ... in the right place at the right time'.

The focus here is on taking a long-term approach to the planning and delivery of infrastructure, the better utilisation of existing infrastructure and the use of technology. There is also a focus on funding infrastructure in a variety of ways, including using both public and private funding models.

Governance

The focus is on localised and more flexible decision making, decisions that are responsive and transparent, and regulation that is risk based and avoids duplication. This focus is consistent with the current red and green tape reduction program, and the promotion of open access to information.

Further work

The working draft states that the targets and measures are preliminary, and will be revised following public consultation. In particular, the working draft states that 'expert advice will be sought to ensure an appropriate balance of aspiration and pragmatism is achieved'. This will be necessary as the balance in the working draft is currently weighted towards aspiration.

The working draft also states that expert advice will be sought to ensure the Plan is 'robust and reasoned'. This will be necessary if the Plan is to have legislative force. The nature of the expert advice to be sought is not, however, identified.

It is not known how closely the final document will follow the format and content of the working draft. The final document will, of necessity, need to clearly identify the outcomes sought to be achieved.

There is no discussion in the working draft of how the Plan will be kept current and relevant. A process of review and revision will be vital to ensuring the utility of the Plan. The Plan recognises that change is rapid and unpredictable and, as such, it needs to be able to react to such change in a timely fashion to be able to influence the outcomes. The dominant trends identified in the Plan in 2013 may well be different to those occurring in 2023.

The vision of the Plan is consistent with promoting economic development, particularly in the regions. The challenge will be in implementing the vision through a legislative framework in such a way as to provide a catalyst for economic development, without introducing more regulation and prescription.

There is no indication in the working draft that further public consultation will occur before the final document is issued after this current period. There is, however, ample opportunity before the close of public consultation to make submissions to the Queensland Government about the issues addressed in the working draft.