Queensland Labor Premier Peter Beattie's legacy

Tue, 2007-09-11 10:23 by admin
  1. in Queensland without having a clue where the necessary additional water would come from.
  2. Coming out of the closet as being in favour of massive population growth, which for years he held responsible for state infrastructural problems.
  3. Entering negotiations with Howard over how to divide money raised form the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 1999 at a time when popular opposition to the GST was growing.
  4. Jeopardising Federal Labor's 2007 election prospects with his anti-democratic forced local government amalgamations that were enacted in accord with .
  5. The invasion of Maleny in 2005 with 200 police in order to enable the building of a Woolworths supermarket opposed by 80% of Maleny's population.
  6. Privatisation of the Dalrymple Bay coal loader.
  7. Full privatisation of SunCorp (formerly State Government Insurance Office) in spite of election promise not to.
  8. Privatisation of the retail arm of Energex, Queensland's electricity generating untility.
  9. Privatisation of the Golden Casket.
  10. Having privatised the Golden Casket and many other revenue earners, raising stamp duties on second hand car sales from 2% to 4% to make up for revenue shortfall.
  11. Ongoing efforts to privatise water and Queensland Rail.
  12. Attempts to destroy the last undeveloped coast land at The Spit on the Gold Coast with with a passenger ship terminal and housing development.
  13. Support for the and the .
  14. .
  15. Wasting hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayers' money on the SunCorp Stadium white elephant, which was opposed by local residents at a time when Queensland did not have the money Beattie said was necessary to compensate farmers in order to prevent tree clearing.
  16. Choosing the Traveston Dam site over four other more preferable sites because .
  17. etc.
" id="QldPowerPrivatisation">Letter published in the Courier Mail in response to the announcement of plans to sell retail arms of publicly owned power utilities Dear Sir/Madam, What right does Premier Beattie have to sell off, possibly to foreign interests, Energex and Ergon, assets which rightfully belong to the people of Queensland, especially given the disastrous records of Privatisation in South Australian and Victoria ("Power Sale Likely", 24 Apr 06")? How is this consistent with the Beattie Government's own supposed opposition to the ? If this Government had any true commitment to Labor principles, it would abandon the sale. If it had any commitment to the principle of democracy it would put the proposed sell-off to the Queensland electors at the forthcoming state elections. James Sinnamon