Comments on: Bridging the gap: What does it mean to be a Queenslander?

By: grumphy

grumphy — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 03:48:36 +0000

Steve@32 – well, that’s the other thing. IPA has been under review for sme time now, and a new bill is (finally) in the works. That entire process will very likely go down the tubes if Labour doesn’t retain power. That would be a tremendous waste of the time and money already spent on trying to fix the IP Act. This election is pretty poorly-timed from that perspective.

By: Bird of paradox

Bird of paradox — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:24:17 +0000

I’ll post here instead of PPT, because it’s quieter here…

Can the local Crikey-ites please do something about those damn LNP shills? They’re driving me nuts, both on the Pineapple blog and Poll Bludger. I was finding the former blog quite useful to keep up with the election (I don’t live in Qld) until they turned up in force.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 06:06:47 +0000

grumphy- well that’s exactly why reform is needed. I don’t suspect the LNP has looked at it from the angle Paul Burns suggests, if they had they wouldn’t announce it in an election campaign for that I am certain. But I recently quit the Greens as they sold us out to the worst Labor government in Australia (Queensland) so maybe I am in a bad mood for a few years and cynicsm has taken over.

By: grumphy

grumphy — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 05:16:23 +0000

Its not just a question of environment. Lack of development control leads to all sorts of economic problems. Case in point is the amount of infrastructure coastal local governments are stuck replacing early, because unmanaged acid sulfate soils disturbance has damaged them. Its becoming a massive cost burden for ratepayers, and if the current legislative requirements for dealing with the stuff get sidelined then the problem is only going to get worse. Shenanigans like this have the potential to bankrupt councils entirely, no joke.

What really gives me the irrits is that most of those delays are caused by developers not submitting their DA’s properly. The IDAS Form 1 is supposed to be accompanied by a bunch of reports on stuff like engineering and environmental management, so local government can assess the whole project in one go (along with any state agencies that get a look-in). Unfortunately IPA was gutted by the last Nationals government, and that means that a developer can chuck the Form 1 in by itself and claim that the rest of the reports are ‘on their way’ – usually in the hands of subcontractors. This creates all sorts of back-and-forthing, and the timeframes for assessment of DAs mean that approvals can wind up being given to what really aren’t complete applications.

At that point, all developers have to do is promise they’ll be good, no really, and they’re off the hook. If they stuff up environmentally, its up to the EPA and LG to prosecute for enviro harm, but that implies that they’ve been capable of adequate compliance checking (that’s generally a ‘no’, there just aren’t enough people). And of course, cure is going to cost much, much more than prevention.

By: Paul Burns

Paul Burns — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 04:47:31 +0000

Well, bad for the environment, good for developers, very good for the deep pockets of certain pollies of a conservative bent. If you get my meaning.

By: Steve at the Pub

Steve at the Pub — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 04:13:25 +0000

Paul Burns: Return of the White Shoe brigade. Would that be a bad thing or good thing?

By: Paul Burns

Paul Burns — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 04:10:15 +0000

Sound’s like they want to bring back Jo’s white shoe brigade.

By: grumphy

grumphy — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 03:03:51 +0000

Apparently the LNP think ‘being a queenslander’ means doing an end run around every development control law on the books whenever they want – http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/use-it-or-lose-it-lnp-tells-councils/2009/03/17/1237054794108.html

Worst. Idea. Ever.

By: Paul Burns

Paul Burns — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 02:36:29 +0000

Lefty E,
I’m sure the term Brisbane Line was coined by General Douglas MacArthur. However, it was widely popularised by George Johnston, then working as a journalist in, I think, Melbourne, in, I think, the Argus. (The I thinks are because I’m to lazy to go to the bookcase and look it up.)As to the first politician to take it up, it was Artie Caldwell, but Eddie Ward appropriated it within days and ran with it for years.An ABC defence correspondent used the term describing new defence plans in about 1988, (not sure of the date). The response of Army Public Relations when I rang them for further details was “Oh, shit!’ Paul Keating lambasted John Hewston as ‘the fellas who brought us the Brisbane Line’ or words to that effect in the famous flag debate. I seem to recollect some-one in the Rudd Government using the term recently but I wasn’t taking much notice at the time, so I’m not sure when that was.

By: Lefty E

Lefty E — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:58:28 +0000

Interesting Paul.

I found out recently Brisbane line is probably why I was born in Brisbane rather than Mt Isa. My grandad was a miner before he enlisted, and his family were evacuated (or evacuated themselves) south in 1942. My great-aunt moved back and still lives there.

So, let me just say I feel very positively disposed towards whoever thought it up – even if it was a popular rather than official notion.