Queensland July to December 1999

Political Chronicles 237

JOHN WANNA Politics and Public Policy, Griffith University

Gambling on Pulling Through Although the Beattie government was approaching mid-term, political events in the latter half of 1999 were anything but dull. The Labor government gradually began to establish its own direction and policy agenda but was simultaneously confronted with a series of difficulties and political scandals — embroiling ministers and backbenchers. Commencing the year as a majority government, Beattie ended the year sliding back into minority government with the added uncertainty of facing two by-elections in Labor seats. Although the government appeared confident, it was often spooked by events — some admittedly beyond their control but others certainly of their own making. Every political issue was perceived as a risk with the potential to bring down the government — and there were many constant reminders of the slenderness of their grip on power. While a potent mixture of gambling and sex scandals marred Labor's credibility, the oppositional parties fared little better, with the Nationals engaged in internal discord, the Liberals unable to impress, and the remnants of One Nation thrown to the four winds. Leadership speculation would continue to dog both Coalition parties with some members making their dissatisfaction apparent over the lack of effectiveness against the Labor government. The year overall would be remembered as a testing time for all in Queensland politics. Despite the occasional gaffe, overall support for the Labor government remained strong. Polls generally put Labor ahead of the combined Coalition and One Nation vote on a two-party preferred basis — but with the fragmentation of the vote at the 1998 election such figures were treated by all sides with caution. In September a leaked opinion poll showed that 58 per cent of voters were satisfied with the government's performance while 38 per cent were dissatisfied. The poll showed that even in its best seats the vote for One Nation had dropped to 10 per cent while in marginal electorates Labor was increasing in some seats (eg Springwood and Glasshouse) but losing others to the Coalition (eg Mt Ommaney). The personal approval for Premier Peter Beattie was 68 per cent compared to Rob Borbidge the Opposition leader who scored 40 per cent. By late 1999 Beattie had emerged as the most popular premier in the country. One important milestone to occur in July was the tenth anniversary of the tabling of the Fitzgerald Report into police corruption, illegal gaming and prostitution. A series of political speeches and media "specials" to mark the decade of reform provided various evaluations of the impact of the Fitzgerald inquiry (Courier-Mail, 3 July 1999). Most

© Departments of History & Government, The University of Queensland & Blackwell Publishers 2000. 238 Political Chronicles reports praised the inquiry and subsequent reforms with suggestions that police corruption had now been all but rooted out. Some critics argued that while little reforms had been implemented, the government and the media had taken their eye off the "big picture". It was also apparent that relations between the Criminal Justice Commission and the Police Union remained at a low ebb (Wilkinson, Courier-Mail, 17 July 1999). The Fitzgerald anniversary was soon followed by the tenth anniversary of the election of the Goss government on 2 December. Special dinners were held among Labor circles and Goss's inner circle (who wore t-shirts with the words "we wore suits for Wayne Goss" — alluding to the quip once said of the Goss government that it was run by boys in suits). Press assessments spoke approvingly of the "winds of change" brought in by Goss, and the "revolution" in Queensland politics introduced by the Goss ministry. Arguing against the conventional wisdom, the opposition leader Rob Borbidge suggested that Goss had failed, had not consolidated his reforms and had been preoccupied with process. The 1999 Electoral Redistribution A lengthy electoral redistribution was conducted between late 1998 and mid 1999 by the three-member Queensland Redistribution Commission. This was the eighteenth redistribution since self-government but the first state-wide redistribution since the zonal system had been abolished and a fairer system of electoral boundaries introduced in 1991. The determination of the Redistribution Commission was gazetted on 7 July. In the redistribution the number of electorates remained the same (at 89) but a number of smaller seats were abolished, merged or renamed as boundaries shifted to keep pace with population movements (eg Kedron). New seats tended to be created in areas of high urban growth (eg Glasshouse was re-created). The main parties made submissions generally urging the commissioners to make minimal changes while equalising the number of electors in the 84 non-weighted seats. And mostly they were satisfied with the outcome of the determination. The ALP calculated that in net terms it had lost one seat on the new boundaries compared to the 1998 results. Importantly, around 40 per cent of the state seats remained in the marginal category – suggesting that for the foreseeable future the government of the day would never be able to take the electorate for granted and would continually have to earn support across a wide band of marginal seats. The Net-Bet Fiasco: Labor's Sticky Fingers and a Hiatus for Hamill The first major scandal to blight the Beattie government involved the Treasurer David Hamill and his decision to award an Internet gaming licence to the Gocorp consortium hoping to establish a Net-based casino gambling enterprise located on the Gold Coast. The Gocorp group included three "Labor mates" who were minor shareholders in a company that held a 20 per cent stake in Gocorp. The three Labor figures were Bill D'Arcy (Labor's Deputy Speaker), Don Livingstone (former Labor member for Ipswich West) and Ipswich Labor counsellor Paul Pisasale. All three stood to make windfall gains (or according to the Premier an "obscene" amount of profit) from the sale of their shares in the company structure (up to $1 million each). The decision to award the contract had a long gestation (starting under Joan Sheldon) but was eventually approved by the Labor Treasurer on advice from officials in his department (the Office of Gaming Regulation). When the Treasurer's decision attracted public

Departments of History & Government, The University of Queensland & Blackwell Publishers 2000. Political Chronicles 239 scrutiny (first on 27 July) Hamill attempted to deflect criticism claiming he had done nothing wrong and followed due process. However, Independent Peter Wellington was perturbed that the government had awarded the license to extend gambling while holding a review and being ostensibly concerned with the negative social impacts of gambling. Hamill was initially insistent he would not stand down but agreed to stand aside on 1 August while an investigation by the Auditor-General was held into the matter. Parliament also debated a motion censuring the Treasurer (which was lost on party lines). Although expecting a brief inquiry Hamill eventually remained sidelined for almost three months. Bill D'Arcy also finally agreed to relinquish his position as deputy speaker on 8 August — a position to which he would not return and, indeed, by the new year he would no longer be sitting in parliament. Hoping to clear his friend (and repair his government's credibility) Beattie had apparently persuaded Hamill to stand aside on full salary to allow the Auditor-General Len Scanlan to investigate the matter. In the meantime the Opposition had lodged a formal complaint to the Criminal Justice Commission (CJC) questioning whether any official misconduct had taken place. They began exploratory investigations on 30 July (and decided to hold an independent inquiry — under Bob Gotterson QC — on 6 August). This now meant that two inquiries into the matter were active. Those conducting the inquiries agreed to coordinate their investigations, and deliver their verdicts simultaneously. Beattie also introduced retrospective legislation into parliament preventing politicians, their families or their staff from benefiting from Internet casino licences. Eventually, the Attorney-General and the CJC reported to parliament on 30 September clearing Hamill of any wrong-doing. He was reinstated as Treasurer in October and in resuming work adopted a low profile — until he could boast of the returns secured by the sale of the TAB. The significance of the Net-Bet affair was that it effectively ended the Beattie honeymoon and put the government on the back foot for the first time since taking office. It also damaged Hamill's reputation. The local media regarded his actions as "naïve or stupid" — a "Rhodes scholar without street cred". Colleagues in the ALP continued to question his political judgement — indeed, even the most favourable assessments from his own side considered that he was at best gullible and showed lapses of political judgement. While the Net-Bet Affair was in train, the government accomplished the privatisation of the TAB (for around $250 million) but in the process quite a few feathers were ruffled. Premier Beattie had managed to convince the ALP's state conference of the need to privatise the gambling authority (in the face of much grassroots opposition), but was then faced with the prospect of ALP-run investment companies (Labor Holdings Pty Ltd) attempting to buy shares in the float. If the ideological battle was lost, Labor was still prepared to benefit commercially from the sale of public assets. To counter perceptions of a conflict of interest (as some Labor figures were on the TAB board), Beattie initially ruled out any large corporation buying substantial portions of the TAB. Then with rumours aplenty that Labor was looking after its mates, he introduced legislation into Parliament prohibiting any political party (and in particular the ALP or any related holding company) from applying for shares in the privatised entity (much to the disgust of the ALP treasurers). He had earlier introduced legislation to ban MPs and local councillors (or their families) from involvement in interactive gaming. The Premier took these extreme

© Departments of History & Government, The University of Queensland & Blackwell Publishers 2000. 240 Political Chronicles measures because the ALP refused to confirm that it would not seek to purchase shares in the float and because of concerns that some party members refused to abide by the conventions associated with conflicts of interest and keep their private interests separate from their public actions. There was also speculation that the Beattie government would privatise the public energy enterprises Energex and Ergon Energy in the immediate future. Perhaps the minister in charge of Energex, Tony McGrady, had wished the body was already privatised when it was found that executives of the corporation had managed to award themselves substantial pay rises. The chief executive Brian Blinco was reported as having received a 40 per cent pay rise taking his package up to $440,000 with other executives gaining increases of $45,000 per year. The issues arose during budget estimates when the minister was called upon to explain the increases. He claimed the increases had been approved by the board in January but that he had not known about the decision or the amount. Executives counter-claimed that they had told the minister in April, but he remained adamant he had not known. In a case of closing the barn door once the horse had bolted, the government introduced tougher guidelines to regulate executive pay in public corporations (including publication of individual packages in their annual reports to parliament).

Beattie's "Smart - State" Budget — The First using an Accrual Format With Hamill stood down over the Net-bet Affair, the Premier and acting Treasurer was called upon to present the Budget on Tuesday 14 September. The Budget was again delivered late in the year possibly to keep to the annual cycle but also because of difficulties the government still faced in spending the large capital works injection promised in the previous budget (and had they opted for a May budget then they would have had to explain why progress was slow). Although the Premier was not a natural with figures, he gave an up-beat performance, but was noticeably less sure when questioned on the accounting principles behind the new accrual format. With a record $16.8 billion in outlays the Budget continued the "big government" trend of recent years (a trend Labor had dubbed "spending like drunken sailors" during the Coalition's time in office). There were no new taxes and a few small tax concessions offered. Again a massive capital works program was proposed with $5.2 billion earmarked for capital projects. The government attempted to sell the package as a strategy to reinvent Queensland as the "smart state", despite allocating relatively little additional funds to initiatives involving new technology over the forthcoming year. Already one of the fastest growing states (with a state GDP growth predicted to be 3.75 per cent), the Budget was intended to generate sustainable jobs by the selective encouragement of bio-technology and information technology-based industries. Over 41,000 new jobs would be created. Funds were allocated to universities for super computers, and to support bio-scientific research. TAFE was charged with developing new courses on information technology, and schools were to be required to provide one computer for every five pupils. But, most of the government's new initiatives announced were comparatively small and spread over a timeframe of three to ten years ahead. The "smart state" spin was gloss but it generally succeeded in winning a favourable reception for Beattie's economic statement. Indeed, the Courier-Mail (15 September 1999) found the Budget a "winner" delivered by a "canny" premier who

Departments of History & Government, The University of Queensland & Blackwell Publishers 2000. Political Chronicles 241 had blended "financial sobriety and political smarts seasoned with just enough vision to make it interesting". Most spending went on traditional areas of education ($4.2 billion or 27 per cent of outlays), health ($3.45 billion or 20 per cent), transport ($2.75 billion or 16 per cent) and administration and public order ($3.2 billion or 19 per cent). The usual suspects were rewarded: with the government promising more nurses (450), more police (325) and more teachers (288 — although the government steadfastly refused to table the exact number of teachers employed in state schools). Also the number of public servants in the premier's own department was to rise by 107. Other departments received no or only modest growth. The massive capital works program (double the amount spent only eight years ago) would sustain around 68,000 jobs in industry. The government had allocated 54 per cent of these funds to regional areas of the state. One of the major talking points about the Budget was the relatively small amount of funds allocated to the implementation of the Forde Inquiry recommendations (for child protection in institutionalised care). The government only awarded $10 million in the Budget; a figure that would increase by a further $10 million each year over the next three years (to a recurrent $40 million per annum). This commitment was far less than that recommended by Commissioner Leneen Forde who urged the government to allocate $103 million to improve the care of children and bring Queensland's level of spending into parity with other states. The 1999-2000 Budget was the first full "accrual output budget". Instead of presenting cash figures for the year ahead, all income and expenses, assets and liabilities were shown. Ostensibly budgets were allocated to "buy" specific outputs from departments, emphasising performance issues as the basis of budget determinations. As part of its plan to rationalise assets (and maximise their use) the government announced that agencies would be subject to a 6 per cent capital charge on almost all assets they controlled. This measure was ostensibly to encourage departments to sell off their "lazy assets" (or as Beattie put it "lazy money") such as tracts of land they were not using or did not know about. In the first year departments were compensated for the charge, but if "lazy assets" were sold they could retain any difference and in future years would be expected to manage their assets. Opposition reaction to the Budget was generally subdued. Shadow treasurer David Watson regarded it as a "pessimistic plan" for the future. In cash terms the budget projected a deficit of $350 million. Borbidge announced that the capital charge represented secret cuts to departments or a "Beattie stealth tax". His political assessment was that the Budget was a "half-smart Budget by a half-smart premier"; a sour comment suggesting perhaps that Borbidge himself was still smarting over losing the premiership. Other Announcements and Policy Reviews The state's schools began a campaign in July to discredit Q-Build over claims of shoddy school maintenance and defective building work. Two of the main concerns were over Q-Build's monopolisation of the work and the high prices charged for jobs. The Housing minister Robert Schwarten defended Q-Build arguing that the government also needed to protect the jobs of their employees. In August, the Health Minister Wendy Edmond supported a proposal put to a ministerial council of Health ministers, to introduce labelling on genetically modified foods, but warned that any

© Departments of History & Government, The University of Queensland & Blackwell Publishers 2000. 242 Political Chronicles steps to inform customers had to be practical. Later, under pressure from the federal government, the Health ministers would effectively renege on their commitment. Moral issues consumed much government attention over the winter. Homosexual couples received legal protection against domestic violence in their relationships, and also for the first time secured property rights in the event of de facto relationships breaking down. The government further liberalised prostitution laws between June and December — allowing boutique brothels to operate with up to five prostitutes (while clamping down on street prostitution). The legislative amendment was closer to the original CJC recommendation made in 1991 and supported by Beattie when he was chair of the overseeing parliamentary committee. The government's intentions were opened to public consultation for around five months before the legislation was introduced. While attracting the wrath of the opposition (who claimed brothels would be on a "street near you"), most other interest groups accepted the change — excepting some Christian church groups. Some in the sex industry were critical because they felt the move did not go far enough and was overly costly and unworkable in practice. Before the bill was passed the Nationals' leader sensed that some Labor backbenchers were against the reform, and so challenged the Premier to allow the caucus to have a free vote on the matter. Rebuffing this suggestion the Premier insisted the legislation was government policy and not open to a conscience vote from the ALP members. The issue of where a new 60,000-seat sports stadium would be located became a running sore despite the government having made a decision in favour of Lang Park/Suncorp-Metway stadium in August. Support for the Lang Park option by the Tourism minister Bob Gibbs proved to be instrumental. Yet the issue refused to go away partly because the government was itself divided and many other actors had a vested interest in pushing for the decision to be reopened. The government's decision was described as a "blunder" and elements of the media called for a deferral. The Brisbane Lord Mayor Jim Soorley in particular wanted the decision reversed in favour of the Royal National Showgrounds. There was also dispute over the costs involved, with estimates varying between $280 million and up to $400 million for the rival sites. Subsequent to the decision the Premier apparently announced that a new design was to be commissioned through a competition — implying that even with the site chosen the government was not fixed on a particular plan — but this was then denied by the premier. By year's end, after Bob Gibbs announced his resignation, the government's decision again looked to be thrown into doubt. The other major issue to occupy the government's attention involved timber. On the one hand the government was anxious to reduce tree-clearing by farmers. On the other hand it did not want to either excite another rural backlash nor be left with the full bill for compensation. In the midst of reported "panic clearing" by unscrupulous owners of freehold land, the government delayed its intended legislation. Extensive consultation had already taken place with key stakeholders on the precise regulations to be enacted, but this did not seem to prevent the actions of the mavericks. In other policy moves, the government signed a twenty-five year regional forestry agreement (RFA) with timber industry representatives and conservationists. The $80 million deal began outside the federal RFA framework, but closely followed its principles and was endorsed by Commonwealth officials. When the state sought Commonwealth financial assistance to compensate timber towns in the south-east corner of Queensland, the Prime Minister John Howard refused. His reasons were specifically tied to the concerns of his rural

Coalition backbench MPs who were antagonistic to the arrangement. The Queensland deal led to a protracted stand-off between the state and federal governments with both Beattie and Senator Robert Hill (the federal Environment minister) accusing each other of grandstanding, vandalism and reneging on previous commitments. By the year's end no federal funding had been forthcoming and even the federal ALP was insisting that state-based regional forest agreements be approved by the Senate to ensure the sustainability of the forest agreement. Coalition Politics Relations within the National party between the state and federal politicians had become tense and at times acrimonious over the impact of competition policy and economic restructuring on the rural sector. The federal-based Nationals generally supported the rationalist direction pursued by the Howard government (especially John Anderson who became the new federal leader and Deputy Prime Minister on 20 July). By contrast, the state-based Nationals under Rob Borbidge were anxious to recapture the regional voters lost to One Nation in 1998, and so were increasingly re-positioning themselves on populist issues, both social and economic. They sought to soften if not reverse the policies adopted by their federal counterparts (both Borbidge and Beattie tried to out-do each other in an effort to attack competition policy and have the National Competition Council abolished). As often occurs in Queensland, policy differences soon turned to personal attacks and some "argy bargy", with Borbidge questioning whether Anderson had the credentials and ability to take on the leadership after the veteran Tim Fischer resigned to spend more time with his family. Anderson gave a hard-nosed reply, pointing out that short-term populism was not the way to go and reminding the Queensland Nationals that "we won our election, you lost yours" (Courier-Mail, 3 July 1999). This stand-off was gradually defused by calmer heads within the party who offered to "bury the hatchet", but there was no resolution with both sides agreeing to differ. Borbidge also began preparing a new policy orientation for the Nationals ahead of the next election. He committed the Nationals to a more compassionate conservative stance in which greater emphasis was placed on a "social conscience" in policy terms. He also urged greater decentralisation to link government more closely with communities. He told the Nationals' state conference in July that non-elected bodies such as the CJC or NCC were unaccountable and that parliament should reassert its sovereignty over them. He also reminded his party they could not assume former One Nation voters would automatically return to the fold, rather the Nationals had to "re- earn and regain their support" (Courier-Mail, 31 July 1999). Their first move in this direction was to call for an easing of the gun laws to protect the legitimate interests of gun owners. In October the former National party Premier Russell Cooper announced that he would not be recontesting his seat at the next election — retiring after around 17 years in parliament — in which time he had been premier for two months and police and prisons minister in the late 1980s and again from 1996-8. He served for two years as leader of the opposition between 1989-91. Cooper had helped Mike Ahern overthrow Joh Bjelke-Petersen as Premier in 1987 and since then had continually been one of the National party's most able front-bench performers and persistent critic of poor administration in both the police and prison services.

Pauline Hanson's Party — Here Today, Gone Tomorrow Having lost six of its eleven state members within the first year of the new parliament, the remaining five of Pauline Hanson's One Nation MPs were moved to resign from the fledgling party in late 1999. The remnants of the party were led by the former state parliamentary leader Bill Feldman who began to rebuild bridges with the ousted Senate candidate Heather Hill. The cause of their grief was twofold: the lack of a democratic and accountable party structure (dominated by Oldfield, Ettridge and Hanson), and the deregistration of the party after a court case in August which found the party was improperly registered as a party (a case initiated by Terry Sharples — a former One nation candidate). Personality clashes and claims of dishonesty also complicated these relations and a series of very public brawls occurred between party identities. Many who had ridden the One Nation bandwagon were now looking over their shoulders because support for the "party" had plummeted in the polls to 7 per cent — this was less than one-third of the support registered in the 1998 state election. The ALP also announced it was considering a legal challenge to the validity of the election of all ten former One Nation members — but did not proceed after receiving legal advice. Although the Hanson party was in disarray and electoral support had fallen markedly, the issues that kindled their rise had not evaporated. The diverse constituencies to which Hanson had successfully appealed now resembled a disaffected social movement in search of political expression. Gradually some would drift back to the main parties but party alignment remained volatile. Attempts were made to salvage something from the debacle. The Member for Burdekin, Jeff Knuth, one of the initial group of One Nation MPs to quit the party, had formed a new Country Party (registering the name in August) but was making little progress in convincing other rural conservatives to join. In December Knuth, Heather Hill and Bill Feldman met and agreed to unite to form a "City-Country Alliance" intending to register this title as their party name in the new year (this was only after there had been some confusion amongst themselves over whether to call the new party the Country-City Alliance — which had been announced initially). The nomination of a leader for the new alliance was deferred while registration was sought. In December the registration process was commenced but not completed before the end of the year or before two by-elections were suddenly caused by two Labor resignations.

Bobby Goes to Hollywood The long-serving Tourism minister, Bob Gibbs, decided to call it a day on 14 December. Gibbs, the member for Bundamba (1992-99) and the former seat of Wolston (1977-92), had been in parliament for twenty-two years. He had been a minister for most of the 1990s holding the portfolios of Tourism, Sport and Racing (1989-95 and 1998-99) and Primary Industries for a six-month stint in 1995-96. At his best Gibbs was an effective minister and vigorous debater in Parliament (who sometimes went over the top with his attacks — such as when he termed the then Liberal leader Joan Sheldon as a Rottweiler with lipstick). For over a decade Gibbs had influence as one of the most senior members of the left faction (Labor Left) in the government (including a controversial term as State President in the mid 1990s). Nicknamed "Bollinger Bob" by his colleagues and the media because of his obvious enjoyment of the good life, Gibbs had also suffered a number of personal and health

© Departments of History & Government, The University of Queensland & Blackwell Publishers 2000. Political Chronicles 245 crises in recent years (and had also become somewhat accident prone — being accused of living in his parliament flat and being duped in the Baywatch debacle). Bob Gibbs was reputedly not one of the most assiduous local members, and locals often complained of his neglect of the electorate. After he had indicated in writing that he intended to resign, discussion turned to a post-politics job. Gibbs was fortunate to be offered a government appointment as trade commissioner to Los Angeles (on a package reputedly worth $250,000 per annum). Although the job offer was regarded as another case of "jobs for the boys", it was one of a batch of three political appointments; Mike Ahern (a former National Party Premier) and Sally-Anne Atkinson (former Liberal Lord Mayor of Brisbane) were appointed simultaneously as trade ambassadors. The whole package therefore became an expensive send-off for Gibbs. But rather than "looking after" Gibbs, there was some suspicion that the Premier's motives were more to do with "reverse transportation" — after all Los Angeles was a long way from George Street, Brisbane. Technically, Gibbs' decision to quit left the ALP government in a minority situation (except that parliament was not due to be recalled before the by-election was scheduled). The immediate upshot of the sudden announcement was a messy and amateurish preselection battle among the left between local branch worker (and Gibbs' electoral secretary) Jo-Ann Miller and state ACTU secretary John Thompson. Miller enjoyed strong local support and Thompson was eventually persuaded to withdraw from the contest citing "family reasons" for his decision. With another by-election looming in Woodridge should Bill D'Arcy resign (and the State Secretary Mike Kaiser tipped for this seat) the Premier made it clear he preferred a woman candidate to give balance to the upcoming campaign. After waiting for D'Arcy to resign (see next Chronicle) the Premier contemplated possible dates for the two by-elections. Opting for a short campaign, he called both for 5 February 2000; a high-risk gamble but one which would decide the fate of the government one way or the other.