With the state election just weeks away, lobbying by industry bodies and interest groups has begun in earnest. Queensland’s resources and mining sector is no exception.
The head of Queensland Resources Council Chief Executive, Michael Roche, was one of the first cabs off the rank, last week expressing concern over Labor’s plans to reduce duplication and costs by having fewer portfolios along with fewer Ministers.
Roche said that, “…while the idea of fewer Ministers has populist appeal, more important are Labor’s plans for the machinery of government.”
“Under the former Labor government, the machinery of government was blighted by huge and dysfunctional super departments,” Roche said.
“The last thing we would want to see is a return to unworkable departments like Environment and Resource Management (DERM) and Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI).”
“Under that Labor government mechanism, the mines department was lost inside the huge DEEDI framework where the Mines Minister also carried important economy-wide skills responsibilities.”
“In our election policy agenda document released last week we called on the major parties to commit to positioning Natural Resources and Mines as a senior portfolio in the Queensland Cabinet, focused on achieving the goal of being Australia’s leading resources sector economic development agency,” he said.
“We look forward to hearing from both major parties on their plans for the state’s machinery of government.”
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