Beattie Retires

COMMENT - 14 September 2007

So Premier Pete is "over it". Just like a egotistical footballer whose lost the drive to play competition rugby any more?

Whilst some commentators describe him as "one of the most significant Labor politicians of the last decade", his tenure as Premier of Queensland will be remembered for what he did not do, rather than for what he achieved, and for the disasters he presided over and was unable to solve.

Remember his 2004 election promise to clean up child abuse? He cut his second term short supposedly to secure a mandate to fix the problem.

Remember his 2006 promise to personally address the problems in Queensland Health? Problems he had presided over as both Health Minister and Premier, and then as Treasurer. Has anything changed? We are still shuttling patients around looking for hospital beds.

Remember his pledge to get water for Brisbane? From a dam that will cause environmental, social, economic damage long after he has been forgotten and which will statistically need 110 year cycles to fill up.

Remember the former Labor Member for Noosa, Cate Molloy, who spoke out against the Traveston Dam project and was promptly expelled from the Labor caucus by Premier Beattie? Seems she didn't like his plans to flood some of Queensland's most productive agricultural land, flooding roads and railways, drowning peaceful rural communities and endangering the health of the downstream river ecology for the sake of city votes.

Remember the other Labor mates he personally welcomed as new MPs or selected as ministers, then expelled when they were found to have rorted the electoral system? The 2001 Shepherdson Inquiry into Electoral Fraud, led to three members of his government being forced to quit parliament: former Labor Party State Secretary Mike Kaiser (then Member for Woodridge), backbencher Grant Musgrove (then Member for Springwood) and senior government Minister and Deputy Premier Jim Elder.

John Budd, Labor Member for Redlands from 1992 to 1995 was also implicated in that enquiry. The present Deputy Premier Paul Lucas was also mentioned in that report but managed to hang onto his career in the Beattie administration.

Remember the Ministers that he stood by time and time again when it was plain they were incompetent or up to mischief? Merri Rose, recently imprisoned for trying to bully the Premier into giving her a job following her fall from ministerial favour and the subsequent loss of her seat in parliament, and Gordon Nuttall, forced to resign as Health Minister, and now facing corruption charges... The list continues to grow.

Remember Peter Beattie presiding over one minute's silence in parliament in pity for convicted drug traffickers condemned to the death penalty in a country well-known for its stance on illicit drugs?

Remember the Premier whose team condoned Parliamentary lying and protected themselves by changing the law?

Remember his promise to get rogue surgeon Jayant Patel back from the United States after his government paid for his first class exit ticket?

Remember the Premier who was going to fine Mayors for seeking the views of their local constituents over forced amalgamations?

This is Peter Beattie's legacy. All talk and little action. All spin and little substance. One of wasted mandates to work for the good of all Queenslanders. One of failure to look ahead and see the problems caused by unbalanced development in south east Queensland. One of appalling lack of accountability or managerial commonsense on the part of his governments.

Seems like Mr Beattie has taken the easy way out yet again, and left Deputy Bligh to sort out the mess.

Well may we ask what is his legacy. Serial crises and serial apologies for failing to provide the essential services Queenslanders deserve, like reliable water and power supplies, a high-quality public health system for all Queenslanders, forward planning for improved roads and port infrastructure throughout the state, a fully-resourced Ambulance Service and Police Service, to name a few.

Premier Beattie has been more interested in football stadiums and conning the public to win elections than in delivering services for all Queenslanders.