Jim Soorley served as popularly elected Labor Lord Mayor of the Brisbane City Council from 1991-2003. He reflects on how his Council introduced the City Cat ferries on the Brisbane River, expanded the city's busway network and reformed the superannuation entitlements of BCC Councillors and staff.
Public servant Gerard Bradley was appointed Under Treasurer in 1995-96, in the final year of the Goss Government. He was reappointed as head of Treasury in 1998 after the Beattie Government won office. He oversaw government corporatisation processes and a budgetary reform agenda during a period of high growth and economic diversification in Queensland.
Public servant Frank Peach reflects on his diverse career as Director General of several departments including Education, Corrective Services and Families. He comments on the role of government and the public service in developing and implementing policy, highlighting the frustrations incurred due to a persistent tension between limited resources and increasing demand for social services.
David Watson was leader of the Liberal Party, Minister of Public Works and Housing during the Borbidge era and was the Shadow Treasurer and Shadow Minister for Communications and Information.
Ken Smith worked in the Queensland public service over the twenty-year period of intense professionalisation – starting in the Goss years, dismissed in the Borbidge years, and returning to serve Beattie and Bligh. His key contributions have been in delivering better family services and stimulating different policy perspectives in education.
John Strano was a senior member of the Queensland public service with a firm belief in the community benefits from private investment. He was a leading figure in attracting private capital to the state during the Beattie Government era.
Public servant Jim Varghese was the Director General of Main Roads, Employment and Training, Education and Primary Industries and Fisheries and was involved in developing and implementing policy reforms during the Borbidge, Goss and Beattie eras. He discusses several key policy reforms in each of these portfolios and outlines some of his strategies for change management.
Labor politician Desley Boyle discusses her career that began in 1988 as a Councillor on the Cairns City Council before moving into state politics. She ended her ministerial career in 2011 as Minister for Local Government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships and stepped down from her parliamentary seat in 2012. She discusses the challenges she faced in each of her portfolios, and focuses on her passion for the environment and good planning.
Public servant Ann Scott talks about her work in the Women's Policy Unit, the Public Sector Management Commission and the Queensland Police Service during the 1990s. She contrasts the outgoing Bjelke-Petersen Government with the incoming Goss Government, and discusses the reform agenda, the Fitzgerald Inquiry, and Criminal Justice Commission.
Labor politician Peter Beattie discusses his career in politics, beginning as Labor Party Secretary, and ending with an almost decade-long stint as Queensland Premier, 1998-2007. He focuses on his agenda to modernise and reform Queensland's government and economy through the Smart State policy and a committment to equal opportunity initiatives.
