David Williams outlines the performance-based contracts that public service heads were signed to under the Beattie government, describing the expectations that he and other senior executives faced. He speaks about how his department supported the government's agenda.
Paul Fennelly comments on the impact of the Smart State strategy on Queensland's economic development. He notes that some of the strategy's impetus for constructive change was lost when the slogan was overused by sections of the State's public service.
Paul Fennelly talks about his department's role in supporting development projects and investment in Queensland's traditional primary industries, and the department's relations with this sector. He outlines the importance of the role of Coordinator General in determining support for certain projects, but notes that this process may have become overused by state governments.
Paul Fennelly describes the addition of the Innovation portfolio to the State Development Department under the Beattie Government. He comments on the machinery of government changes following elections generally, and on the changes specifically to State Development while he was Director General.
Paul Fennelly outlines his department's role in supporting the Research & Development sector and attracting high-technology industries and researchers to Queensland. He comments on the success that university vice-chancellors enjoyed in lobbying the Beattie Government. He states that this 'innovation' agenda was driven by Premier Beattie who enjoyed close links with research industry figures.
Paul Fennelly describes his department's role in implementing the Beattie Government's Smart State agenda. He gives his impressions of how the strategy was being received by industry and within the government, and how funding for initiatives was procured and dispersed. He reflects on the department's achievements in attracting new industries to Queensland.
Paul Fennelly gives his impressions of the early Beattie government and its relations with industry and the business sector in Queensland. He comments on that government's strong relations with the university sector, and how these as well as its industry links helped to establish the Smart State agenda. He describes how, after three years with the AI Group in Victoria, he returned to enter the Queensland public service.
Terry Hogan discusses his involvement in the beginnings of the Smart State period, when he headed a policy development unit in the Premier's Department. He observes that the strategy began as a political slogan representing what the Beattie Government wanted to stand for. He notes that the Newman Government has gone through a similar branding exercise, albeit with more traditional economic objectives.
Peter Andrews discusses the changes he has witnessed in Queensland's research capacity and across its society generally in his time here as an academic and advisor to government.
Peter Andrews describes the competitive rivalry between Queensland and Victoria to establish areas of research excellence, and how Premiers Peter Beattie and Steve Bracks respectively pursued this agenda simultaneously. He tells how this rivalry was viewed among the scientific and research communities.
