Minutes of proceedings

6. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM:

Councillor Julian SIMMONDS, Chairman of the Finance, Economic Development and Administration Committee moved, seconded by Councillor Angela OWEN-TAYLOR, that for the services of the Council, the allocations for the Operations and the Projects for the year 2015-16 and the Rolling Recurrent Operations Contracts and the Rolling Projects for the Economic Development program as contained on pages 111 to 121 so far as they relate to Program 6, be adopted.

Councillor SIMMONDS: Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. I will try and get through a vast array of material as quickly as I possibly can because I realise that we're coming up to five o'clock and I want to give people as much time to participate in this debate as possible because it's a very important program.

I do hope that those opposite take their responsibilities a little bit more seriously than they did during the information session when we saw the farcical situation where two Councillors on that side of the Chamber teamed up to ask me a question for the second and third time to make sure that they wasted not only their time, but everybody else's in the information session. We even went as far as to see the total irrelevance of the contribution from the independent Councillor when she fell asleep during the information session.

Councillors interjecting.

Chairman: Councillor JOHNSTON, you're on a warning, remember?

Councillor SIMMONDS: Such is the irrelevance of the contribution from that side of the Chamber.

Councillors interjecting.

Chairman: Order.

Councillor SIMMONDS: So I rise to speak in strong support of Program 6, Madam Chairman, which plays an incredibly important role for Brisbane businesses and residents in terms of promoting investment and creating jobs in this city. It is something that this Administration has been committed to over the last number of budgets, Madam Chairman, and we can remain committed to it again this year with a significant funding increase across the program. It is of course a very broad program, Program 6; it covers a number of key areas that I want to focus on this afternoon.

Firstly, the Economic Development team, very ably headed up by Shawn Day and the rest of the crew who do a fantastic job supporting particularly the small to medium businesses of our city. We do this through a variety of programs that are funded throughout the 2015-16 Budget in Program 6. These include the Lord Mayor's Business Forums, the Lord Mayor's Business Excellence Workshops, which are both initiatives of this particular Administration, we also have the Lord Mayor's Business Awards and the Lord Mayor's Multicultural Business Awards as well.

In particular, the LORD MAYOR's small business forums are a highlight. They've achieved a satisfaction rating amongst participants of 94 per cent for small to medium enterprises (SMEs) and have been attended by many hundreds of SMEs from across our suburbs. It's an opportunity for us to go out into the suburbs and to take senior Council officers with us and connect directly with SMEs in their particular locations, wherever they may be, to make sure that we can address some of their issues in detail.

Of course it's equally important as well as connecting to SMEs and talking with them, it's increasingly important that we continue our agenda of cutting red tape and the costs that there are to do business with Council. So we've put significant emphasis on rolling out our online forms, our SMART forms, of which there are already 37 available and we're very pleased with the take up of that particularly initiative. We'll see an accelerated funding in this particular program for this initiative to continue to bring those forward.

Then of course we have the malls team, headed up by John Dwyer and his, again, set of very hard working Council officers. You don't get Australia's most successful mall, Madam Chairman, without a lot of hard work from people, whether they be involved in the cleaning or the activation or the retail space. So we do continue to invest in these key precincts, China Town Mall, Brunswick Street Mall and the Queen Street Mall. We saw a significant program of that in the last 12 months, so we saw the completion of the Brunswick Street Mall upgrade and we'll now see as part of the 2015-16 Budget, the ongoing activation of that space, not just in our ongoing events program, but also through the new pods that are being rolled out to activate the daytime economy. The latest one, we already had the Tuckeria in place, but the latest one is a community pod which will be leased out for activation, for example, concerts and displays, there's also a mini Visitor Information Centre (VIC) in there as well, Councillor HOWARD tells me.

Then in the Queen Street Mall, well again, that's been a hive of activity for the last 12 months as well. We've seen the brand new tenancy, the brand new Jimmy's on the Mall being constructed and we've seen the removal of the old the old tenancy as well as the old VIC, which is currently ongoing. We've seen the VIC move into a brand new location, the old Regent Theatre, which incorporates a fantastic bit of local Brisbane heritage, with a welcoming mat, what is essentially a welcoming mat for visitors to our city. It's now twice the size, it has much better facilities particularly for our volunteers, such as the volunteer staff who man the VIC, but also the greeters as well, and they'll have much better facilities.

I'm particularly pleased that the 2015-16 Budget contains a brand new initiative to provide free city-wide Wi-Fi. So the free Wi-Fi that we've currently provided that goes across Queen Street Mall and across the bridge and into Southbank has been the most successful Wi-Fi location of all our hotspots. We also have it in our parks and our libraries. But since its introduction, the Queen Street Mall has overtaken all of those and been incredibly popular, not just with visitors to our city but also the people working in the CBD who are using the mall to check their emails and do things at lunchtime as well. So we'll see significant investment by this budget to roll it out to the broader CBD peninsula so we can join other cities, other very successful cities, both in Australia and across the world, in having a free Wi-Fi network available to visitors and residents to our city, particularly in our CBD heart.

The budget also contains $7.3 million to continue to fund the Queen Street Mall operations which, as I mentioned, are very significant and very diverse. So that includes seven staff, landscaping including nine changeovers of garden beds, management of the City Safe sites, which includes 24/7 security via two security guards and the maintenance of 53 cameras. They also manage vehicle access onto the mall, hoarding activities, outdoor dining permits, restaurant leases, the 24/7 cleaning of the Queen Street Mall, which again is a 24/7 operation. They also manage things like the activation, the farmer's markets, the maintenance and also the Wi-Fi service as I pointed out as well. So that team will continue to receive the funding that they need to do that.

In terms of the activation, well there'll be a $5.2 million injection thanks to this particular program, which will see us deliver again more than 1,000 events across the financial year, in fact closer to, or a little bit over, 1,150 events across the financial year and almost 3,500 performances in the mall alone. So some of our favourites will be back, including the Mercedes Benz Fashion Festival, our two-week Christmas program which is a big highlight of the year, things like the Valentine's Day campaign and also campaigns around Easter and Mother's Day and also the very successful Show Your Colours program which is around Origin time as well.

In the Valley, we'll continue to see the events like Chinese Moon Festival, the Valley Fiesta and Diwali Festival as well, as well as the Chinese Lunar New Year. These kind of events allow not only the Chinese community but the entire multicultural community to showcase their diversity and talents and for all Brisbane residents to enjoy what those communities have to offer. We'll continue to roll those out in the China and Brunswick Street Malls.

Then of course the other component of Program 6 is Brisbane Marketing and implementing the Vision 2022 New World City Report which has just been received by the LORD MAYOR. This is headed up by the Chairman for Brisbane Marketing, Ian Klug and their CEO, John Aitken, who lead a very able team who are kicking a lot of goals over there in Brisbane Marketing. In fact, in this financial year 2014-15, the efforts that they've undertaken throughout the financial year are trending towards a total economic growth, adding a total economic growth for our city of $854 million for a total return on investment of $49 for every $1 this city invests, which is a fantastic return on investment and a fantastic investment for our ratepayers to continue to make.

I hear them making comments on the other side of the Chamber, Madam Chairman, so if you don’t believe me that it's an investment that we need to make, maybe they will believe one of their trusted colleagues, the Honourable Kate Jones, Minister for Tourism, Major Events and Small Business, when she says this, just on 21 June, here's what she said: “TEQ and our RTOs have been working to build the sector and should be proud of the positive data but they also need support and certainty to continue to grow. Now is not the time to cut their funding.” She's talking about Tourism Events Queensland, obviously; they're the State Government's marketing arm.

She goes on to say: “The Palaszczuk Government is determined to grow tourism in our state because we know it supports more than 200,000 Queensland jobs. During the election campaign we committed to boosting tourism funding and I will continue to lobby my Cabinet colleagues to support the tourism industry.” Well here, here, Madam Chairman. I mean, it does support jobs in our city; the tourism jobs that make up this incredibly important industry, not only service that industry but also the flow-on retail and restaurant jobs that it provides as well. It is important—just like the Labor State Government recognises—it is important that we, as the Council, recognise that the city has a role to play in supporting those jobs, supporting that investment, Madam Chairman.

Because it is—sure it's the easy political road to have a go at the marketing spend, Madam Chairman, and the investment that we make into Brisbane industry and I hope, I sincerely hope, that rather than that, the Councillors on the opposite side of the Chamber, will support us in promoting investment and jobs in our city and not take the politically expedient line the same way that their state colleagues have rejected it and are supporting these kind of activities.

So, as part of the rollout for the Vision 2022 action plan provided for in Program 6, remember that this blueprint was brought together by over 1,000 leaders of the Brisbane community from 500 organisations. They are their recommendations for how we continue to grow our city and we are very pleased to see a significant injection of funds in the LORD MAYOR's 2015-16 Budget in order to implement some of those things.

They include a significant package to support some of the growth sectors in our city, including energy and resources, higher and international education, creative and digital, food and agribusiness, and advanced manufacturing, Madam Chairman, as well as the significant package for SMEs. We'll continue to position ourselves in the Asia Pacific as we need to do. We'll have a very stark example of that with the Asia Pacific cities summit that's coming up in early July, but we also have events like the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Madam Chairman, which we are growing into one of the premier events for the region. So that's continuing to be funded in this budget as well.

Some of our favourite programs, like the CoderDojo program, we'll see that expanded from 600 graduates every year to 1,200 graduates every year. That might ramp up over a couple of financial years, but that is our aim. It's very heavily reliant on getting the volunteer mentors that we need, Madam Chairman, but the success of this program, in terms of the success, we are booking out the sessions somewhere in between a One Direction concert and the Story Bridge event pretty much; were in the middle, Madam Chairman. The Story Bridge is a little bit faster than us, but we're still better than some of those fantastic events such as how popular it is to kids aged seven to 17 that they learn how to code.

We've also got our Visiting Entrepreneurs program as well, which will continue to see local businesses and local entrepreneurs provided with the opportunity to speak with some world leaders right here in our own backyard. We'll also see a brand new program come called Brisbane Entrepreneurship 101 which will be a training program, which again we can add to the skills of Brisbane.

At the end of the day, Madam Chairman, that's what we want to focus on. An entrepreneur will have 1,000 different business ideas. He or she will have business ideas, some of them work, some of them will fail, that is the nature of being an entrepreneur. But if we, as a city, continue to invest in that person's skills and knowledge, then, Madam Chairman, we will always see a return on that investment.

We'll also continue the very successful Study Brisbane program which involves not only attracting students and working with our educational institutions, but also welcoming them, making sure they have a very friendly environment in Brisbane and they know that when they come here to study that they leave with a friend for life in our city and they become, in turn, our advocates back in their home country and to their friends and family. There is nothing like a word of mouth recommendation, Madam Chairman, for anything, whether it be for a restaurant or whether it be in support of the city. So that is what we're trying to achieve.

Madam Chairman, I'd like to finish up my opening remarks by again thanking all the officers involved in Program 6. They do a tremendous job and they've had some fantastic achievements this financial year. I know they will put the additional funding provided by the LORD MAYOR in the 2015-16 Budget to very, very good use and I would urge the entire Chamber to support Program 6. Thank you.

Chairman: Further debate on Program 6?

Councillor SUTTON.

Councillor interjecting.

Chairman: Well it goes side to side, is there anyone—

Chairman: No, Councillor SIMMONDS has just presented it.

Councillor SUTTON—I know it's getting late in the day, Councillor DICK, but—

Councillor interjecting.

Councillor SUTTON: Look, Madam Chair, I'm happy to rise and enter the debate on Program 6, Economic Development. I guess there is a bit in here, a significant part of the budget information sessions focused on the Brisbane 2022 New World City Action Plan and some of the achievements or some of the goals and objectives that this Administration wants to see out of that. I guess from the Labor administration's point of view, we will be tracking the performance of delivery against these goals and whether or not this Vision 2020 project delivers on all the promises that the LORD MAYOR and Councillor SIMMONDS are asserting it will.

Because time and time again we see this LORD MAYOR stand up and announce glossy brochures that quickly go nowhere and gather dust on a shelf. We know that this Vision 2020 document cost more than $50,000 to produce, so we want to make sure it goes somewhere and we want to make sure that we're actually delivering on the promises that they are saying it will deliver.

Certainly we have concerns in this portfolio that yet again Brisbane Marketing's budget continues to increase this year to more than $25.6 million across a whole range of things and I guess the thing about Brisbane Marketing, that when we talk about Brisbane Marketing in here, our concern has always been that there is an over-focus on the CBD and CBD activities. The Christmas program, it's a very good Christmas program, but what do we do to bring alive our suburban villages? There are many great parts of Brisbane, not just the CBD.

Council, through the Future Brisbane portfolio, invests money in Suburban Centre Improvement Schemes. We have many vibrant villages across our city. I'm privileged to represent one of them, being Oxford Street, Bulimba, but in our experience and my experience in talking to traders and people who were members of Brisbane Marketing, they have not remained members of Brisbane Marketing because they felt that membership to Brisbane Marketing offered them no benefits and they are conversations that I have had with a number of Bulimba retailers who decided to give Brisbane Marketing a try and join the membership and felt that it did not deliver in terms of their expectations and did not deliver in terms of assisting Bulimba as a precinct go ahead.

Where the opposition would like to see Brisbane Marketing or what the opposition would like to see Brisbane Marketing do is actually let's focus on and revive a number of these suburban villages. They are also a part of the unique Brisbane experience. I don't recall seeing Brisbane Greeters taking tourists over to Bulimba for a day out. I don’t recall the Brisbane Greeters program taking them or have not heard of any discussion about Bulimba Greeters taking any tourist groups out to any of our suburban villages. It may be that there is one or two around the place, but certainly it's a scattered gun approach and not a strategically planned exercise that really aims to position all of our villages. Rather, it is this over-focus on the CBD and what can be done here.

These are retailers that are paying; for those centres that have got skips, they are paying their levy to Brisbane City Council every year for the skip and still they do not feel that there is benefit in it. It costs $375 for businesses to join Brisbane Marketing, so in addition to the $25.6 million that Brisbane Marketing gets from this Council, their membership, it costs $375 for our small businesses to become members of this and that's a lot of money for small businesses to pay if Brisbane Marketing isn't giving back. I would be really interested to see the turnover figures and the figures in terms of once you become a member of Brisbane Marketing, how long do you stay a member of Brisbane Marketing, particularly for suburban businesses that may join up and trial it. I would be really interested to see that.

It may not bear out, but I would think that based on the conversations I've had with my local retailers, that you would find a pretty rapid drop off rate. Likewise, Brisbane Marketing, despite the millions of dollars it gets from this City Council, it doesn't go out and do all of this stuff for the goodness of its heart to support all these retailers; they actually pay for membership. I've noted the $375 just to become a networking member, but to be become a leisure tourism member, it costs $1,320, to become a convention member, it costs $1,995 and to become a Study Brisbane member, it costs $1,025. This is a lot of money to pay if you're a small business trying to get in or a business trying to get into this space if Brisbane Marketing doesn't decide to pay some attention to you and your business in terms of what it's trying to achieve.

So really, there is not a lot of opportunities for members of the community to actually interrogate down these facts. We get piecemeal presentations on different aspects of what we're doing, but in terms of being able to say, question and interrogate on some of those real key performance indicators, the opportunities for us are quite limited.

So we will be watching, we will be watching the rollout of this program. As I said, there was a lot of focus on the Vision 2022 program and in terms of Wi-Fi, the rollout of Wi-Fi, well that is expected. I mean I know that the LNP Administration like to say that the Labor Councillors are against Wi-Fi, that has never, ever been the case.

Councillor SUTTON: That has never ever been the case. That has never, ever been the case.

Chairman: Order.

Councillor SUTTON: What we questioned was the rollout of Wi-Fi in the budget immediately following the 2011 floods where we still had parks that still had to be repaired and rehabilitated and we questioned the priority of rolling out a new Wi-Fi program in our parks—

Chairman: Order.

Councillor SUTTON: —when there were still parks that were severely flood damaged that had not been fixed. So I take the opportunity to set the record straight on that and actually—

Councillors interjecting.

Chairman: Order.

Councillor KING.

Councillor SUTTON: Well Councillor KING, I know that you don’t like playing with your kids, okay? You said that in your budget debate—

Chairman: No.

Councillor MURPHY: Point of order, Madam Chairman.

Chairman: Point of order against you. Order.

Councillor MURPHY: That is extremely offensive and I ask the Councillor withdraw that immediately.

Councillor SUTTON: Well she said it, she said it in here.

Councillor interjecting.

Chairman: Councillor SUTTON—Councillor KING—

Chairman: Order. Councillor KING.

Chairman: Councillor KING, I'm speaking to you.

Councillor SUTTON: You want to talk about what mothers say to other mothers in this place?

Chairman: Councillor SUTTON.

Councillor SUTTON: Do you want to go there?

Chairman: Councillor SUTTON.

Councillor SUTTON: Let's do that on Councillor KNAPP's final day in this place, shall we?

Chairman: Councillor SUTTON. Listen to me. When I speak, you stop. Whatever context that was said in, I don't think it's relevant or appropriate in this debate and I would ask you to withdraw it. Thank you.

Councillor SUTTON: I will withdraw it and apologise for Councillor KING for any offence that the statement caused.

Chairman: Thank you, Councillor SUTTON.

Councillor OWEN-TAYLOR: Point of order, Madam Chairman.

Chairman: Yes, Councillor OWEN-TAYLOR.

Councillor OWEN-TAYLOR: I also find Councillor SUTTON's comments about Councillor KNAPP to be offensive and I ask her to withdraw those.

Councillor SUTTON: I'm not withdrawing those. Sorry, I'm not.

Chairman: Look, let's just get on with it. Thank you, Councillor OWEN-TAYLOR.

Councillor SUTTON: So where was I? I've lost track. Wi-Fi in parks, so certainly we support the rollout of the Wi-Fi strategy, that is something that all modern cities should be doing. In fact I know the LNP Administration like to get up and pat themselves on the back about it, but in a modern technology savvy city, this is something that we absolutely should be doing.

But what we want to do and what we want to make sure doesn't happen in this Vision 2022 strategy is that these initiatives like Championing Brisbane, $3.5 million doesn't just become an opportunity to roll LORD MAYOR Graham QUIRK's face out among the entire Brisbane community in the lead up to the next Council election. Because if that starts happening, we will really have to start looking at misuse of ratepayers funds—yes, giant light shows and all the rest of it, certainly this is an opportunity for Brisbane, but it should not be an opportunity for Councillor Graham QUIRK's re-election strategy and that is our real concern about this. These glossy brochures, you see it in the Living in Brisbane where every month it comes out, Graham QUIRK's picture is, sorry LORD MAYOR Graham QUIRK—

Chairman: Councillor—thank you.

Councillor SUTTON: LORD MAYOR, sorry, I caught myself, LORD MAYOR Graham QUIRK's picture just keeps on getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. So I really think that we need to be careful and guard against that in terms of the delivery of this program.

Chairman: Further debate?

DEPUTY MAYOR.

DEPUTY MAYOR: Yes, Madam Chairman, it gives me great pleasure to rise in support of Program 6, Economic Development. I think I might have said this last year about the program, but this program is all about growing the pie and by growing the pie, I mean growing the economy of our city so that there's more wealth, jobs and opportunity to go round for all Brisbane residents. Labor and their approach has generally been about carving up the pie, we're about growing the pie and carving up the pie is a very short term solution because you eventually run out of pie. That's why we see their magic pudding policies that are unfunded and un-costed. We want to grow the pie and grow the economy of Brisbane.

That economy is not just based here in the CBD, it's based right across the suburbs of Brisbane in the small business areas, in the industrial areas and we want to work with those people and those business owners to make sure that we're delivering for them and assisting them where we can. There are certain levers that we can pull as a Council that can help, but there are other levers that are beyond our control and are controlled at the State and Federal level. So it's about targeting what we can actually achieve to assist business in a practical way.

We want to create a supportive business environment and we have introduced a number of initiatives in this budget program, particularly as part of Vision 2022 to achieve that outcome.

I would say that Vision 2022 has some great initiatives in it. Those initiatives were developed not by this Council, but through extensive consultation with the business community, including the small business community; over 1,000 different businesses and business people were involved in putting input into that strategy, so it wasn't our strategy, it was a strategy developed which we facilitated but developed by the business sector of this city.

That is a great thing and it's a positive thing because strategies that are cooked up by governments, without consultation, often fall flat, they don't work, they don't hit the right notes. But when you get a strategy like this and a vision like this that is developed intensively and facilitated with the business people of the city and as I said, including the small business operators out there, then it has a greater chance of being effective and successful.

I know that this program supports the digital agenda that we've had for a number of years now and that is a very positive thing. The rollout of Wi-Fi in the CBD is part of that agenda and a great outcome. I'm glad to hear that Labor is now on board with Wi-Fi. It is a big policy change on their part and look, in the end, I won't blame them for the time they took to come around but at least they've come around, and I say thank you, because it is a positive thing. It's positive not only for the residents of Brisbane that make use of it, but it is particularly positive for visitors to our city.

If you're out and about in the CBD, you'll often see visitors logging onto their Facebook or Instagram and uploading photos of our city, spreading the message around the world about this great city. So we're going to make it easier for them to communicate that message, they can do it for free through our free Wi-Fi network.

The multiplier effect that that has on the city's reputation and image is important. So it's not just something that's free for Brisbane residents, it's also providing a free service for visitors that will help enhance their experience of the city and help them communicate the message of our great city further afield to their friends and relatives back home.

I'm also particularly keen to see the funding in here for—on page 118 for a regional approach. That is really important because we live at the centre of a South-East Queensland region which is home to one in seven Australians and has some of the largest and most influential councils in Australia, in this region. Through the leadership of LORD MAYOR Graham Quirk, all of the mayors of the region have come together and are cooperating to develop strategies in a whole range of different areas.

One of the most exciting strategies for me is the fact that we're now working on a new model of infrastructure funding. I mentioned this in Council just recently when the Vision 2022 report came out and that new model of funding, potentially if we could get State Government support for it, will free up a whole range of new funding for infrastructure projects that will boost the economy of this city.

It's about an earn-back scheme whereby councils that invest in infrastructure can help earn back some of the returns in terms of economic growth and growth in revenues and taxes, so that that money can be reinvested into infrastructure. Then it starts a cycle of investment that is so positive for the economy. So I'm particularly keen to see that progressing.

We obviously had the operation of the Queen Street and Valley Malls, including the China Town Mall and the Brunswick Street Mall, funded in this program. These malls are really a great asset for our city. When you go to other cities, it is quite clear that these malls are extremely popular and extremely successful. The Queens Street Mall in particular is one of the world's most successful pedestrian malls. It was only recently that the investors in the NEXT Hotel, who are based in Singapore, when they launched that hotel, claimed that their research internationally put our mall right up there in the top 10 most successful malls in the world.

That's their own research and they obviously research before they make an investment like buying a hotel right on the mall. So that is really good to hear. But there's not all good news in this program. Because there is a cloud coming. That cloud is the fact that this program will be scrapped if Labor gets into office. This program will be scrapped, Brisbane Marketing will be scrapped and the money will be spent, they'll be dividing up the pie, like I said. The money will be spent on other things and that will be a very short-sighted decision for the city.

We know they want to do a smash and grab job on Brisbane Marketing, just like they want to do a smash and grab job on CBIC. So they want to kill the golden geese of Council that are generating wealth and returns for the city. But the interesting thing is, and Councillor SIMMONDS also touched on that, is that their position is inconsistent with Labor's positions on these type of matters at different levels of government.

So when the State Labor Government got into office, were they—did they say they were going to scrap Tourism and Events Queensland because it was a waste of money? No, they promised to spend $40 million extra boosting funding for Tourism and Events Queensland.

DEPUTY MAYOR: I don't know, you tell me, it's a Labor promise. The ABC can't be wrong, except when it comes to Q&A. But the Labor Government is all about jobs, that's what they've told us. They're focusing on creating jobs, and I commend them for that approach, and that's what we're about as well. But we stand united in our focus on creating jobs. Now, Labor at the state level promised to create 32,000 new jobs, you don't do that by scrapping the economic development agency of the city, you don't do that by scrapping or reducing funding for agencies like Tourism and Events Queensland.

They've also promised something similar to what we're trying to do with start-up businesses as well. We want to support start-up businesses, particularly in the tech space, and at the state level Labor's announced that they will promise to build a new start-up fund that co-invests with new businesses. So essentially, the Labor Government wants to put in money to help businesses start up on a 50 50 basis. So they'll become investors in those new businesses.

So that is probably going one step further than what we're going here, but it shows that we're on the right track. Labor is not only doing what we want to do here, they're going to the next step at the State level by investing in new businesses. So that says that Labor Party policy supports what we're trying to do here. It's a pity that the Labor team in Council is not on board with this program and the absolute importance of this program.

It's interesting, when I was looking for other Labor commitments on economic development, I noticed that there was an article in the Brisbane Times which listed all of the policy initiatives. This was dated 30 January and Brisbane Times compared LNP policies with Labor policies. I was looking down the list to see what policies were relevant, and this one came out.

Quote, there were no public transport policies announced by Labor during the election campaign.

Chairman: DEPUTY MAYOR, your time has expired.

Thank you, Councillor DICK.

Councillor DICK: Well thank you, Madam Chair, and I rise to speak on Program 6, Economic Development. There has been a lot of discussion about what the State Labor Government has done to justify the expenditure in this program item, and I do need to set the record straight. The DEPUTY MAYOR was correct that there was an injection in Events Queensland and tourism funding. I'll tell the Chamber why that was, because the LNP ripped out $50 million in funding.

I found this surprising because Councillor SCHRINNER was reading from a press release and the press release which he was reading from was entitled, LNP plan to cut tourism budget in half. Could you be honest—and he's nodding, and he's agreeing with it now. He said, well technically that's right.

Councillor DICK: No, your whole justification of spending this money is because State Labor was injecting money and that's your justification for spending money. That's your logic. Because the state Labor government was injecting all of this money, we're entitled to spend it here as well.

Well you can't even get your stories right when it comes to justification of a huge amount of money. This year alone, $25 million of ratepayers' funds. You say it is money well spent, we say on behalf of the ratepayers, there should be better results and better outcomes for the expenditure of that fund.

Councillors interjecting.

Councillor DICK: We know during the budget information sessions we simply cannot get any straight answers from the Brisbane Marketing. Over the years that I've sat through that, no Brisbane Marketing executive will ever be allowed to be questioned or challenged. There is no huge breakdown of what the expenditure is. We know that year in, year out that most of the information is hidden from the public and we simply say there should be more accountability and an open and transparent process when it comes to ratepayers' funds.

Councillor DICK: I want to come back to a couple of items, now that we've dispelled this nonsense that somehow the State Labor Government is investing. They are, and I tell you why they have to invest in this program, is because the LNP at a state level that they're so happy to quote from cut funding by 50 per cent. So once again, Labor is cleaning up the mess of the LNP. Once again, we're seeing that, time and time again.

So let's just deal with the facts in this budget as well. So now we're looking at page 115 of the budget and I want to talk about 6.4, delivering world class economic precincts on page—as I said, page 115, delivering world class economic precincts. We heard a lot about it, in last year's budget, and not a lot in this year's budget—remember the big fanfare about the CBD Economic Development Board and the Fortitude Valley Economic Development Board. Remember the great geniuses of appointing Phil Di Bella as the chairman and what a debacle that was during the last budget?

Councillors interjecting.

Councillor DICK: That's right, and another—that other LNP hack John Cotter, who was appointed—

Chairman: Councillor DICK, I think that's going a bit too far.

Councillor DICK: Sorry, Madam Chair, I'll correct it and say, that well known LNP former pre selection candidate and office bearer within the LNP. Okay. So he's not a hack but he holds significant positions and has attempted to run for the LNP.

So we know that and—sorry, I should correct the record as well, Mr Di Bella is a well-known LNP fundraiser—donor to the LNP.

Chairman: Just remember we don't have any parliamentary privilege in this place, Councillor DICK.

Councillor DICK: Well if I'm wrong, the—well I'm only going from Electoral Commission records. So that's fine, and he's entitled to do that. He's a private citizen and that's declared and it's all for the world to see and people are entitled to donate to political parties any way they see fit, and I respect that. However, we haven't heard a lot of information or a lot of outcomes as a result of the CBD Economic Development Board, in the LORD MAYOR's speech last year; big announcements, big fanfare, may have unravelled through the media as a result of their appointments. However, we have yet to see what the direct benefit from those.

Now we also still have the Valley Mall advisory committees and the Queens Street Mall advisory committees. Remember those? They're actually statutory bodies which in my eight years inside Council, since I've been on them, has met I think once. Once.

Councillor DICK: Since I was appointed and twice in Councillor ABRAHAMS', since she's been appointed to those boards. They obviously have been scrapped or inactive by the LNP—

Councillor DICK: Well I'm not sure but there has not been—they have not been functioning, put it that way, in my opinion. So once again we see big announcements, big huge fanfares and then year after year, quietly rolled around until the lead up to the budget and then new glossy reports presented and provided by the LNP, great media opportunities for the LNP inside this Council, great media opportunities for the LORD MAYOR, absolutely, sure.

But our point is, the work and the outcomes, particularly in Brisbane Marketing, should be more than just media announcement and media stunts. That's all Brisbane Marketing has become, disappointingly—

Councillors interjecting.

Councillor DICK: Well disappointingly, we're seeing more and more announcements but less and less outcomes. We've seen the budget increase dramatically over the years, since my time in Council, $13 million then right up until over $25 million. Now you only need to go out into the community and ask what do people think they are getting in return. People genuinely, genuinely, particularly small businesses across the city, are genuinely concerned about that level of funding being poured into one organisation, very well-paid directors, very well-paid officials, and we know, from over the years when you look at some of the outcomes and you look at some of what the decisions were—remember it was only a couple of years ago where we exposed the fact $100,000 was written for a Brisbane Marketing handbook about how to answer the phone.

We know that, we remember that when it’s front page of the MX. We know that there are examples time and time again where we're—

Councillors interjecting.

Councillor DICK: That's right, and that great marketing exercise where we did a huge research analysis of what the Council should call the city, spent about $100,000 on that and the great result out of that was we were going to end up calling the city, the city. That's what we ended up with.

Councillor DICK: So talk about tackling the tough issues. So we simply say on this side of the Chamber, when it comes to delivery and when it comes to outcomes, it is simply found wanting when it comes to such a huge amount of funding of $25 million. So I don't want any more lectures from the LNP about what state Labor Government is doing. They could take a good leaf out of what the state Labor Government is doing and is providing that leadership, because they're doing a lot to clean up the mess that the LNP delivered upon not only this state but also we of course know the architect of that began here in City Hall. But thanks heavens the people of Brisbane and the people of Queensland saw through that just like they're going to see through at next March 2016 election.

Chairman: Further debate?

Councillor COOPER.

Councillor COOPER: Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I rise to speak to Program 6. I particularly want to, of course, first of all congratulate the LORD MAYOR and Councillor SIMMONDS and all of the officers who worked so very hard to prepare this particular program for the budget process. So congratulations to all of them.

Because of course this program is about something very important to our city. It's about a commitment, it's about ensuring that as our city continues to grow, that we invest in our city's economic prosperity and future. Because if we were to just leave it to market forces, things would happen, absolutely. But we want to make sure that things happen in a way that really does facilitate a city that will absolutely deliver on that new-world city commitment that we have for Brisbane.

So of course, we have a whole range of different items within Program 6. We particularly have got some excellent outcomes with continuing to see our city centre be a tourism mecca. I know that it seems that there's a lot of debate from the Australian Labor Party, they don't seem to want to encourage tourism opportunities in our city. But of course for those of us who are sensible and practical people, we know that it's a great opportunity to show case Brisbane.

Of course, the standard of cleanliness in our city has been—and maintenance, of course—has been the subject of some debate. But I think we should be incredibly proud of what we see now. Certainly with the appointment of the city centre place manager, that was an initiative of this Administration, to make sure that we have people who are personally responsible for ensuring that our city looks fantastic seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

In particular, this program service 6.4.4.1 talks about the city centre place management. So of course I think that's something that we should all be incredibly happy to see in our city.

Now we know that the Australian Labor Party likes to describe parking costs as a tax. They think it's terrible that people should pay to park in our city centre and they say the impact on retailers is a terrible thing. But, however, they don't seem to support the LORD MAYOR's investment in our city's premier retail precinct. So of course they have two different fundamentally opposing views in relation to this matter.

So we have a vision for our city centre and our vision for our city is absolutely embodied in the 2022 New World City Action Plan. Now this wasn't something that was created by Brisbane City Council officers. This was a creation of over 1,000 participants. So all of these people from business sectors, from community sectors, a whole range of people gave up their free time—they freely gave of their time to participate in this process to make sure that we continue to look at opportunities to grow employment and economic investment opportunities in our city.

We hear scorn poured upon those people, those people who gave so generously of their time to prepare this document, we hear scornful remarks from the Australian Labor Party. But perhaps they have no respect for people who genuinely have a commitment towards our beautiful city. Now there were significant outcomes of this document with specific industries being identified to ensure that our city continues to be a globally-facing economy. Of course those are all outlined in the report.

Particularly, I'd like to focus on things that I think are important to understand. That is absolutely about ensuring excellent collaboration between industry sectors. To make sure that we capitalise on our proximity to Asia and of course our opportunity to be seen as a gateway city to this rapidly expanding economic growth tiger.

In particular, Brisbane has very much a point of difference than other Australian cities and I think we should absolutely seize that opportunity. We of course want our city to be a city that is an exciting and dynamic destination for residents and tourists alike. There's a whole range of events that we are seeing that are being delivered, such as Brisbane International, Brisbane Open House, something that's particularly close to my heart. This is a relatively new event, I think it first commenced on October 2010.

So in five short years, an initiative that was a one-day event in the first week of October, which showcased 20 buildings to the general public for free, has now become a two-day event, also continuing to be in October, where we are now seeing up to 90 buildings at last year's event, showcasing to the community free of charge. Certainly, we're seeing even more people drawn to our city to take advantage of this opportunity.

So this is something that we want to continue to facilitate and we want to see these sorts of events continue to expand in our city. Of course, every major event brings economic value to our city. It also brings significant media coverage and makes our city even more prevalent on the world stage. We think there's great opportunities of course to win more conventions and business events, we think that this certainly is a great way to showcase our city. We believe that there's a whole range of opportunities that we have got all sorts of opportunities to be able to bid for. This is certainly a process that does take time and does take significant investment.

When we look at what happens, there is an International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) ranking of cities across the world. So with our hosting of the G20 World Leaders' Summit, Brisbane actually has really, I think, made its mark and delivered an outcome that was outstanding and demonstrated quite clearly that we can host significant events on the world stage.

So our current ICCA ranking is 67, so that was 2014, that was a significant—a huge jump from what it was only the year before where it was placed at 97. So we think, as part of our—following on from G20, we think our new target by 2022 is to grow our international conventions and business markets to be in the top 50 of the ICCA rankings.

This would deliver, in visitation terms, we would see our current average of 31,000 delegate days per month over the last five years, to over 50,000 delegate days per month by 2022, representing a huge 38 per cent increase. Of course, to do this we have to work with industry to make sure that we increase our efforts both domestically and internationally, and we have to focus on our eight key growth sectors to secure more wins over the next seven years.

This side of the Chamber, Madam Chair, is absolutely committed to seeing our city continue to grow and expand and to take its place on the world stage. Those opposite have a very negative, narrow view of what our city is and what it can be. We support our city, we want to be a New World City, and we want to be a city that can be proud of its future and the courage, prosperity and investment and not be this absolutely negative and, I think, quite short-sighted perspective put forward by the Australian Labor Party, thank you.

Chairman: Further debate?

Councillor JOHNSTON.

Councillor JOHNSTON: Yes, Madam Chairman. I rise to speak on Program 6, Economic Development. This is going to shock everybody but I actually agree with some of the statements that Councillor COOPER has just made. Madam Chairman—no, I know, it's late. Yes, it's true. I'll be clear as to what I'm referring to, Madam Chairman. I think probably the best part of this program does relate to our city's approach to attracting conventions to our cities and the economic growth that is generated from that activity. I do think that is a very positive and productive activity for our Council to be involved in. Certainly we can see the benefits of that in both economic terms, in recognition terms and so on.

However, I cannot under any circumstance support the general approach that Councillor SIMMONDS and the LNP are taking to this Economic Development portfolio, and the largesse, the gross largess is how I would describe it, of expenditure that is being used for general marketing activities that feature the LORD MAYOR Graham Quirk, and feature Councillor SIMMONDS, his picture's turning up in things too.

But, Madam Chairman, there are increasingly, Madam Chairman, too much focus being put onto general marketing activities and I note that the budget is increasing this year from—from last year, from $34.4 million to $38.9 million. That's an increase of $4.5 million or 13 per cent increase, in the marketing budget of our city.

Now I just think that's extraordinary, and I want to note that the DEPUTY MAYOR's way in which he accounts for this process is he says, we're all about growing the pie. Now if you measure the way the pie is growing in Queensland—and I just pulled out a few statistics—you would have to say over the past eight years that they've failed. They've failed.

Because, Madam Chairman, I just looked at Queensland's economic growth, it's been stagnant or languishing, 0.05, 0.6, 2.9, 2.8. So economic growth's not working, unemployment's been going up, it's the first time it's dropped in years just a couple of months ago. The only indicator of a positive has been the March quarter retail growth figures which went up 1.9 per cent. But in previous years, again, retail growth figures have been less than the national average.

So if we're talking about growing the pie—and I know he's scurried out of the room now—but if we're talking about growing the pie, the objective standards aren't being met, and we're not actually seeing that being reflected in the figures that are being produced that talk about economic growth, employment and expenditure in Queensland. That's problematic from my point of view.

But what this budget—so, Madam Chairman, I can't support expenditure on marketing and advertising when we're not delivering for the basic needs of residents out in the suburbs. It's just not reasonable that I say to my residents, we're going to invest $1.13 million in free Wi-Fi in the city when you can get free Wi-Fi in almost every cafe, every McDonald's, library, everywhere you go, you can pretty much get free Wi-Fi. But we want you to have free Wi-Fi when you're walking across the Victoria Bridge, but we don't care if your house floods and we're not going to fund the backflow valves that an engineering report that this Council produced four years ago says are critical for the safety of residents.

I can't justify that kind of expenditure to my residents. I don't believe it is a relevant, necessary or appropriate expenditure and I won't be supporting this program. The things that I think would contribute to economic growth in this city are completely ignored by this Administration. I've raised the precinct before and it's Rocklea. The Brisbane markets, I believe, is the third-largest business in Brisbane, it is a huge, huge economic driver of our city. It employs thousands of people and, Madam Chairman, they can't get a decent footpath to get the workers from the bus stops into the building.

You can't get the rubbish picked up on the side of the road, Madam Chairman. This is one of the biggest economic precincts in our city and it is neglected by this Administration. Not only that, Madam Chairman, for the past seven years, the LORD MAYOR stood with me and he promised that we would build a new, dedicated freight link to improve access and economic growth for our businesses in the Rocklea precinct, between Ipswich Road and Fairfield Road.

In 2007, he told me it'd be five years away. In 2012, his representative went out and said, yes, yes, we'll do it, we'll do it. Again, he is saying, no he won't. Now if we want to do something about improving economic growth, let's make sure that in the key industry hub on the south side of the city, we can get trucks there without the road that they travel on being flooded every time it rains. Every time.

Let's make sure that the people who get off the train at Sherwood or get off the bus at Rocklea, have a footpath so they can walk safely to their place of employment. They would be positive initiatives that contribute to economic growth and support a major economic contributor to our city that is otherwise neglected by this Administration. They're the types of things that I think we should be doing, not spending money on putting the LORD MAYOR's photo on more and more publications.

Because that doesn't contribute to a single thing. I don't think he's like, Mary, we don't have to be handing out little cards and saying pray to the LORD MAYOR Graham Quirk, he'll increase your economic productivity, we need real changes that will deliver for the places in our city that are generating jobs, that are generating growth, and that is absolutely not happening.

I just want to mention one other thing, and I'm going to save the LORD MAYOR half a million dollars. In Item 6.2.1.1, we've got an item which is about researching future infrastructure projects that contribute to Brisbane's long-term growth. We've already done that; we've got a freight study, the Sherwood-Yeerongpilly Freight Study. LORD MAYOR stood with me in 2009 and together we promised it. I hold the LORD MAYOR to account on that project. It's a critical safety project in my ward, it's a critical economic project for our city.

The fact that this LORD MAYOR isn't supporting it is problematic, Madam Chairman. I will continue to, I'm happy to say that it will be a key part of my re-election strategy again and I look forward to the LORD MAYOR's representative jumping up and down in the local paper going, me too, me too, just like he did last time. That did not go well for him, Councillor DICK, no.

I've got a second suggestion. Recently, Infrastructure Australia prepared an audit of infrastructure in this city, noting the key congestion points, the economic cost and, Madam Chairman, I can tell you that the second most congested Council road is Oxley Road. That's the second most congested road in all of our city all the time. By 2031, it will be the most congested Council road in all of the city.

You cannot fail to invest or plan for the future of this important corridor that links all the businesses, that links the residents, that links all our schools. It's just crazy that this Council wants to hide any plans it's got because it thinks it'll be a little bit controversial. Infrastructure Australia has already done the hard work about where economic investment in infrastructure can deliver good outcomes, can contribute to productivity in this city. The fact that this Administration is ignoring is, I can tell you now, I don't think Kingsford Smith Drive makes the list or if it does, it's a bit low down. I certainly don't think Wynnum Road makes the list, does it? It's not higher than Oxley Road.

So what I want to understand is, if we are as focused as this budget says, on investing in infrastructure and programs that are going to deliver in the key areas that will increase economic growth in our city, why aren't we doing that on the south side of Brisbane with important projects like the freight bypass that would deliver a huge benefit for residents and businesses alike? Why aren't we looking at our most congested corridors and looking at planning for them? Because I've tried. I've tried.

The Ombudsman's told Council to tell me what's going on, they won't do it, the residents are pretty cranky about it all. That's fine, Madam Chairman, this Council's been writing to residents, telling my residents they have a strategic plan for Oxley Road but they won't tell them what it is and they won't provide the information to me.

So, Madam Chairman, this is how botched this Administration's actual contribution to economic growth—

Chairman: Councillor JOHNSTON, your time has expired, thank you.

Further debate?

Councillor OWEN-TAYLOR.

Councillor OWEN-TAYLOR: Thank you, Madam Chairman. I rise in support of this program and a very important program it is to our city. Not just to our city but all the businesses and people who live and work in our city. Madam Chairman, Economic Development is one of the fundamental aspects of this budget. Certainly, what is contained within this program area are a number of factors that really keep the wheels turning for our city.

Madam Chairman, I'd just like to reflect on outcome 6.3. In particular, the international students who are attracted to Brisbane and making sure that they are supported appropriately with infrastructure, transport accessibility and a high quality lifestyle. Our international students are a very vital part of our city and I would just like to take this opportunity to extend a thank you to our international student ambassadors who take up a voluntary role and do a wonderful job for our city. They not only promote the city to their fellow students here but certainly they help the message get across the globe, and particularly for their family who come to visit, they are strong advocates of our city and we really do appreciate them.

Having been in that industry prior to being elected to this place, I know how important it is that these students do have a great time here as well as having the opportunity to access world-class facilities, which they do in our universities and other educational institutions.

Madam Chairman, in respect of the Wi-Fi across the city, this is a very important aspect because how many of us today have been accessing our internet? It is really important for the residents of our city that they have accessibility to these types of services across our entire CBD. I know that we had comments from the former leader of the opposition over that other side making comments about a councillor on this side. I can say, and put it on the record, that Councillor KING is very supportive of Wi-Fi across our city, of Wi Fi across our parks, but she is also a very staunch advocate of an active and healthy lifestyle for herself and her family.

So some of the comments that are being made on the other side are completely inappropriate and are shameful.

Chairman: Order.

Councillor OWEN-TAYLOR: Madam Chairman, it also—

Chairman: Order. Councillor JOHNSTON.

Councillor OWEN-TAYLOR: It also goes without saying that half of what is said from members on that side of the Chamber—

Councillors interjecting.

Councillor OWEN-TAYLOR: Half of what is said by those on that side of the Chamber can be perceived as nothing more than insults and personal attacks. What is worse than dragging up names of board members who voluntarily accept positions to assist this city and then you go and try to drag their names through the mud. That is inappropriate, inexcusable and unacceptable.

Chairman: Order.

Councillor OWEN-TAYLOR: These are people who want to see our city grow and benefit. You dragging their names through the mud, on the other side of this Chamber, is totally, totally unbelievable the way that you do it, it is insulting. The way that you have insulted the Council officers that work in this program area is abhorrent. As far as delivery and outcome—

Chairman: Order.

Councillor DICK.

Councillor OWEN-TAYLOR: As far as delivery and outcome is concerned, the officers that work in this program have been working extremely hard. We have had a major international event in this city in November 2014 in the G20. Oh, you've forgotten on that side of the Chamber about the Global Cafe. You've forgotten on that side of the Chamber about the Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

Chairman: Order.

Councillor OWEN-TAYLOR: You've forgotten on that side of the Chamber about the implementation of the digital strategy, one of the first in the world for a local government to enter into. You've forgotten, on that side of the Chamber, about all the business forums that we have had right across this city for small businesses. You have forgotten, on that side of the Chamber, about all the international events that we host in this city and the conventions.

So if you want to stand up in this Chamber and start throwing insults and have personal attacks against individuals that serve on the boards of this city—

Councillors interjecting.

Chairman: Order. Councillor GRIFFITHS.

Councillor OWEN-TAYLOR: —think again, because the delivery and outcome is there, plain to see, for everyone from this program area.

Madam Chairman, I'd also like to reflect on the mall activation forums that we implemented as well. Certainly there were many people across the CBD area involved with the malls from a business perspective but also the individual people who went to the stalls in the mall and gave their feedback. These were general people on the mall, in the street, that wanted to have a say and whose point was taken. They have been involved.

Vision 2022, the Brisbane 2022 New World City Action Plan, you want to make all these comments about the vision, well that's another insult, the way you reflected on it is another insult to those thousand people who partook in that process to contribute to the betterment of our city.

Madam Chairman, I would also like to take this opportunity to—

Chairman: Councillor JOHNSTON.

Councillor OWEN-TAYLOR: —to reflect on service 6.6.1.1. Madam Chairman, this particular service area holds something that is very close to my heart, which is our sister cities programs and the nine sister cities relationships that we have with—

Chairman: Councillor OWEN-TAYLOR, just a moment.

There's a three-way conversation going from one side to the other there. If you want to have a conversation, take it outside or else be quiet.

Councillor OWEN-TAYLOR.

Councillor OWEN-TAYLOR: Madam Chairman, I would just like to say that there are a number of people who serve in a voluntary capacity on the Sister Cities Committee. A number of them have served on those committees for a significant number of years. They are local business people who are interested in the relationships between Brisbane and our sister cities. I would just like to formally record my thanks for their efforts to engender more harmonious and productive and mutually beneficial relationships with those sister cities.

They dedicate their time and their energy to making sure that our sister city relationships flourish and they do an extraordinary amount of work. so I'm not going to name them all tonight, Madam Chairman, but I know that they know who they are and I do extend my thanks to them. But also, behind that Sister Cities Committee are a number of Council officers that work in the International Relations and Multicultural Affairs unit and they do an extensive job behind the scenes. They work extraordinarily hard and they work away quietly, they don't go out there in the front line. They are just working extremely hard and in fact at the moment they've all got their heads down working on the Asia Pacific Cities Summit.

I would just like to extend my thanks to them for the work that they do, because I know how hard they work, I know how much effort they put in and I know certainly at times there are extended hours involved. They put 1,000 per cent effort in to make sure the outcome is delivered. So they do a wonderful job and I personally, on behalf of this Chamber, would like to record that and say thank you, because it is very important to acknowledge that.

But in particular, the work that they do, those business people and those officers, in facilitating the growth of export industries for our city, has shown multimillion dollars worth of results from the interactions that we have had with our sister cities. This is a tangible outcome that has been proven and has been documented in this Chamber time and time again. It is without dispute and it is certainly benefiting our city and I am sure it will continue to do so as our sister city relationships grow in the years to come. Thank you, Madam Chairman.