The Smart State is here and now. Queenslanders have built it – and we must continue building it.
We have used our brains and transformed our fabulous natural assets into successful industries such as mining, primary industries and tourism.
Now it’s time to also continue fostering the industries that will be the giants of the 21st Century – like biotechnology, aviation and aerospace, and education exports.
We must do this to secure jobs for ourselves and our children and grandchildren, and to hold on to our beautiful natural environment – the beaches, forests, rivers and outback – and our unbeatable way of life.
That’s what Smart Queensland is about. That’s why the Queensland Government is now investing at least $473 million in Smart Queensland, the second stage of the Smart State Strategy that began in 1998.
Our investment will build on the remarkable transformation that has occurred since June 1998. In this time Queenslanders have created more than 370 000 jobs and reduced the State’s unemployment rate to well below 5% (down to 4.4% in March 2005).
We have become a centre for new industries, we have exported more, and we have radically improved our education system.
However, we must continue to innovate, or else we will stagnate.
The future of Queensland is in your hands. This booklet summarises Smart Queensland and includes ways for Queenslanders to innovate and continue creating jobs and opportunities for the future.
We must use our brains to build tomorrow’s Queensland.
I invite you to visit the Smart State website at www.smartstate.qld.gov.au for more details, and to become a member of our virtual network to stay up-to-date with the latest developments.
Peter Beattie MP
Premier and Minister for Trade
May 2005
The first stage of the Smart State Strategy has been extremely successful.
Queensland is now recognised as a centre for new industries, ranging from biotechnology to electronic games. This has created new opportunities and jobs for Queenslanders. The Smart State now has 5000 new jobs in aviation, 9100 jobs in education exports and about 2000 people employed in biotechnology. Performance in our traditional industries has soared with productivity in agriculture and mining increasing significantly.
While Australia’s knowledge-intensive exports decreased on average by 2.4% between 2000-01 and 2003-04, Queensland’s have increased by 15.7%.
The Queensland Government has implemented major reforms to our school education and training systems. The Government has committed $1.1 billion to education and training reforms and is investing a further $1 billion in training and employment initiatives under the SmartVET Strategy.
These are some of the differences Smart State has made.
Smart Queensland: Smart State Strategy 2005–2015 is a blueprint for future action that will build on the momentum and successes of the first stage of the Smart State Strategy. It’s about making the right investments now so that we can enjoy a great quality of life in Queensland in the future.
It is an investment in our schools and in our adult education and training to give all Queenslanders the right skills for the future.
It is an investment in the buildings, equipment, technology and tools that will help Queenslanders discover, invent and design better and more efficient products and services that we can export to the world.
There are also investments directly into traditional industries.
Smart Queensland will continue creating jobs, improving education and the economy, and fostering new technologies and industries that will improve our health and our way of life.
The Queensland Government will commit at least $473 million extra over the next four years to implement the strategy.
Smart Queensland includes:
• $200 million over four years for three new funds to build research centres and support innovation across a broad range of fields, including health and medicine, the environment, agriculture, and mining
• The Golden Casket Medical Research Foundation for health and medical research, funded by interest of about $1.3 million per year from unclaimed lotto prizes
• Smart Classrooms – $56 million investment over four years in new school technology, including opportunities for students, their parents and teachers to access school work and materials anywhere, anytime
• Smart Academies – $46 million over four years to establish two new state schools of excellence for senior school students in creative arts and science, maths and technology
• Smarter Learning – $8.25 million over three years to implement a new school curriculum assessment and reporting system to concentrate on the essentials, and ensure parents have clearer information on their children’s progress
• A comprehensive review of the Vocational Education and
Training system to boost Queensland’s response to the national skills
shortage
• $51.5 million over four years for water initiatives to improve water efficiency and secure Queensland’s future water supply
• $20 million over four years for a new service to boost mineral exploration
• More research and development to strengthen primary industries exports, including $1.5 million for the horticulture industry to target new Asian export markets over three years.
• It’s good for the economy – lifting productivity, promoting investment, creating jobs, increasing our wealth
• It’s good for business – improving the creation and adoption of new technologies, having a world-class workforce, generating export growth and jobs for Queensland
• It’s good for all Queenslanders – giving us the skills to take on fulfilling jobs, improving choice, security and lifestyle.
A knowledge economy is based on the production, distribution and use of knowledge as the main driver of growth, wealth creation and employment across all industries. It does not rely solely on a few high technology industries for growth and wealth production, but also on the application of knowledge in traditional industries such as mining and agriculture.
• In 1905, the school leaving age was 12 years. From 2006, young people entering Year 10 will be the first group required to be in education, training or work until they turn 17.
• From 2008 the Queensland Certificate of Education will list a broad range of achievements including TAFE courses, school-based apprenticeships, university subjects, and work experience.
• In 2003, the school retention rate for Queensland was 81.5% compared with the Australian rate of 75.4%.
• The number of working age Queenslanders with post-school qualifications
increased by
33% from 1998 to 2004.
The world is changing rapidly: our work and our daily lives require skills not even imagined just a few decades ago. We can no longer expect to have one job for our whole career.
We need high levels of education and skills to match our competitors overseas. And just as importantly, we have to continually update our skills to keep pace with the changes in our world.
The Queensland Government is rebuilding our education and training system from the ground up to meet these needs. The Education and Training Reforms for the Future Strategy includes a new full-time Preparatory year of schooling from 2007, more computers in classrooms, smaller class sizes in the middle phase of school, and laws requiring all 15 to 17 year old Queenslanders to be ‘learning or earning’. Training and employment initiatives under the Government’s SmartVET Strategy are also being implemented and will create about 180 000 training places by 2007.
Smart Queensland builds on these investments. We are investing $56 million in new technology to improve support for school computers and ensure that from the end of 2007, students, their parents and teachers will have electronic access to class work and learning materials anywhere, anytime across all 1300 state schools. A $3.5 million trial will be conducted in 2006 to provide 1500 teachers with laptops or personal computers to further improve learning and communication through technology.
A further $8.25 million has been set aside to implement a new curriculum, assessment and reporting system for the Preparatory to Year 10 years. This will provide greater consistency in what is taught, and how it is assessed and reported, regardless of where a child attends school. For the first time in Queensland, a comparable approach to assessing and reporting what students can do, and how well they can do it, will be established across all schools in Queensland from Ascot to Aurukun. We will work with non-state schools to ensure all children reap the benefits.
The Government will continue to promote the importance of knowledge and skills to make sure our young people are well placed to make the most of technological opportunities. Through a $46 million investment in two new State academies of excellence, our most talented senior high school students will be able to boost their skills in maths, science, technology, and in the creative arts.
Learning, however, does not stop at the school gates – it is a lifelong pursuit. The Government is establishing one-stop-shops to provide free training and career information to Queenslanders. The Government will also comprehensively review the Vocational and Education Training system to deliver more flexible and responsive training that meets the needs of an ever-changing workplace. Our university students will have greater opportunities to sharpen their skills and make them ‘work ready’ through the $1.05 million Smart State University Internships Program.
Vocational education students at Gladstone State High School are in high demand by local industry thanks to the skills they learn in and outside the classroom. Since 2004, senior students have had the option of undertaking English, maths and science subjects for half their school week, and spending the remaining days skilling up for their future.
One day a week is devoted to a two-year TAFE pre-vocational program. The second day sees students gaining hands-on work experience with a local employer. Students achieve certificate-level standard in trades such as plumbing and mechanics, with many students snapped up by local employers and given the opportunity to pursue a full-time apprenticeship.
At 15, Carol Mayne left school to become a hairdresser. At 20, she discovered a passion for forensic science. Today, she runs DNA Evidence Pty Ltd, Australia’s first private company specialising in independent reviews of DNA test results.
Carol’s work has helped put criminals behind bars and clear people who otherwise would have gone to jail. ‘I did my senior at night school, one subject a year for six years, and then worked towards my Bachelor of Biomedical Science. The birth of my first child in 1998 got me thinking about what work I could do from home, so I completed my Masters in Forensic Science.’
Carol has become a role model for Queensland women in science and she speaks regularly at high schools.
‘I tell kids that they don’t have to know what they want to do with the rest of their lives at 15, 16 or 17. Sometimes you don’t know at 30 or 40. But it doesn’t matter because you can go to university at any age and you can change careers at any age. It’s just a matter of finding something that you have a passion for.’
Public consultation on the review of Queensland’s Vocational Education and Training system will begin in 2005. Information on how you can participate will be available at the Department of Employment and Training website: www.trainandemploy.qld.gov.au
For more information on the new Preparatory year of schooling, ‘learning or earning’, computers in schools and other education reforms visit www.education.qld.gov.au/etrf
Skilling Solutions Queensland’s one-stop-shops for training and career information are now open at the Logan Hyperdome, Loganlea, Woodridge and South Brisbane. For further details call into one of the centres, visit www.skillingsolutions.com.au or phone 1300 654 687.
Innovation is the process of converting knowledge and ideas into better ways of doing business or into new or improved products and services that are valued by the community.
• In 1916, the Golden Casket lottery was set up in Queensland to raise
funds for veterans of World War I. Smart Queensland will use interest on unclaimed
prize money to
fund leading-edge health and medical research.
• Queensland scientists have achieved a range of world firsts including:
• the first vaccine against cervical cancer
• the discovery of ‘grow your own’ organs and arteries to make life easier and more comfortable for dialysis patients
• the first clinical trial in spinal cord regeneration.
• Queenslander Dr Peter Doherty, in partnership with Swiss scientist Dr Rolf Zinkernagel, won the 1996 Nobel Prize for Medicine for discoveries on how the immune system recognises virus-infected cells.
As a result of the Queensland Government’s investment in science, research and innovation, Queensland is home to top class scientists and researchers as well as some of the most sophisticated research institutes in the world.
We are using leading-edge technology to generate world-beating research.
Innovation is for everyone – not only scientists in laboratories:
• manufacturers improve production techniques to cut costs
• farmers experiment with different techniques to improve yields
• personal assistants introduce new information management systems to improve efficiency.
Through Smart Queensland, the Queensland Government will help industry to invent and innovate across a range of fields.
We will provide $200 million for three new funds to establish research and innovation institutes, buy major research equipment, provide scholarships and fellowships to attract and retain leading researchers, and support research, development and innovation projects.
The 47% of Queenslanders who are overweight may soon benefit from Smart State science. The University of Queensland’s biotechnology company, Adipogen Pty Ltd, has identified a protein that stimulates production of the cells that store fat. Adipogen is using this discovery to design a mechanism to control body fat. Less fat stored in the body may be an effective therapy for the treatment of wide-spread diseases like Type II Diabetes.
Adipogen has benefited from support through the Queensland Government’s Innovation Start Up Scheme and the BioStart Fund, which has helped it establish a commercial structure and attract investment.
The Government is establishing the Golden Casket Medical Research Foundation for health and medical research, which will provide about $1.3 million per year from interest earned on unclaimed lotto prizes.
Real gains from innovation will be made by applying our smarts to improve Queensland businesses and industry. The Queensland Government’s initial priorities range from minerals to mangoes, from ethanol to aquaculture.
The Government will establish a $20 million Smart Exploration Service to boost mining exploration with potential returns of $3 billion for the mining industry.
$1.5 million will be provided to help the horticulture industry target new Asian markets, with the mango industry being the first priority. The Government will provide $7.3 million to boost Queensland’s ethanol industry, and $4 million to accelerate the growth and export potential of Queensland’s aquaculture industry.
Smart State expertise is helping New York City rebuild after the tragedy
of the
11 September terrorist attacks. The city’s Ground Zero site is a painful
reminder of the attacks, but its Freedom Tower will be a permanent memorial
to the victims of that tragedy. Plans are already underway for a multi-billion
dollar rail terminal at the site.
Brisbane engineers working for the international consultancy firm Maunsell are playing a key role in the construction of the World Trade Centre transportation hub. Maunsell’s specialist team is involved in designing the emergency ventilation systems. Its work is an important part of the overall security of the hub, including managing smoke and airborne diseases.
Three Maunsell team members are working in lower Manhattan and liaising with
their Brisbane office. It is yet another example of Queensland successfully
exporting its world-class engineering and design skills.
While the tragedy of 11 September will never fade, the Smart State is proud
to be helping to rebuild New York.
North Queensland’s Crystal Bay Prawns® have become renowned throughout the world for their consistent quality and sweet taste. Seafarm Pty Ltd produces 1000 tonnes each year and exports to Europe, New Zealand and Japan. The company released Crystal Bay Prawns® onto the market in 1999 and there are now 110 ponds at its Cardwell farm and 25 at its Mossman farm.
The Queensland Government has provided the company with important business assistance to develop its export markets.
Guidelines for the new innovation funds are being developed and a call for
applications is expected by the end of 2005. Keep an eye on the Department
of State Development and Innovation
website at www.sdi.qld.gov.au for
more details.
Visit the Smart State website at www.smartstate.qld.gov.au to read more stories about successful Queensland inventions.
Sustainable development is economic and social development that meets the needs of the current generation without undermining the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
• Almost half of all domestic customers in Australia who purchase ‘green energy’ from renewable sources come from Queensland.
• South East Queensland is the fastest-growing urban region in Australia. By 2026 the population is expected to reach 3.7 million people – an increase of more than one million people.
• The average Queensland household uses more than 850 litres of water a day – 30% of which could potentially be supplied by recycling ‘greywater’ from the laundry, kitchen and bathroom sinks.
• The Centre for Low Emission Technology, a $26 million joint venture between the Queensland Government, CSIRO and industry and university partners, is investigating technologies that will significantly reduce greenhouse emissions from coal-based power generation.
To create a prosperous future we must apply our knowledge and skills to ensure that our continued growth is sustainable. Economic growth and sustainable use of natural resources must go hand-in-hand.
The Queensland Government will continue to invest in new research, technologies and processes to improve the way we use our natural resources.
Smart Queensland includes wide-ranging plans for more efficient and sustainable water and energy use. The Government is investing $51.5 million to improve water use efficiency and secure Queensland’s future water supply.
The Queensland Government will provide $2.4 million in funding over four years to establish the International Water Centre. It is a partnership with the University of Queensland, Griffith University, Monash University and the University of Western Australia. The Centre will have its headquarters here in Queensland and will raise Queensland’s profile as a centre of excellence for water resource research and management.
We will also draw on Queensland’s growing expertise in biotechnology to control cane toads. The Government has committed $1 million to limit their spread and reduce the havoc they cause to the environment.
The Government will establish a taskforce that will deliver an integrated and comprehensive response to the challenges facing our natural resources. Scientific knowledge and innovative technologies will play a critical role in the sustainable management and development of our natural resources.
Sustainable development involves all our resources – energy, water, food, land and sea. The protection of these resources is a shared responsibility and it starts with our own practices. We must continue to find smarter, better ways to use our natural resources.
In 2004, Ergon Energy, in partnership with Suncoast Gold Macadamias, launched a world-first 1.5 megawatt macadamia nut cogeneration facility at Gympie.
Up to 10 000 tonnes of waste macadamia nut shells a year are converted into electricity and steam to meet the energy needs of the Suncoast Gold Macadamias factory. About 80% of this electricity – ‘green energy’ – is being exported into the State’s grid.
Enough green energy is generated to power 1200 homes, with annual greenhouse savings of around 9500 tonnes of greenhouse emissions (equivalent to taking more than 2000 cars off the road).
A severe drought in the early 1980s motivated Darling Downs farmer Warwick Hill to experiment with ways to keep precious water in his dams. Warwick’s invention E-VapCap® is a cover to stop dam water evaporating.
After two decades of refining, it is now being used throughout Australia and has won an Award of Excellence at the International Achievement Awards for Specialty Fabric Projects in Las Vegas, USA.
More than 50 covers of various sizes have been installed in locations in all the eastern Australian states. Warwick’s invention has also attracted international interest from India, Africa and the Middle East.
For businesses wanting to do more to protect Queensland’s natural environment, visit the Environmental Protection Agency website at www.epa.qld.gov.au to see how you can partner with the Queensland Government to become an ecoBiz.
To find out how a normal house can be adapted to save water and energy, check out the popular www.healthyhomeproject.com website profiling a Gold Coast property – a joint venture between the owners, the Queensland Government and the University of Queensland.
To read about success stories and industry programs under the Queensland Government’s Rural Water Use Efficiency initiative visit www.nrm.qld.gov.au
The term connectivity usually refers to the extent to which individuals and
businesses enjoy
networked computing capacity for interconnection of systems and applications.
• Proportion of Queensland households with internet connection:
1998 = 15%
2003 = 52%
• In 1964, Oodgeroo Noonucal from North Stradbroke Island became the first published Aboriginal poet with the release of We are Going.
• Queenslanders speak more than 150 different languages.
• Queensland’s creative industries sector contributes $1 billion to the economy and provides 65 000 direct and indirect jobs.
Information and communication technology infrastructure is increasingly important to us economically and socially. Broadband, in particular, has the potential to increase productivity, increase international trade and improve service delivery, particularly to residents in isolated areas.
The Queensland Government has worked hard to increase investments in telecommunications infrastructure to expand service delivery, especially in regional and rural Queensland. We will continue to use our buying power and ownership of infrastructure throughout the State to improve and expand telecommunications service delivery and get a better deal for Queenslanders.
Smart Queensland contains initiatives to reduce existing barriers to the
rollout
of infrastructure and enable faster delivery of services to business and the
community. The Government will provide a uniform, streamlined approvals
process for telecommunications infrastructure and will develop an online telecommunications
information portal to provide a comprehensive single point for local government,
industry providers and consumers to share information on telecommunications
in Queensland.
The Government will also maintain pressure on the Federal Government, which has regulatory responsibility for telecommunications, to ensure delivery of cost-effective, high-speed broadband that meets the current and future needs of residential and business users across Queensland.
Smart Queensland will encourage openness to new ideas and encourage people to be creative, imaginative and inventive. Our children’s sense of creativity and discovery will be fostered. We will reward people’s knowledge and creativity in all fields, giving them the same prestige we give our sports heroes.
We will open our doors to ideas from across the street or from across the globe. We cannot limit ourselves by thinking good ideas only come from a laboratory – they come from every aspect of our lives. Diversity brings with it many new approaches and perspectives. Through our investments in our festivals, awards programs and the creative arts, Queensland will be better-known around the world for being an open, diverse and dynamic society.
Smart Queensland builds on these initiatives through our business and skilled migration program, which promotes Queensland’s appeal to skilled workers from across the world.
The Government will continue the successful Multicultural Festival and Queensland Multicultural Photographic Awards to celebrate and promote Queensland’s great diversity. The Government will also present the 2006 Ideas Festival – four days of ideas, innovation and invention – where leading national, local and international speakers share their ideas for the future. The Festival, an open public event, will play an important role in fostering innovation, discovery and public debate in Queensland.
With Queensland Government assistance through the Queensland Industry Development Scheme, Maleny publishing firm eContent Management Pty Ltd is moving into online international distribution of its successful innovation management, public health and nursing education journals.
Company Principal James Davidson says the company made the right decision to move from Sydney to Queensland. ‘We relocated not just because the Sunshine Coast has broadband infrastructure, but also due to Queensland’s high quality of life, the talent pool and values of potential employees, as well as the Queensland Government’s reputation for being very supportive of innovative knowledge-based companies.’
Alan Groves is fascinated by dinosaurs. That fascination has given him a worldwide reputation as a sculptor, model maker and special effects artist who specialises in designing and creating dinosaur models. Alan, 38, was born in London but moved to Queensland in 2002 and set up Art Dinouveau, a business that services clients from around the world.
Alan’s work has been shown in the Queensland Museum, the Australian Museum and the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. His recent work includes a two metre long feathered dinosaur modelled on Dilong Paradoxus, discovered last year in China, and he worked closely with scientific experts in Beijing and New York during construction. In addition, in April 2005 Alan was a guest artist at the Aichi World Expo in Japan. Alan is a great example of how the Smart State is attracting extraordinary talents across a range of disciplines.
Go to the Ideas Festival website, www.ideasfestival.com.au to find out more and put forward your ideas for Ideas 2006. The Ideas Festival program is being developed now and will be released in November 2005.
Applications for the Queensland Multicultural Photographic Awards will open in June 2005. Watch out for more news on the Queensland Multicultural Festival website at www.multiculturalfestival.qld.gov.au or register your interest to receive more information via email: multicultural.photographic@premiers.qld.gov.au
To keep up-to-date with Smart State strategies, initiatives and announcements,
as well as the latest success stories, events and forums, visit the Smart
State website at
www.smartstate.qld.gov.au