South East Queensland mayors will descend on Queensland Parliament calling on Premier Steven Miles and Opposition Leader David Crisafulli to empower, enable and back councils grappling with the region’s crippling growth.
The delegation comes ahead of the October 2024 State election with calls for urgent infrastructure funding to respond to rapid population growth and the housing crisis.
Council of Mayors (SEQ) Chair, Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, said councils played a key role in addressing the challenges their communities faced, but greater investment and support was needed from the State and Federal governments to do this. ?
“South East Queensland is one of Australia’s fastest-growing regions and the pressures of population growth and high building costs are being felt by councils right across our region,” Cr Schrinner said.
“State and Federal governments pocket 97 per cent of all taxation yet continue to push costs and responsibilities onto local councils, which collect just three per cent of revenue.
“Council is the closest level of government to the community so they play a key role in keeping our region moving.
“But we need all levels of government working together to help us deliver better roads, better transport and take the handbrake off housing during a housing crisis.?
“Councils are grappling with the same challenges their residents are facing, including a growing population, growing congestion and the growing cost of building.
“Targeted funding from the State and Federal governments can help us deliver better infrastructure and help encourage more homes to market sooner so our region is a better place for everyone to live and get around.”
In 2023, south east Queensland’s residential population grew by more than 115,400 people – the highest annual increase in more than a decade and almost triple the numbers experienced in 2021 post-COVID.
Almost 60,000 lots across South East Queensland currently have approval but are still awaiting development, indicating land supply is not a contributor to the housing crisis.
Building construction has increased 52 per cent since 2011 according to [2023] Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
South East Queensland is already home to more than 73% of Queenslanders and generates two-thirds of the Queensland’s Gross Regional Product.
CoMSEQ Deputy Chair, City of Moreton Bay Mayor Peter Flannery, said SEQ Mayors stood ready to help, but needed the funding and resources to respond. ?
“The Mayors are calling for the State Government to enable, empower and back our Councils to do what we do best – to help us respond to the issues impacting our communities. But we need greater infrastructure funding and support to do this,” Mayor Flannery said.
“South East Queensland is now home to over 4 million people and we are repeatedly exceeding growth projections. We’re expecting another 2.2 million people by 2046 and we will require almost 900,000 new homes and over 1 million new jobs over this time. ?
“Strong growth needs a strong response from all levels of government including urgent investment in catalytic transport and infrastructure. ?
“The Mayors are eager to help alleviate the pressures on housing, but we can’t do it all and we need the funding and resources to help us respond.
“Just in Moreton Bay we’re grappling with 12 growth fronts which will deliver more than 125,000 new homes by 2046, but the infrastructure required to support them is estimated at literally hundreds of millions of dollars over the next 20 years.
“Councils across the South East – whether it’s Sunshine Coast, Logan, Ipswich, Redlands, Toowoomba or Somerset – are experiencing this same challenge and it’s having a big impact on our bottom line.
“Targeted infrastructure funding would allow Councils to help to unlock thousands of new homes – but we’re yet to receive any significant support from the State or Federal governments to help us do this.
“As a start, we’d love to see the Government’s More Homes for Queensland – Incentivising Infill Fund ($350 million) – directed to Councils for enabling infrastructure to unlock housing.
“We’re also keen to see funding for a SEQ Employment Strategy that will ensure our region is able to attract and create high-value local jobs to support population growth.”
South East Queensland mayors joining the delegation include:
- Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner
- Moreton Bay Mayor Peter Flannery
- Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding
- Lockyer Valley Mayor Tanya Milligan
- Logan Mayor Jon Raven
- Noosa Mayor Frank Wilkie
- Redland Mayor Jos Mitchell
- Scenic Rim Mayor Tom Sharp
- Somerset Mayor Jason Wendt
- Sunshine Coast Mayor Rosanna Natoli
- Toowoomba Mayor Geoff McDonald
The Council of Mayors (SEQ) delegation will meet: ??
- Honourable Steven Miles, Premier of Queensland
- Honourable Cameron Dick, Deputy Premier, Treasurer and Minister for Trade and Investment
- Honourable Glenn Butcher, Minister for Regional Development and Manufacturing and Minister for Water
- Honourable Leanne Linard, Minister for the Environment and the Great Barrier Reef and Minister for Science and Innovation
- Honourable Meaghan Scanlon, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Planning and Minister for Public Works
- Ms Ali King, Assistant Minister for Housing, Local Government, Planning and Public Works
- Honourable Bart Mellish, Minister for Transport and Main Roads and Minister for Digital Services
- Honourable Mark Furner, Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities
- Honourable Grace Grace, Minister for State Development and Infrastructure, Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Racing
- Honourable Michael Healy, Minister for Tourism and Sport
- David Crisafulli, Leader of the Opposition, Shadow Minister for Tourism
- Jarrod Bleijie, Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Shadow Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning, Shadow Minister for Olympic and Paralympic Infrastructure and Jobs, Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations
- Tim Mander, Shadow Minister for Housing and Public Works, Shadow Minister for Sport and Racing, Shadow Minister for Olympic and Paralympic Sport and Regional Engagement
- Steven Minnikin, Shadow Minister for Customer Service, Shadow Minister for Transport and Main Roads
- Brent Mickelberg, Shadow Minister for Employment and Training, Shadow Minister for Small and Family Business, Shadow Minister for Open Data
- Tim Nicholls, Shadow Attorney-General, Shadow Minister for Justice, Shadow Minister for CBD Activation
- Ann Leahy, Shadow Minister for Local Government, Shadow Minister for Disaster Recovery, Shadow Minister for Volunteers
- Sam O’Connor, Shadow Minister for Environment and the Great Barrier Reef, Shadow Minister for Science and Innovation, Shadow Minister for Youth
- Deb Frecklington, Shadow Minister for Energy and Cost of Living, Shadow Minister for Water and the Construction of Dams, Shadow Minister for Regional Development and Manufacturing
- David Janetzki, Shadow Treasurer, Shadow Minister for Investment and Trade, Shadow Minister for Home Ownership
- Anthony Perrett, Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry