Yesterday, on Steve Austin’s 612 ABC Brisbane Mornings radio show, I had another enjoyable chat with Steve and some of his listeners regarding a range of state election issues. These included John Quiggin’s critique of the LNP’s fiscal principles, the Greens’ election promises, and infrastructure spending, among others. We began the discussion by returning to an issue raised in a previous interview, the controversial development of the new public service “tower of power”, 1 William St. You can listen to the interview from 1:37:49 at:

Steve Austin’s 612 ABC Brisbane wireless program Mornings, Mon 13 Nov 2017

I was grateful that one listener asked me for one example of a government program I would cut to save money. The first one that came to my mind was Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ), which is an unnecessary agency, given we have a national tourism body, Tourism Australia. Also, both TEQ and Tourism Australia are less relevant in the age of social media, as our attractions, such as the Reef, rainforests, and beaches, are constantly advertised all around the world via Facebook and Instagram. I would note that, in its 2015 Industry Assistance Review, the Queensland Competition Authority also questioned the effectiveness of Tourism and Events Queensland, which receives over $100 million in funding annually. My previous posts referring to the Queensland Government’s tourism promotion efforts via TEQ include:

QCA finds multiple policy failures associated with billions in industry assistance in Qld

Tourism & Events Qld deserved funding cut – no turnaround in share of international visitors

I mentioned on air yesterday that I have no doubt the Queensland Treasury has a hit list of ineffective programs that it will propose cutting to a new incoming government. I am pretty sure TEQ would be on that list.