Qld: Smart state strategy falls short, Liberals say

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Qld: Smart state strategy falls short, Liberals say

By Vera Devai

BRISBANE, April 9 AAP - Queensland Premier Peter Beattie's smart state strategy hadproved to be nothing more than a public relations stunt, state parliament was told today.

Based on Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures released in February, Queenslandhad created 4,600 new Information Technology (IT) jobs since Mr Beattie took office.

In comparison NSW and Victoria created between five and six times more IT jobs than Queensland.

Liberal Party leader Bob Quinn today asked the premier to explain why Queensland hadsuch a "woeful record", particularly after Mr Beattie appointed a minister to specificallydeal with the information technology sector.

"The release of official government figures shows Queensland quite clearly is fallingbehind in the race to become the smart state of Australia," Mr Quinn said in state parliament.

"It's about time the premier gave away with all the PR, all the nonsense he carrieson with, and got down to tackling the real issue here that is creating jobs for Queenslanders."

Mr Beattie said the government had produced good results despite a global downturnin the IT sector since September 11.

"There has been significant jobs created and we are going to continue to work evenharder to create the number of jobs," Mr Beattie said.

"The Queensland government's smart state strategy is working.

"The Gold Coast and the south-east corner of Queensland we are determined over thenext few years will become the Silicon Valley of Australia."

The ABS figures showed Victoria created 22,500 IT jobs while NSW created 27,600 sinceAugust 1998.

The Beattie government this year introduced optional "smart state" licence plates forQueensland motor vehicles.

AAP ved/sc/ph/sb

KEYWORD: SMART