Smart State 2.0: Former premier Peter Beattie outlines lucrative trillion-dollar investment plan for Qld

Queensland is at a “crossroads” and “either uses its brain power to grow the economy, or go backwards”, former premier Peter Beattie has warned.

Smart State architect Peter Beattie has painted an innovation road map for the Palaszczuk Government, warning Queensland needs to better use its brains.

The former premier wants lucrative, international PhD scholarships, collaboration with international universities and the leveraging of “trillions” of investment dollars in superannuation funds as he congratulated the government’s decision to develop a 10-year plan to grow 80,000 new jobs and billions of extra revenue.

Mr Beattie said Queensland was at a “crossroads” and “either uses its brain power to grow the economy, or it just goes backwards”.

Former premier Peter Beattie (L) at the new Queensland Bioscience Precinct in 2003. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

“We have the brains … we have these great institutes that already exist, that were set up under the Smart State, so you’ve got to build on that … the key to it is commercialising the innovation,” he said.

“Part of the problem is that so many of our good ideas – Wi-Fi for example – have been flogged overseas for no benefit.”

Mr Beattie – who is now a director of the Medical Research Commercialisation Fund, which collaborates with superannuation funds and research facilities as Australia’s largest medical science investor – said Queensland should start its own commercialisation funds for its key agriculture and mining services.

He said super funds had an interest in growing Australian jobs, and therefore membership, and had “trillions” to invest, with the merger of QSuper and Sunsuper representing “enormous opportunity”.

And Queensland should attract the “best minds” through scholarships and partner with overseas universities to get the best and fastest results.

But Mr Beattie said the government’s place was not just about providing money, and its ministers needed to set the tone that Queensland was the place to be in a revitalised, post-Covid age.

Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe. Picture: NCA NewsWire / John Gass

Innovation Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said the government wanted to transform the “know-how that Smart State delivered” into jobs, opportunities and solutions.

Chief Entrepreneur Wayne Gerard said Queensland was good at attracting talent and had so much untapped potential.

“Everyone that’s moved to Queensland, the people that are driving Ubers that have a degree and really want to plug into our community, there is so much opportunity here,” he said.

Tech Council of Australia chief executive Kate Pounder said it was a “smart move” by the government to focus on the sector, which was one of Queensland’s most significant employers.