Queensland Productivity Commission begins work, as hospitals get ‘rescue plan'
Five weeks after passing a bill to reinstate its Productivity Commission, the Queensland government has handed down its first order to the much-anticipated governmental body on Thursday.
Treasurer David Janetzki revealed on Thursday the commission was ready to begin its first task – a review into the Queensland building and construction industry – and delivered the terms of reference for the report.
'This important work by the Productivity Commission will drive up productivity and drive down cost pressures,' he said.
Janetzki also announced Angela Moody – a senior executive with experience in financial and regulatory policy in gas, water, and electricity industries – had been appointed as Productivity Commissioner.
The commission was first established in 2015. In 2021, the then-Labor state government dissolved the commission, integrating it back into the Treasury 'to establish the new Office of Productivity and Red Tape Reduction'.
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The new LNP government promised to reinstate the productivity commission, which it expected would combat blow outs in costs and delivery dates for major state infrastructure builds.
In another governmental review, seen by cabinet on Tuesday, cost blow outs were attributed to poor planning, rather than construction industry turmoil.
The review found a series of health sector upgrades covering 11 existing and three new hospitals, plus the new Queensland Cancer Centre slated for Herston, had been planned over a six-week period in 2022.
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