People of Queensland, this is your plan. The People's Plan.
That was the message from Premier Campbell Newman at Hervey Bay on Thursday, when, amid proclamations of history being made, he launched his long-awaited Queensland Plan.
The so-called blueprint for the next 30 years of growth in Queensland, formed after consultation with 80,000 Queenslanders over 18 months, sets some ambitious population, education and health targets, which the premier was at pains to stress are aspirational.
Also, for a government increasingly under fire for not listening to its constituents, Mr Newman made a point of repeatedly emphasising the consultative nature of the plan.
"This is not a Queensland Government plan, this is the plan of Queenslanders for Queenslanders," he said.
"With this plan, we are poised to make generational change with a 30-year vision that builds on our strengths.
"I look forward to working with everybody in Queensland to take this state forward and to leave a rich and lasting legacy for future generations.
"The plan sets out ambitious and challenging goals but I know Queenslanders can achieve great things when we set our minds to a common purpose."
Among the targets for Queensland's "proud, positive and exciting future" are doubling the population of the regions outside the state's southeast corner and 100 per cent literacy and numeracy rates in primary schools.
"One way or another we have all committed to building better towns, cities and stronger communities and regions and overall a stronger Queensland," he said.
"The Queensland Plan gives us an overarching way to get there."
Mr Newman said local government would be critical in the implementation of the framework over the ensuing three decades but rejected claims there was a reluctance of South East Queenslanders to move to the regions.
"The Queensland Plan sets a roadmap for future growth and prosperity and outlines what Queenslanders, in a huge and exemplary exercise in listening and consulting, want over the next 30 years," he said.
"What they want will set some very big and at times confronting challenges."
The premier described the plan's consultative process as bi-partisan and said it had involved major summits, industry workshops, local meetings and online discussion forums.
"There has been an emphasis on working together, to co-design and co-deliver a plan to ensure Queensland has the very best possible future along the way," he said.
"Queenslanders have told us what is important to to them.
"They want vibrant, prosperous communities and strong liveable regions."
Mr Newman also pointed out the 18-month community consultation process was the largest undertaken in any Australian state or territory.
"Well-planned infrastructure was one of the biggies, as was accessible and affordable education, built on a practical learning model, equipping people for the jobs of the future," he said.
"No Queenslander will be left behind, we will have the strongest economy in Australia with the best job prospects in the nation."
While Mr Newman's speech was light on detail, he said the four key targets of the plan were education, regional development, health and wellbeing and the environment.
"Queensland will be recognised as world leader in environmental protection and management," he said.
"While this is a high level document and an aspirational document, anybody who says there are not clear tough challenging goals don't see this is a fair dinkum document with lots of meat and grunt behind it," he said.
He said every Queenslander would have a role to play in its implementation.
The Queensland Government will be host and custodian of the plan, he said.
