G20 Summit: Opportunities for Queensland Beyond 2014?

17 November 2014:

The buzzing of helicopters is no more and the barricades have gone. But what happened when Brisbane opened its doors to play host to the largest gathering of world leaders in Australia’s history at the G20 Leaders’ Summit on 15 and 16 November?

In releasing the G20 Leaders’ Communique from the Summit, Prime Minister Tony Abbott, hailed the meeting a great success and announced that leaders had agreed on targets to boost growth and employment, enhance global economic resilience and strengthen global institutions.

Complementary to the communique is the Brisbane Action Plan, developed for discussion at the Summit and endorsed by leaders, outlining more than 800 reform measures for economic growth and development which, for the first time, will be regularly reviewed by the OECD and IMF in a bid to reassure the global community that the Summit was more than a “talkfest” and will turn “ideas into action”. Key highlights of the Plan include:

Increasing competition and encouraging private sector investment
Creating a Global Infrastructure Hub to improve worldwide investment in infrastructure
Increasing female participation in the workforce over the next 10 years
Introducing financial sector reforms to ensure:
- Companies pay tax in the jurisdictions where their profits are earned
- Circumstances that led to the 2008 GFC are not repeated
Progressing the G20 Energy Efficiency Action Plan
Investigating reform of the World Trade Organisation to progress economic growth
Continuing work to sustain and respond to the outbreak of Ebola in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The leaders may have gone home, many via other Australian ports, but according to Queensland Premier Campbell Newman, the benefits for Queensland as host are only just beginning. In early December, Queensland Treasurer Tim Nicholls, will lead a trade delegation to Indonesia and Singapore in an effort to capitalise on Queensland’s G20 hosting success and promote the State as a destination for growth and investment.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk, also enthusiastically embraced the outcomes of the Summit, tasking economic development board, Brisbane Marketing, with developing an ambitious growth plan for the city, and confirming discussions with leading businesses and academic institutions on future initiatives, including the Asia Pacific Cities Summit.

Whether it be via infrastructure, education, the digital economy or tourism, in his closing remarks at the Summit, Cr Quirk declared the city’s G20 hosting success the opportunity to position Brisbane as the “quintessential new world city that is the envy of the globe”.

Further information:

G20 Priorities: www.g20.org/g20_priorities

Choose Brisbane: www.choosebrisbane.com.au

Trade & Investment Queensland: www.tiq.qld.gov.au/g20