March 2022 Newsletter

Four new goals for the Committee for Brisbane

At a February strategic planning workshop, the Committee for Brisbane settled on four priority focus areas for 2022 and beyond: business growth, talent attraction and retention, connectivity and mobility, and recreation/outdoor lifestyle.

Members of the Management Committee and Advisory Council met at the offices of Corporate Member HopgoodGanim to review the 2021 Strategic Plan and consider areas for strategic focus.

Facilitated by Urbis Future State Director, and Management Committee member, Kate Meyrick, the workshop reviewed the Committee’s recent activities and projects and, after a series of discussions, settled on four goals to help the Committee achieve its Vision of “greater Brisbane as the world’s most liveable place”:

Efficient movement of people, goods and ideas
Attract and retain the best talent
A great region for business
A recreation epicentre

Each of the goals will be defined and brought to life with projects and activities, including building on some already underway, and we look forward to engaging with Members and Affiliates.

We need to move it, move it!

Our recent Business of the Games briefing delivered one powerful message: we need to move beyond “compliance” when it comes to accessibility and inclusivity and towards the “experience” we want community members to have.

The second in our Business of the Games series, building on the Brisbane 2033 Legacy papers published in 2021, was held at The University of Queensland’s Queen Street campus and considered the themes of connectivity, mobility and accessibility with panellists:

Dr Caroline Riot, Director and Senior Lecturer in Sport Management, Griffith Business School
Kylie Nixon, Public and Active Transport Lead, Arup
Amanda Mather, CEO, Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association
Michael Dobbie PLY, Senior Manager, Infrastructure Advisory, PwC Australia

Michael said that, as our region builds and upgrades infrastructure for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, we needed to think beyond compliance.

He said that while compliance with accessibility rules was critical to ensure minimum standards are met, we needed to challenge ourselves to focus on what outcomes we wanted to achieve and what experience we wanted for our residents and guests.

Can south east Queensland become the sporting capital of Australia?

With more and more national and international sporting activity predicted for the region over the 10-year runway to 2032, the opportunity to significantly grow a new sports industry economy is real.

How might we achieve that? Join us on Wednesday 23 March at BCEC to hear from this expert panel:

Eugénie Buckley, Chief Executive Officer, Swimming Australia
Luke McCann, Chief Operating Officer, Sport Australia
John Lee, Director-General, Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport
Jake Anson, GM – Infrastructure, Strategy & Government Relations, Brisbane Lions Australian Football Club

Tickets are available here: Can SEQ have a new sports industry economy?

Major Event Partner: The University of Queensland

Getting live music's mojo back

QMusic (a CFB Affiliate) and the Committee for Brisbane have teamed up to work on a live music action plan for Brisbane.

After more than two years of heavy knocks for the contemporary live music scene – for venues, performers, managers and support staff – the two organisations have decided to look for ways to re-energise the sector, including driving patronage.

Building on the Committee’s Creative Brisbane Vision that was finalised at the end of 2021, the live music action plan will focus on getting the “mojo” back for the city’s contemporary music scene.

In a 2018 report commissioned by the Council of Capital City Lord Mayors, Brisbane was reported as having the largest night time economy in Australia, along with the largest food and entertainment sectors.

The report stated that the city’s night time economy employed 68,750 FTEs and contributed $8.14 billion in sales turnover (pre-COVID).

Over the next few months, QMusic and the Committee for Brisbane will look to develop a suite of initiatives and actions to help live music return to its place as a significant contributor to the night time economy (and generally).

Engagement with Logan City Council

Committee for Brisbane CEO Barton Green was invited to Logan recently to meet with some of the Logan City Council team driving innovation and economic development in the city.

The meeting discussed opportunities for joint activities in the innovation, start-up and scale-up space – and there is no better example of success than Go1, the billion dollar Logan unicorn and global tech success, where the meeting was held.

We look forward to collaborating on activities and events to drive our Vision for “greater Brisbane as the world’s most liveable place”.

Welcome to our newest team member

We are delighted to welcome our newest team member, Mala Fitzsimons, who has joined us as Events and Administration Coordinator.

Members will become familiar with Mala over the coming weeks and months as she manages our ever-busier events calendar.

Mala has more than 15 years’ events experience, including with the Property Council of Australia on its national conference program.

With Mala’s arrival, Annie Macnaughton has taken on a new role as Director – Engagement and will be spending more time speaking and engaging with Members to ensure we are delivering the projects and activities that are important to you.

Getting smart with the State Government

The joint Smart Region Steering Committee of the Committee for Brisbane and Smart Cities Council ANZ has had a productive meeting with the State Government to discuss priority projects.

The meeting followed correspondence with the Hon Dr Steven Miles, Deputy Premier, Minister for State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning, and Minister Assisting the Premier on Olympics Infrastructure; and the Hon Leanne Enoch, Minister for Communities and Housing, Minister for Digital Economy and Minister for the Arts.

The Steering Committee met with the Director, Infrastructure and Regional Strategy; the Director, Infrastructure Innovation; and the Principal Policy Officer, Infrastructure Policy in the Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning.

The CFB/SCC Steering Committee talked about its three priority projects that were determined at a planning workshop in late 2021:

Digital Twin
Data Exchange
Smart Infrastructure Policy

The Department and the Steering Committee have agreed to engage regularly to explore how to help grow Queensland’s digital and data economy.

New Members

The Committee recently welcomed eight new Members and two Affiliates.

Corporate Member

Logan City Council
GWI
ADP Consulting
APAC Network

Enterprise Member

ESRI Australia
Communify

Associate

Cheryl Gray
William Hannemann
Mark Greer

Affiliate

Aboriginal Art Co
Institute of Modern Art

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