After 32 years of conservative rule, it was more than the Queensland government that changed on 7 December 1989 — it was the whole state of Queensland. Driving the reform process across a wide cross-section of government policy (and seeing Queenslanders respond) left a legacy of which we who formed part of that government are proud.

In our first week in office, we purchased additional tertiary places for Queensland. This underlined our commitment to education and sent the signal that our government believed the future was ‘up the food chain’, and that we would therefore invest in education. We abolished the Special Branch of Queensland Police — a symbol of the misuse of the police service by the previous government. We also abolished imperial honours because we believed that Australia should have its own system of recognising our citizens.