13 years before Donald Trump and Elon Musk created DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency) in the US, Queenslanders elected Campbell Newman as Premier with a DOGE-like mandate to remove the waste, inefficiency, fraud and abuse from the Queensland State Government.
Unlike most politicians, Campbell actually did the job he was elected to do. He reduced the government’s spending, reduced the size of the bloated bureaucracy, balanced the budget, and simultaneously improved frontline staffing and service delivery performance. In other words, he did what desperately needs to be done, nationally, in both Australia and the US.
The result of Campbell successfully removing government waste, bloat and poor performance was similar to the response given to Elon Musk and his DOGE revelations: crucifixion in the media and by the political class.
From a record-setting, landslide, 78 to 7 seat win against Labor in 2012, in the 2015 election Queenslanders swung back to the devil they knew. Labor wasted no time resuming its wasteful spending, inflating the bureaucracy, racking up debt and cancelling the hard work Queensland had just done. Like Elon, Campbell was sent to the DOGE pound for doing the critical job he was tasked to do.
So, in this episode of the Liberty Itch podcast, I ask Campbell what happened, what lessons he learned and what advice he can give to the next DOGE-r to neuter the media, bring the bureaucracy to heel, and avoid being sent to the DOGE pound?
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
2:07 What happened?
8:49 Slashing 14000 jobs
12:00 Opportunity for reform
16:56 Trump Effect?
17:55 Advice for the next guy
22:38 Pressure to go Green
29:09 Why can’t the boss boss?
35:32 Fraud & unaccountability
41:52 Are Aussies born socialists?
44:02 Fixing the LNP
50:07 Future for Campbell
Government interference is "like pouring iron filings into the engine of the economy!" Such vivid imagery. So true. Great interview with Campbell Newman, former Premier of Queensland.