General Discussion - Gillard under fire over Brisbane G20 choice___aiikmantom aikmantom - Thu Jul 12, 2012 6:11 pm Post subject: Gillard under fire over Brisbane G20 choice___aiikmantomT
he New South Wales Government says Prime Minister Julia Gillard has chosen Brisbane to host the 2014 G20 summit because she is trying to shore up votes in Queensland.MBT
Ms Gillard has announced that Brisbane will host the summit and that the Federal Government will contribute about $370 million to fund it.MBT Australia
"We'll work in partnership with Premier (Campbell) Newman, we'll be looking to Queensland to assist with Queensland Police, I've spoken to Premier Newman about that, and I'm sure we'll be able to work in a great partnership to get this done," she said at this morning's announcement.Cheap MBT Shoes
Despite some conjecture, Mr Newman confirmed this morning that Queensland will also contribute some funds to the summit, which will be held on November 15 and 16, 2014.
"The former Labor Government left behind a $2.8 billion deficit and debt fast approaching $100 billion and therefore Queensland is not in a position to contribute a significant amount of funding toward the cost of hosting the G20 Leaders' Summit," Mr Newman said in a statement.
It is the first time an Australian city will host the G20 leaders' meeting, and Treasurer Wayne Swan says having the leaders and finance ministers of the world's biggest economies in Brisbane will put Australia centre stage in world economic affairs.
Mr Swan told AM that the Government called for expressions of interest to host the meeting, with Brisbane the clear winner.MBT Shoes Clearance
"I think Brisbane in particular is the snapshot of our economy more broadly," he said.
"And certainly in terms of Brisbane and Queensland, the logistics here are excellent, the convention centre and the airport were particularly important in those considerations."
But NSW State Planning and Infrastructure Minister Brad Hazzard says he is appalled because Sydney is a far better option.
"Sydney is the only true world city of Australia," he said.
"It is the city that can best showcase Australia to the world and particularly to the G20 leaders.
"It would appear that Julia Gillard is quite prepared to use the world's leaders as her own political play things by taking them to Brisbane in an effort to shore up the Labor vote in Queensland."http://www.mbtshoesmbtsaleau.com/
A G20 Finance Ministers' meeting will also be held in regional Queensland.
