FOR a man whose career over almost seven decades involved mind-bogglingly huge sums of money, Sir Leo Hielscher subscribes to a surprisingly simple fiscal principle: “If you haven’t got it, you don’t spend it”.
“If there’s one financial lesson that sums up my whole approach to the state’s budget, it is this: think of it like a household budget," the former under-treasurer and long-time Queensland Treasury Corporation chair said.
“You don’t borrow to buy the groceries. Don’t spend what you don’t have. If expenditure is more than revenue, you need to re-prioritise.”
“Most of my career I have worked with borrowed money and I hate paying interest. I always looked for ways to minimise Queensland’s exposure to it, and pay it back fast!”
Sir Leo – the behind-the-scenes financial strategist and secret-keeper to 10 premiers and 16 treasurers of all political persuasions – was the driving force behind much of Queensland’s mining, industrial and tourism development in the 1970s and 1980s.
He held the financial reins on major infrastructure projects such as port developments, rail lines and the Queensland Cultural Centre as well as events that put Queensland on the international stage such as the 1982 Commonwealth Games and the 1988 World Expo.
“Oh, I was a cheeky little bugger as a boy and I guess I didn’t grow out of it,” he said with a laughed during a relaxed conversation with The Senior following the release of his biography, Sir Leo Hielscher: Queensland Made.
“We balanced the state’s fiscal position and developed innovative funding solutions that introduced entire industries and attracted investment to Queensland at virtually no cost to the taxpayer.
“We also raised a few eyebrows along the way and pushed more than a few envelopes.
“My team in Treasury didn’t break rules. We didn’t bend rules. Admittedly, we did ‘brend’ them a little to get what needed to be achieved."
This included going direct to the World Bank after the Commonwealth Loan Council refused to fund rail infrastructure to Mount Isa Mines.
“The loan council came good after that and when the project was completed, the loan was repaid out of the state’s increased revenue from the mine. It was the first of our escapades and it paid off.”
Other bit of brending was inserting the word "per" into mining royalties agreements so companies paid a percentage of the value rather than a flat amount per tonne of minerals and were penalised if they exported raw materials instead of processing them in Queensland.
Or diverting Golden Casket takings to pay for the Queensland Performing Arts Complex at South Bank: “Not a cent of taxpayer money was needed."
“I had a vision for Queensland and an unshakable belief in fearlessly providing impartial facts and strategies that were good for the state, regardless of politics,” Sir Leo said.
A child of the Depression years, born in the Sunshine Coast hinterland town of Eumundi in 1926, he joined the public service as a 15-year-old clerk. His natural business nous was quickly recognised and he was encouraged to get a university education.
He headed Treasury from 1974 until 1988 and then chaired the Queensland Treasury Corporation, the state’s central financing authority, until his retirement in 2010, just before his 84th birthday.
Once seemingly married to his job, Sir Leo now spends his days caring for the true love of his life, his wife of 66 years, Lady Mary.
“She always had dinner on the table for me. It might have been sitting there for a few hours by the time I came in, but it was always there!
“Mary was the prettiest girl in Holland Park – and she still is.”
• Sir Leo Hielscher: Queensland Made ($34.95, University of Queensland Press), by Joanne Holliman, provides the inside story on Queensland’s economic growth and reform, documented via anecdotes, interviews and commentary from a who’s who of the state. Stockist details http://sirleohielscher.com
