When John Baker accepted the role of Sunshine Coast Council chief executive officer, he inherited far more than the leadership of one of Queensland’s largest local governments.
He inherited responsibility for helping to shape the future of one of Australia’s fastest-growing regions.
Over the next two decades, the Coast is expected to grow to more than half-a- million residents, placing unprecedented pressure on housing, transport, infrastructure, healthcare and community services.
For many locals, the question is as much about preserving lifestyle as it is about accommodating growth.
Will the Sunshine Coast still feel like the Sunshine Coast?
For Mr Baker, that question sits at the heart of every major decision the council makes.
“This is one of those few places in Australia where I think it’s got an opportunity to choose its future,” he says.
“It’s kind of at a crossroads at the moment and it’s an incredibly interesting time for the Sunshine Coast.
“It’s a genuine opportunity to shape something rather than just manage it.”
It’s a philosophy informed by decades of leadership.
Before arriving on the Coast 18 months ago, Mr Baker spent seven years as CEO of Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula Shire Council, after senior consulting and local government roles across the United Kingdom and Australia.
His experience leading major infrastructure projects, organisational reform and regional growth made him a natural choice to help guide the Coast through its next chapter.
Personally, Mr Baker had long been drawn to Southeast Queensland.
Professionally, he saw one of Australia’s few regions with the opportunity to shape its future rather than simply respond to growth.
“I wanted a region with growth and scale,” he says.
“It excited me that the decisions I help council make today are really going to matter in the future.”
Those decisions are already shaping daily life on the Coast. Traffic congestion, housing affordability and cost-of-living pressures dominate community conversations, while many residents question how much growth the region can accommodate without losing the lifestyle that makes it unique.
Mr Baker says those concerns reflect the very conversations happening around council’s boardroom table.
“The biggest opportunity, and potentially the biggest challenge we face is making sure that growth is done well,” he says.
It’s a concept he describes as “authoring our future” – an idea championed by Mayor Rosanna Natoli and one that encourages residents to play an active role in shaping the region’s direction rather than simply responding to change after it arrives.
“It’s about empowering the community to decide how we grow and what our future is,” he says.
Mr Baker says housing affordability remains one of our region’s biggest concerns. For many young people raised on the Coast, buying a home close to family is becoming increasingly out of reach.
“If you want to be a sustainable and healthy community, you’ve got to make sure our children can afford to live here,” he says.
Mr Baker says that while councils don’t build houses, they play a significant role in determining where housing is delivered, how communities are planned and how quickly developments move through the approval process.
“Our job is to remove the bottlenecks that government controls and be honest about the ones we can’t,” he says.
The reality, however, is that preparing for the future often requires difficult decisions in the present.
Few decisions have generated more debate than council’s recent 9.7 per cent rates increase, introduced as many households were already facing rising living costs.
However, Mr Baker doesn’t shy away from the criticism.
“I’m not going to hide from the fact that it was a very, very difficult decision,” he says.
“It was 9.7 per cent and it’s very confronting – particularly at a period where people are facing difficult times.”
While acknowledging the pressure it has placed on residents, he believes the increase was necessary if the council is to prepare for the demands that lie ahead.
“I look at how this council needed to prepare itself in order to cope with the infrastructure that’s going to be required, the housing development that’s going to be required and to make sure our future is safe – not just for us, but for our kids,” he says. “I believe the community will look back on the decisions that were taken this year and see they were necessary in order for us to protect their future.”
It’s a philosophy that has shaped much of his career.
Whether leading councils in the UK, overseeing one of Victoria’s largest municipalities or advising governments through major organisational change, Mr Baker says he has learned that avoiding difficult conversations rarely solves difficult problems.
“Consulting and my experience in local government makes you comfortable saying uncomfortable things,” he says.
“We need to have difficult conversations around climate change, living within our means and making sure we’re equipped to make the choices our community wants us to make.”
Those choices, he says, begin with protecting frontline services while making council more efficient.
Transport remains one of the biggest concerns raised by residents, and Mr Baker agrees that improving how people move around the region will be critical over the next two decades.
Future heavy rail, The Wave public transport project, expanded bus services and improved connections to Sunshine Coast Airport all form part of a transport network designed for the population the Coast is expected to become, not just the population it is today.
“We’ve got massive investment coming, but we’ve got to make sure we leverage it effectively,” he says.
He sees enormous potential in health, education, tourism, aviation and technology, pointing to companies such as Omni and Javelin as examples of the innovation already emerging on the Coast.
He also points to the Coast’s two international submarine cables, saying they provide direct global connectivity and are helping attract technology businesses and investment that simply wouldn’t have been possible a decade ago.
“We want people to be able to live, work and play here,” he says.
Equally important, Mr Baker believes, is ensuring residents have a genuine voice in shaping the decisions that affect them.
That thinking has led to the creation of Queensland’s first Citizens’ Panel: a representative cross-section of the community brought together to help inform major decisions.
“If we’re asking the community to help shape where the Sunshine Coast goes, then we have to genuinely listen to what they’re telling us,” he says.
With the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games fast approaching,
Mr Baker believes the greatest legacy won’t be the event, itself, but the infrastructure it leaves behind.
“Improved transport, sporting facilities and regional infrastructure are investments future generations will continue to benefit from,” he says.
“They’re legacies our kids are going to enjoy.”
For all the discussion about housing, roads, rates and growth, Mr Baker keeps returning to one word: choice.
The Coast is changing. The challenge is ensuring those changes strengthen the region rather than diminish it – creating a place where young people can still afford to build a life, businesses continue to invest and infrastructure keeps pace with demand.
“If I can oversee an organisation that’s enabled our growth and we’ve got a place that has grown well but is affordable for our kids, that’s a pretty good legacy,” Mr Baker says.
At a glance
The challenge: The Sunshine Coast is expected to grow to more than half-a- million residents over the next two decades, bringing increased pressure on housing, transport, healthcare and infrastructure.
The big issue: Sunshine Coast Council chief executive officer John Baker says the region is at a crossroads. Growth is inevitable, but how it’s managed will determine whether the Coast retains the lifestyle and character residents value.
Housing and rates: Mr Baker acknowledges that housing affordability and cost-of-living pressures are major concerns. He says the recent 9.7 per cent rates increase was a difficult but necessary decision to prepare for future infrastructure and services.
Building for the future: Investment in transport, including heavy rail, The Wave and improved public transport, along with growth in health, education, aviation and technology, will be critical to creating local jobs and supporting a growing population.
The legacy: Mr Baker says success won’t be measured by population growth alone, but by whether future generations can still afford to live on the Sunshine Coast and enjoy the lifestyle that makes the region unique.
