All Australian governments have reformed not only their public administration but also their public employment relations. Queensland was the last state to implement such reforms, and had the opportunity to learn from the reforms in other states. Further, the Queensland reforms were driven by other political considerations, such as a major corruption inquiry which led to the downfall of a longstanding government, and the election of a new government with a far-reaching reform agenda. This paper considers both the context and the content of the human resource reforms, particularly to recruitment and selection methods. It also considers how the reforms have since been watered down through subsequent changes of government.