Is the BOOM over yet????

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

Isn”t the weather great today??

I have just returned to Queensland from overseas so I am very interested in what”s changed since I left.

A hot topic in the news now is…..

Is the mining boom over? So, I wanted to talk a bit about the Queensland economy and what its future looks like.

Also, if you plan to travel to Queensland, you may be interested in Queensland’s local economy.

With a population nearing five million people, there’s no doubt that Queensland has come a long way since Europeans first settled in the state in 1825.

In fact, history suggests that the Aboriginal people first arrived in Queensland thousands of years before European settlement.

They were however,largely self-sufficient so it wasn’t until the 1800’s that the Queensland economy really started to become established.

In the past….

Initially numerous cattle stations were set up around Australia to raise livestock in the mid-eighteenth century.

It wasn’t however, until after refrigeration was invented a few decades later that beef export became an integral part of Australia’s income.

 Soon after this, gold was discovered at various sites around Queensland, including Gympie.

Check out the annual Gold rush festival that occurs every October if you’re passing through.

The state then enjoyed gold rush madness like in other areas of the country.

Other commodities that had their time in ‘the Queensland sun’ were copper and cotton.

Today….

Nowadays, the major industries of Queensland include agriculture, tourism and mining.

If you travel through Queensland by plane, you may find yourself hit by the sickly-sweet scent of sugarcane when you arrive in Cairns.

Sugarcane remains the largest agricultural export in Queensland, although bananas, beef and other crops also remain big industries.

Given that Queensland is home to the Great Barrier Reef, the Daintree Rainforest and many other natural wonders and the weather is balmy for most of the year, you may be unsurprised that tourism also remains a major player in Queensland’s income (after all, you are looking to travel there too!).

Downturns and Boom Times….

Recent natural disasters including two major cyclones (Larry and Yasi) and flooding have wreaked havoc on the a lot fo the industry in Queensland.

The high Australian dollar has also had detrimental effects.

When you travel through Queensland, you may hear local people referring to the ‘two-speed economy’ that exists, with agriculture and tourism stuck in low gears, while mining cruises along at a very fast pace indeed!

Coal and other mining materials remain big business in Queensland and many Queenslanders make big money in this industry.

It’s not uncommon to hear people from all walks of life aiming to ‘go to the mines’ for work.

This is something however that might be quickly changing as China”s demand plateaus and the massive over supply of minerals continues.

It seems to me that every man and his dog wants to dig up minerals now!!

Anyway, it is something for you to think about and it might just be a sobering thought to how Queensland will grow in the future. Don”t forget as well how much debt we have!

Until next time,

Colin Burnett