The Cement, Concrete and Aggregates Australia (CCAA) industry body has a nice summary of the importance of concrete in our lives on its website:

The heavy construction materials industry produces concrete and its constituent parts – sand, aggregate and cement – which are quite literally the foundations upon which our modern lives are built. Without concrete we would not have our roads, footpaths, schools, hospitals, workplaces and our homes.

The industry must be hoping the Newman Government’s transformation of the Brisbane CBD (e.g. 1 William St, a new casino) begins soon, as according to new ABS data pre-mixed concrete production remains subdued (see chart below).