Queensland Economy Watch

Today’s Sunshine Coast Daily reports:

A SOUTHERN Downs tourism operator has slammed the latest Tourism Queensland advertising campaign as “beach-centric” and accuses the organisation of selling out the bush.

Stanthorpe accommodation provider Phil Moye said he was “completely frustrated” with Tourism Queensland’s continual focus on the coast.

The frustration of regional tourism operators is understandable, but it’s worth examining the facts.  According to ABS small area tourism data, out of a total 3.34 million room nights occupied in Queensland over January to March 2010, around 144,000 (4%) were on the Darling Downs.  Compare the Darling Downs’s contribution to Queensland tourism with the top four:

• Gold Coast – 852,100 room nights occupied (26% of Qld total)
• Brisbane – 816,300 room nights occupied (24% of Qld total)
• Tropical North Queensland – 451,800 room nights occupied (14% of Qld total)
• Sunshine Coast – 316,800 room nights occupied (9% of Qld total)

From this list it’s apparent that Queensland’s tourism sector is heavily reliant on the coastal regions.  While the Darling Downs clearly makes an important contribution to Queensland’s economy through agricultural production and food manufacturing, it isn’t a tourism powerhouse, and (relative to the Gold Coast and Tropical North Queensland) it probably won’t ever become one.

Darling Downs tourism operators may be better off with a Queensland Tourism campaign that focuses on our beaches – i.e., a campaign that plays to our strengths.  It’s possible that many tourists who are drawn to our iconic beaches and fun parks will end up taking a day trip or two into the countryside, possibly to a Stanthorpe winery.

At the Brisbane Polo Club next Tuesday evening (5 October), the Brisbane Institute will host a forum on whether the Queensland Parliament should re-establish an upper house – i.e., the Legislative Council which was abolished in 1921 by a suicide squad of State Labor senators, who voted to abolish the Council and their own jobs.  Information on the forum is available here:

Time for an upper house in Queensland?

Another event worth attending next week, on Thursday 7 October, is a Politics in the Pub event at the Powerhouse Theatre, commencing at 6pm:

In October, conversations will focus on whether Australia needs an emissions trading scheme in Fiddling While Rome Burns. Does Australia Need an Emissions Trading Scheme?

It’s seen off Turnbull and Rudd, so what’s next for an ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme)?

The New Farm Neighbourhood Centre has assembled a dynamic panel of speakers for the event, and invite anyone interested in current affairs to debate this issue with newly-elected Greens Senator Larissa Waters, Michael Roche from the Queensland Resources Council, green philosopher William Grey, Kellie Caught from WWF and outspoken climate skeptic Malcolm Roberts.

Obesity is a serious health problem for individuals and a serious cost to public health budgets and the economy through lost workforce participation and productivity  – Access Economics estimated its total cost to the Australian community at nearly $4 billion in 2005 (The Economic Costs of Obesity).  Hence it’s important to understand why some communities are more obese than others.

After reading a recent Slate Magazine article linking Colorado’s outdoor culture with its low rate of obesity (Why are obesity rates so low in Colorado?), you may think Queensland’s outdoor culture would lead to a similar outcome here, but this is far from the case.  Indeed, despite our beautiful beaches and rainforests, we may have less of an outdoor culture than other States, at least judging by rates of obesity and physical inactivity.  The Queensland Health website notes (on a page which hasn’t been updated since 2003-04 unfortunately):

In recent years the prevalence of overweight/obesity in Queensland has increased more than the national average and is now the highest of the States, and levels of physical inactivity have failed to drop to the same extent as the Australian average, giving Queensland the second highest rates.

The most recent interstate comparative data on obesity appears to be the National Health Survey 2004-05, which has Queensland tying with South Australia for the State / Territory with the highest rate of obesity among adults (17.6%).  South Australia, however, had a higher percentage of people not stating their body mass index, so it’s possible their obesity rate could be slightly higher than Queensland’s.

Whatever our exact ranking among Australian States, obesity is clearly an important health and economic issue for Queenslanders.  Hence we should probably welcome efforts by the Queensland Government to encourage cycling and walking to work (e.g., through the proposed Development Code requirements for bike racks, change rooms, showers, etc in workplaces).

One out of every 14 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of adult age living in Queensland is a member of the stolen generation, according to a summary booklet of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS) published by the ABS today (p. 13):

The NATSISS asked Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults whether they or any of their relatives had been removed from their natural families for welfare reasons or because of government policy, or if they had been taken to a mission.

In Queensland in 2008:

• 7% reported that they had been removed from their natural family.

• 37% reported that they had relatives who were removed from their natural family.

Note: ‘Adults’ refers to people aged 15 years or older.

mX (Brisbane’s free afternoon newspaper) today ran with a typical attention grabbing front page headline “Peak fare shock: Kick concession cards, says forum”:

Concession card-carrying commuters should be relegated to off-peak services only, a peak transport body says.  A report released by the Tourism and Transport Forum this morning has also called for a limit on the number of people eligible for concession travel discounts as a way to raise revenue for transport operators.

Fortunately for students and pensioners, the Transport Minister Rachel Nolan has rejected this idea, which seems grossly inequitable even to a hard-headed ex-econocrat like me.

That said, we may need to review our fare structures for peak commuting periods.  The trains and buses in the peak 7-9am and 5-6pm time slots are massively over-crowded, potentially endangering the health of commuters.

Currently Translink defines the peak period as:

From 2am to 9am and 3.30pm to 7pm weekdays

It may be worthwhile exploring whether the peak period could be further split up – e.g., by creating, for the morning commute, an early peak period from, say, 2am to 7am and a later peak period from 7am to 9am.  TransLink could drop fares for the early peak period, and raise them for the later peak period, with a view to encouraging people to catch an earlier, less crowded train or bus, reducing congestion from 7am to 9am.

People are creatures of habit so it may require a big differential in fares to change travel behaviour (e.g, a $1 fare for the early peak period compared with a $3 fare for the later peak period). TransLink would have to make sure the fares were set so that total fare revenue wouldn’t decline, which may be a challenge to get right on the first attempt.  Still I think this idea is worth exploring by TransLink.

You can find the Tourism and Transport Forum’s discussion paper here:

Meeting the Funding Challenges of Public Transport

The Sunshine Coast Council appears to understand the reality of South East Queensland’s population growth and pressures on the environment, with the Deputy Mayor Tim Dwyer supporting high density living, as reported in the Sunshine Coast Daily:

ROADS will be congested and a flood of new residents will pour in, but deputy mayor Tim Dwyer has promised he will not allow Pelican Waters to be ruined.

More than 60 concerned residents from the upmarket estate yesterday told of their apprehension about an application for the Southern Lakes area that could allow three-storey townhouses to be built on blocks as small as 180sq m.

One resident said the proposal to introduce some medium and high density living areas would create a “nightmare” for Pelican Waters.

Another person described the suggestion of some three-storey townhouses on small blocks as an “absolutely insane idea”.

Cr Dwyer, who met with the residents, pointed out that the high density living style was hugely popular in some places in the world.

The Gold Coast Council, in contrast to the Sunshine Coast Council, appears to be anti-development, blocking the development of an Emerald Lakes Woolies:

Fight on for Emerald Lakes Woolies

The Gold Coast is running the risk of becoming boring, and having the Sunshine Coast attract greater attention from investors and developers.