Qld’s most influential leaders reveal key projects that will lead to next boom
The huge infrastructure projects that will pour billions of dollars into Queensland and set it up for a post-Covid boom have been revealed.
QLD Business
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Queensland is in the middle of a series of massive infrastructure projects that will pour billions of dollars into the state and set it up for a post-Covid boom, a roundtable of the state’s most influential leaders assembled by The Courier-Mail say.
Inland Rail is doing the planning work that will soon see the project cross from NSW into Queensland with $7 billion being spent and creating 12,000 jobs.
It comes as tunnel work continues on Cross River Rail, with 12 work sites going full bore across the city centre while construction continues on the $3.6 billion Queens Wharf and The Star precinct.
Linked with Brisbane Airport’s second runway completed last year, business leaders and infrastructure builders said Queensland looked well positioned, but warned there were looming issues under the surface.
The Star Entertainment Group chairman John O’Neill said his organisation was ready for when borders reopened.
“The Star is a massive believer in Queensland,” Mr O’Neill said.
“The assets we have in the locations they’re in are world class and unbeatable. And we’re building for the future.
“Covid has knocked tourism around but it’s going to come again. You’ve got to believe in the future of tourism. People are back spending money again.”
Mr O’Neill said the Gold Coast airport had its busiest day since Covid last week while the Sheraton Mirage, The Star Grand and The Darling were all 100 per cent full on weekends.
Tourism Events Queensland chief executive Leanne Coddington said domestic tourists were beginning to spend more, paying for more expensive travel experiences like helicopter tours that had traditionally been the preserve of big-spending international tourists.
ARTC Inland Rail chief executive Richard Wankmuller said the nation-building project would create thousands of jobs during design and construction and open up even more in communities along the 1700km line.
Brisbane Airport Corporation boss Gert-Jan de Graaff said Queensland’s air travel gateway was ready with its second runway for the full return of passengers and flights but it and Brisbane needed to be better connected to other transport across the southeast, like fast rail to the Gold and Sunshine coasts.
The airport is expecting massive growth from 24 million passengers a year to 50 million a year over the next 25 years and jobs to grow from 24,000 to 50,000 onsite over the same period.
Cross River Rail boss Graeme Newton – tasked with delivering the $5.4 billion underground that will unlock as much as $20 billion in economic development in and around the stations – said Queensland needed to use the potential from its current megaprojects to set itself up for the future.
But for Brisbane and Queensland to achieve their real promise, decision-makers needed to come up with a plan for the future, looking first at the possible Olympics 2032 window then beyond to 2050.
Property Council Queensland incoming executive director Jen Williams said the state was full of promise but had to get moving.
“Right now we’re in a great position,” Ms Williams said.
“Victoria over the weekend announced three new, massive taxes on the industry. If we don’t do that, or indeed scale back some of our taxes, we have set up an influx back from Victoria as well.
“I think government needs to really take a look at our first mover advantage, what other states are doing and how we can change just a few of the settings to make sure that we capitalise on the opportunities that we have.”
Former tourism and innovation minister Kate Jones, now with tech infrastructure firm HyperOne, said business wanted certainty.
“If you’re planning with capital, you’re making a choice about where you’re putting that investment,” Ms Jones said. “Where you have more certainty, more clarity, understand what that pathway looks like, then you can also raise investment.
“So where government can provide clarity of that investment timeline, then you’re going to be able to attract more investment to the state.”
Urbis director Kate Meyrick said the regions could help power Queensland but education and training were the key to opportunities.
She said future industries also needed to work to sell the advantage of the skills they need workers and school leavers to go after.
“We’ve got a really talented population as a key resource,” she said. “As I started to look beyond southeast Queensland, I realised that lots of exciting stuff is actually happening in the northern powerhouse.”
Transurban Queensland head Sue Johnson said Queensland needed to take advantage of its brilliant climate to help unleash active transport options, while ASM Global boss Harvey Lister said we needed to celebrate our developers and risk-takers who were bringing the best of the world back to Queensland.
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