Gold Coast business confidence: City has one of state’s best economies as Queensland business confidence nosedives
Business confidence has taken a nose dive across the sunshine state — but the Gold Coast economy will continue to thrive, analysts predict. Here’s how.
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THE GOLD COAST economy will continue to shine while business confidence across the State takes a major nosedive, analysts predict.
The Glitter strip is being touted as one of the best performing economies in Australia by industry experts survey revealed a statewide dip of business confidence of 10.3 points in just 12 months.
The gloomy statewide access is in the latest Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland-Suncorp Pulse (CCIQ) survey.
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Nationally confidence also saw a steep decline, with a 6.6 point drop to a level of 42.4.
Gold Coast business leaders say the city bucked the trend to emerge as a diverse economic zone in its own right, with growth up 3.7 per cent in the past 12 months to $35.3 billion.
Over the past year, the Gold Coast economy has added almost 9,000 jobs, with more than one in 10 of the state’s workforce based on the Coast.
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Job creation on the Gold Coast for December was equal to greater Brisbane’s.
The CCIQ report said frustration at political uncertainty was one of the key factors behind the state decline.
CCIQ chief economist Marcus Smith said the Gold Coast was a strong-performing, local economy driven by diversification and a population shift from the southern states which had maintained pressure on infrastructure.
Areas such as exports, manufacturing, and education lead the growth in the Gold Coast economy but construction continues to make up the largest share of coast businesses.
“The Gold Coast in the last decade continues to draw workers from Northern NSW as well as increasing numbers commuting from Brisbane,” a CCIQ Spokesman said.
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Gold Coast Central Chamber of Commerce president Martin Hall said the region was a far more diverse economy than a decade ago but did face challenges in industrial relations.
“Tourism and attracting further investment are key planks in the ongoing development of the Gold Coast as a world-class region to build a business,” Mr Hall said.
Mr Hall said the region had always proven resilient.
“The state has been dropping fairly steadily but there is a resilience on the Coast, thanks to investment in tourism, tourism related infrastructure and conscious diversification.”
“You only need to look to our northern part of our region which hasn’t seen a genuine whole of life infrastructure and investment.”
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Destination Gold Coast Chairman Paul Donovan said the strong growth for the city in the face of a national decline was being propelled by those moving from southern states.
“It is what the mayor and all of those in tourism have been banging on about, a lot of people from Melbourne and Sydney are selling up and moving here.
“The economy has also normalised which has allowed us to stay so steady,” he said.
Restaurant Industry Support Group president Glen Day said the Gold Coast growth wasn’t being reflected on the ground.
Mr Day who runs five restaurants locally said small business still seem to be doing it tough.
“At the moment there is a lack of both state and federal government doing anything for small business,” he said.
“They always say we are the back bone, but really we are just carrying everyone else on our back.”
“A bigger population doesn’t just mean more customers, it also means more businesses which could be an oversupply of restaurants.”
Suncorp-CCIQ Business Pulse Survey Results
Business Confidence Queensland
December 2017: 51.0
September 2018: 45.8
December 2018: 40.7
Business Confidence Australia
December 2017: 54.4
September 2018: 49.0
December 2018: 42.4
Originally published as Gold Coast business confidence: City has one of state’s best economies as Queensland business confidence nosedives
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