Courier-Mail Sentiment Survey 2023: Qld demands new start to new year

Results from The Courier-Mail’s Sentiment Survey show cost of living, crime and congestion are taking the shine off living in the sunshine state. HAVE YOUR SAY

• Editorial: Qld has lost its glow
• Miles: Golden decade ahead

Queenslanders are falling out of love with Queensland as cost of living, crime and congestion take the shine off the sunshine state, a major new survey reveals.

The Courier-Mail’s Sentiment Survey has again dived into the minds of thousands of Queenslanders to discover what they love and loathe about the state.

Asked what three words they’d use to describe the state, nearly 7000 respondents had a range of views.

“Sunny, youth crime and expensive”; “warm, friendly and bogan”; “spirit, mateship and sunshine” and “beautiful, liveable and unsafe” were notable responses.

Some residents were less kind, with one describing the state as “expensive, crowded, dangerous”.

Overall, Queenslanders are less optimistic and cheerful about the state than they were when the last survey was released in September 2020 towards the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now, the gloss of Queensland as a relaxed, idyllic and cheaper Australian city in which to live appears to be wearing off.

Seven in 10 respondents to this year’s survey said living in Queensland was not as good as it used to be.

Of almost 7000 votes, just 11 per cent of people say it is better and 15 per cent of people believe liveability is the same.

When asked what they’d change about Queensland the most common response was “the state government” and then the associated themes which have dogged it for the past year – crime and housing.

Queenslanders are demanding a fix to crime, with one respondent calling for the government to “make offenders accountable, make the state safe again”.

Another said they would change policies to create higher-density developments and heap “real pressure” to drive house prices lower.

Labor has been in power for almost nine years in Queensland, and new Premier Steven Miles has admitted winning a fourth term would be like conquering something “taller than Everest”.

He has introduced small cost of living relief measures such as freezing car registration cost increases and promised Townsville residents the government would work towards delivering a police helicopter.

Queensland’s laid-back lifestyle also appears under threat, according to the survey, with interstate and international migration adding to road congestion and a perception the state is “too crowded now”.

Dozens of respondents demanded a fix to congestion and for the state to invest in “high-speed rail and better highways”.

They also called for politicians to recognise “that the state exists north, beyond the southeast corner” and needed funding for the “death trap” Bruce Highway.

Other survey respondents called for better care of the environment and the planting of more trees, while others said they’d change Queensland’s humidity and introduce daylight savings.

Queenslanders also called for the “money wasting” Olympic Games – and specifically the Gabba redevelopment – to be axed.

The Demographics Group managing director Bernard Salt said while the survey showed Queenslanders were struggling, it was not an isolated view.

“If you ran those surveys in Sydney or Melbourne it would be pretty much the same – inflation, cost of living and congestion are concerns, not unsurprisingly, in our three major cities,” he said.

Mr Salt said the fall in optimism compared to The Courier-Mail’s September 2020 sentiment survey was likely due to a heightened sense of hope after the first lengthy pandemic lockdown ended.

“At that time there was JobSeeker and JobKeeper, a lot of money flowing into the economy and household savings had grown,” he said.

“In comparing the two surveys you’re comparing a period of quiet optimism with a different sentiment.”

Demographer Bernard Salt. Picture: Richard Jupe

Mr Salt, Australia’s leading demographer, said Queensland’s outdoor lifestyle and climate meant it remained an attractive place to live.

“It will take a lot to change that perception, such is the Australian obsession with lifestyle,” he said.

“It might take a bit of a knock temporarily but it’s quite fundamental to our values.

“The fundamental proposition Queensland is losing it’s lustre, I don’t agree with that.”

The state was rated 49 out of 100 as a place for people aged 65 and over to live, while it scored a slightly higher 52 from 100 as a place to raise a family.

A huge 97 per cent of survey respondents are long-term Queenslanders, with just 3 per cent moving to the state in the past three years.

Those who have recently joined the maroon land were drawn by a range of reasons, but overwhelmingly by better weather, lifestyle and opportunities.

Many said they came to be closer to family, while others said they are here to retire.

Of 6600 responses, 34 per cent of people revealed they were considering moving away from Queensland’s major cities.

Overcrowding and increasing traffic in central hubs were frequently cited as reasons for the consideration to relocate to the regions.

“Regional towns are more peaceful and friendly,” one respondent said. Another described major cities as having “too much traffic, too noisy and youth crime”.

Queensland is Australia’s most decentralised state, with more people living outside greater Brisbane than within it.

Issues such as daylight savings and the provision of government services frequently split the views of Queenslanders, but 70 per cent of survey respondents believe the state will never be split into two.

Some 22 per cent of people believe it will happen within 30 years and 8 per cent say it will happen within half-a-century.

The survey again reveals one thing all Queenslanders can agree on – we love holidaying at home.

When asked where residents liked to go for a break, the state’s tourism hotspots of the Gold and Sunshine coasts, Airlie Beach, Cape York, Whitehaven Beach, Cairns and Port Douglas got frequent mentions.

There was an equal amount of love for Queensland’s offshore paradises of Fraser, Moreton, Lizard, Stradbroke and Magnetic islands received countless mentions.

Also noted, among others, were Boulia, Longreach, Bowen, Roma and Esk.

Rox Solway with her partner Brad and their children Lilly, 4, and Remy, 2. Picture: Adam Head

Gold Coast local Rox Solway moved from Victoria to Queensland chasing sunshine and speaks highly of her six years in the Sunshine State.

“We were very much attracted to the coastal lifestyle and the warm weather all year round,” Ms Solway said.

“From the beautiful beaches, creeks, national parks, the large variety of playgrounds and community events, there’s always so much to enjoy.”

But Ms Solway noted that since COVID-19 it has gotten busier and more expensive.

“My concern is that prices have risen so much that there are more families that have to move further out and can’t afford the cost of living,” she said.

She believes that the road to fixing the state’s cost of living crisis is long and it will take time and concerted efforts.