More Queenslanders lifted out of disadvantage due to mining boom, treasury analysis shows

More Queenslanders have been lifted out of disadvantage and managed to earn more than their parents than in all but one state, analysis shows.

• Editorial: Qld a land of great opportunity, but not by accident

The resources sector has lifted more Queenslanders out of disadvantage and seen them earn more than their parents in comparison to other states, Treasurer Jim Chalmers will reveal as he pledges the industry will only become more important in job creation and lifting living standards.

New treasury analysis tracking the income of 1 million people born in the late 1970s and 1980s, to be released today, showed that during the 2010s more people in Queensland and WA were able to jump from a disadvantaged background to a more prosperous one than other states.

EDITORIAL: Qld a land of opportunity, but not by accident

Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Picture: Liam Kidston

Mr Chalmers said the research linked this to the mining boom creating more good, local jobs across the Queensland economy in that period.

“The effect was that those kids born about 40 years ago were, as adults, earning more than those born to similarly well-off parents in other states,” he said.

“I’m confident Queensland will play a massive role in Australia’s future economic success, just as we have in the past.

“And I’m confident that Queensland resources will too – because as we make the transition to a net-zero future, our natural resources will become more important, not less.”

Mr Chalmers, who was acting Prime Minister on Thursday while Anthony Albanese was in Papua New Guinea and the Deputy Prime Minister was on leave, said he would use the May budget to tackle entrenched disadvantage and that the resources sector will be key to the goal.

“Queensland can help power the country with its solar, wind and hydrogen – and help make the clean energy technologies the world needs with its bauxite, copper and nickel,” he said.

“And through all of that, there are huge opportunities to create new, high-skill jobs up and along the value chain – through processing, refining and manufacturing.”

The mining boom helped create jobs which lifted Queenslanders out of disadvantage. Picture: Annette Dew

The report found that an Australian child born in the bottom 20 per cent of incomes is more than 60 per cent more likely to reach the top 20 per cent of incomes than an American child.

But, it was still just 12 per cent of Australians who would make this jump.

“I think we all want to believe that every generation can do better than the one before it, and that where you start out in life shouldn’t determine how high you can climb,” Mr Chalmers said.

“But even in as country as prosperous as ours, this still isn’t the case for too many.

“We need to do more and work harder to change that – and in 2023, we will.”