Jobs key as state looks to make things work
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s first order of business will be to start work on a much-delayed budget to extend Queensland’s robust post-COVID recovery.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s first order of business will be to start work on a much-delayed budget to extend Queensland’s robust post-COVID recovery and drive down unemployment levels, despite having the highest state debt levels in the country.
Queensland, with its closed borders and good health outcomes, has enjoyed a relatively rapid reopening. Since the depths of the downturn in May, employment in the Sunshine State has returned to 98 per cent of the pre-pandemic level, in line with another standout state, Western Australia, based on Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.
This compares with NSW employment levels of 97.6 per cent of February levels, and 93.9 per cent in Victoria, which is only now emerging from its lockdown.
The movement of people around Brisbane’s CBD in mid-October was at 66 per cent that of January and February, based on Roy Morgan analysis of mobile phone location data. While still depressed, it compares favourably with equivalent rates of 44 per cent in Sydney and 15 per cent in Victoria.
Despite a stronger rebound, Queensland’s official jobless rate was 7.7 per cent in September, versus 6.9 per cent in Australia as a whole and 7.2 per cent in NSW.
Bank of Queensland chief economist Peter Munckton said “while things (in Queensland) are unarguably getting better, they are still not all that good”.
Mr Munckton said a major issue facing the Palaszczuk government in framing its budget was that the state’s debt levels were greater than elsewhere in the country while its higher unemployment levels made the need for a strong economic recovery more urgent.
University of Queensland economics professor John Mangan said “there is a relative sense of safety in Queensland that has encouraged a lot of domestic tourism, but as the “mini boom” in Queenslanders holidaying inside the state dropped off, there was a greater need for borders to reopen to Sydney and Victoria.
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