Greater Whitsundays economic road map: Four emerging industries

Traditional industries will continue to propel the Greater Whitsundays but four emerging sectors will help secure a robust and sustainable future for the region.

Foundational industries such coal, agriculture and tourism will continue to propel the Greater Whitsundays, but a new economic development road map claims the region is in prime position to secure four emerging industries.

Regional Development Australia Greater Whitsundays CEO Robert Cocco says critical minerals testing and commercialisation, biofutures, aerospace and aviation, and marine services are the new pillars of wealth that could emerge from the region’s pre-existing capabilities.

“The emerging industries are new industries, but where, without a huge amount of additional tweaking, there is a skillset and a capability already within the region to look a little bit differently and actually be able to service those new industries,” he said.

The road map, compiled over six months with insight from hundreds of stakeholders and community leaders, envisions a development ‘bridge’ linking traditional industries with new opportunities.

Regional Development Australia Greater Whitsundays CEO Robert Cocco says the Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday area is well positioned to nab some emerging industries.

“That’s the beauty of the positioning of the road map,” Mr Cocco said.

“It’s effectively saying, those (foundational) industries for the foreseeable future are still going to be around, are still going to be major industries returning good economic return for the region and for the nation, but there is an understanding that we need to build off of the other core industries.”

The stakeholders originally put forward 180 projects to facilitate future growth and development across the target area, which includes the Mackay, Isaac and Whitsundays local government areas.

The project list has been narrowed down to 20 and features existing and new ideas for growth.

The Urannah Project, the redevelopment of Moranbah Hospital, new gas pipelines to Mackay and Abbot Point, an aviation training academy, a new marine industrial precinct at Bowen and a biofutures precinct are some of the potential catalysts that could ‘enable’ the region’s economic transformation.

“We have these inherent skillsets and capabilities, we’ve just got to tweak them a little bit to think about some of these other opportunities,” Mr Cocco said.

The gross regional product of the three LGAs is pegged at $23.8bn and though the region boasts a diversified economy, metallurgical coal mining continues to serve as the central pillar of wealth.

Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson says innovation will secure the region’s future. Picture: Duncan Evans

Met coal mining contributes almost 50 per cent to the region’s gross regional product and employs, either directly or indirectly, some 60 per cent of the workforce.

Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson writes in the road map that innovation will be the key to securing a robust, growing and sustainable economy.

“It will be a regional economy delivering jobs and profit in agribusiness, renewables, METS, tourism, aerospace and advanced and micromanufacturing,” he writes.

“In a circular economy goal, a focus will be on gradually decoupling our growth from the consumption of finite resources.”

Originally published as Greater Whitsundays economic road map: Four emerging industries