The economy of
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
is the third largest economy within
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
Queensland generated 19.5% of Australia's
gross domestic product
Gross domestic product (GDP) is a money, monetary Measurement in economics, measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjec ...
in the 2008-09 financial year.
The economy is primarily built upon
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
,
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
,
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
and
financial services
Financial services are the Service (economics), economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, acco ...
. Queensland's main exports are coal, metals, meat and sugar.
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
and Queensland are often referred to as the "resource states" because their economies are currently dependent on exports of resources such as coal, iron ore and natural gas. However, of the two states, Queensland has a more diversified base.
In 2006, exports from Queensland totaled A$49.4 billion.
By 2009 this figure had grown to A$65.5 billion.
Brisbane is
categorised as a
global city, and is among
Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Isla ...
cities with largest GDPs. It has strengths in
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
,
banking
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Because ...
,
insurance
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
,
transportation
Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...
,
information technology
Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...
,
real estate
Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
and
food
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...
. Some of the largest companies headquartered in Brisbane, all among Australia's largest, include
Suncorp Group
Suncorp Group Limited is an Australian finance, insurance, and banking corporation based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is one of Australia's mid-size banks (by combined lending and deposits) and its largest general insurance group, fo ...
,
Virgin Australia
Virgin Australia, the trading name of Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd, is an Australian-based airline. It is the largest airline by fleet size to use the Virgin Group, Virgin brand. It commenced services on 31 August 2000 as ''Virgin Blue ...
,
Aurizon
Aurizon ( ) is a freight rail transport company in Australia, formerly named QR National. it was the world’s largest rail transporter of coal from mine to port. Formerly a Queensland Government-owned company, it was privatised and floated o ...
,
Bank of Queensland
The Bank of Queensland (branded BOQ) is an Australian retail bank with headquarters in Brisbane, Queensland. The bank is one of the oldest financial institutions in Queensland, having begun as a building society. It now has 163 branches througho ...
,
Flight Centre
Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) is an Australian travel agency. It was founded in 1982, and is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia.
FCTG operates under multiple names in Australia, New Zealand, United States, Canada, United Kingdom, South A ...
,
CUA,
Sunsuper
Sunsuper Superannuation Fund (Sunsuper) was an Australian public offer industry superannuation fund based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1987 as a multi-industry superannuation fund open to all workers and is profit ...
,
QSuper
QSuper was an Australian superannuation fund based in Brisbane, Queensland. The fund was established in 1912 through an Act of Parliament. The State Public Sector Superannuation Scheme was also known as the QSuper Fund. The board of trustees of ...
,
Domino's Pizza Enterprises
Domino's Pizza Enterprises Limited (DPE) is the largest pizza chain in Australia in terms of network stores numbers and network sales, as well as the largest franchisee for the US Domino's Pizza brand in the world.[Star Entertainment Group
The Star Entertainment Group Limited is an Australian gambling and entertainment company. The company was formerly known as Echo Entertainment.
Properties
The Star Entertainment owns and operates the Treasury Casino & Hotel, The Star Gold Coast a ...]
,
ALS
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most com ...
,
TechnologyOne
TechnologyOne Limited is an Australian enterprise software company founded in 1987. The company is headquartered in Fortitude Valley in Brisbane, Australia, with other offices in United Kingdom (UK), New Zealand, South Pacific and Asia. It is li ...
,
NEXTDC
NextDC is an Australian data centre operator. , the company operates 11 data centres around Australia, with facilities in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Canberra.
History
NextDC was founded by Bevan Slattery in 2010.
In 2015, NextDC ...
,
Super Retail Group,
New Hope Coal
New Hope Coal is an Australian thermal coal-mining company. New Hope's operations include New Acland Mine, Jeebropilly Mine, and Queensland Bulk Handling. New Hope Coal is 61.11% owned by Washington H. Soul Pattinson and is headquartered in Br ...
,
Jumbo Interactive,
National Storage
National Storage is one of the leading self-storage providers in Australia and New Zealand, providing residential and commercial storage to customers at 200+ centres. In December 2013, National Storage listed on the Australian Securities Exchan ...
,
Collins Foods
Collins Foods Limited is a publicly-listed Australian company focused in restaurant operations. It either operates or franchises restaurants from three brands — Sizzler, KFC and Taco Bell — in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Thailand ...
and
Boeing Australia
Boeing Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, or simply Boeing Australia, is Boeing's largest subdivision outside the United States. Established in 2002, the company oversees its seven wholly owned subsidiaries, consolidating and co-ordinating Boeing’s ...
.
In 2018, there were 134,312
international students enrolled in the state, largely focused on Brisbane. Most of the state's international students are from
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
.
Agriculture
![Mackay bulk sugar terminal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Mackay_bulk_sugar_terminal.JPG)
In 2011, the Australian Bureau of Statistics recorded a total of 28,435 farms covering 81% of the state.
Sugar cane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks t ...
is harvested in coastal areas from
Far North Queensland
Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stretches north to the Torres Strait, and west to the Gulf C ...
to the southern border and is the state's biggest rural commodity. Queensland produces 94% of Australia's total raw sugar production.
Customers in the Asia-Pacific region can be supplied all year round through the use of storage facilities at bulk port terminals.
Most of the state's sugar crop is marketed through
Queensland Sugar, which until 2006 compulsorily acquired all sugar grown in the state under a single desk arrangement.
Cattle grazing for
beef
Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus'').
In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantity ...
and sheep grazing for
wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool.
As ...
production are spread across inland areas.
Wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
is grown in the
Darling Downs
The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generall ...
region, an area that has seen mining activities expand. This has produced a boom in construction work for the region despite the global downturn
but created conflict between farmers and mining companies.
The
Lockyer Valley
The Lockyer Valley is an area of rich farmlands that lies to the west of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and east of Toowoomba. The Lockyer Valley is rated among the top ten most fertile farming areas in the world, and the intensively cultiv ...
is a significant horticultural region, although persistent
drought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
is forcing the local economy to diversify.
Farms around the coastal town of
Bowen produce Australia's largest winter crop of vegetables.
Other major crops produced in Queensland include bananas, cotton and citrus crops. Southern coastal regions include mixed forestry and farming land uses.
Mining
In the 2006-07 financial year mining contributed 9% of Queensland's gross state product (GSP).
Queensland has significant
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
,
coal seam gas
Coalbed methane (CBM or coal-bed methane), coalbed gas, coal seam gas (CSG), or coal-mine methane (CMM) is a form of natural gas extracted from coal beds. In recent decades it has become an important source of energy in United States, Canada, Au ...
and
bauxite
Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...
deposits and some
oil shale
Oil shale is an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced. In addition to kerogen, general composition of oil shales constitute ...
and
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
reserves. Coal production in the 2008-09 financial year totalled 159 million tonnes leading to exports to 38 countries.
Queensland exports half the world's
coking coal
Metallurgical coal or coking coal is a grade of coal that can be used to produce good-quality coke. Coke is an essential fuel and reactant in the blast furnace process for primary steelmaking. The demand for metallurgical coal is highly coupled ...
which is used to make steel.
Minerals including copper, lead, silver, zinc, bauxite, gold, phosphate rock, magnesite and silica sand are mined in the state.
Dimension stone
Dimension stone is natural stone or rock that has been selected and finished (e.g., trimmed, cut, drilled, ground, or other) to specific sizes or shapes. Color, texture and pattern, and surface finish of the stone are also normal requirements. A ...
, that is, stone that can be cut for domestic use, including granite, marble, sandstone and slate are produced in various locations across the state.
Queensland has the largest onshore
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
and gas potential in the country as the state is relatively under-explored.
Oil was discovered in the south west of the state in the early 1980s, leading to the construction of an oil
pipeline
Pipeline may refer to:
Electronics, computers and computing
* Pipeline (computing), a chain of data-processing stages or a CPU optimization found on
** Instruction pipelining, a technique for implementing instruction-level parallelism within a s ...
from the
Cooper Basin
The Cooper Basin is a Permian-Triassic sedimentary geological basin in Australia. The basin is located mainly in the southwestern part of Queensland and extends into northeastern South Australia. It is named after the Cooper Creek which is an ...
and
Eromanga Basin
The Eromanga Basin is a large Mesozoic sedimentary basin in central and northern Australia. It covers parts of Queensland, the Northern Territory, South Australia, and New South Wales, and is a major component of the Great Artesian Basin. The E ...
s to
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
.
A series of gas pipelines, which began operating in the late 1990s, connects users in Mount Isa and Brisbane to the south west.
Gemstones such as
sapphire
Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, vanadium, or magnesium. The name sapphire is derived via the Latin "sapphir ...
,
opal
Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica (SiO2·''n''H2O); its water content may range from 3 to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6 and 10%. Due to its amorphous property, it is classified as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline forms ...
and
chrysoprase
Chrysoprase, chrysophrase or chrysoprasus is a gemstone variety of chalcedony (a cryptocrystalline form of silica) that contains small quantities of nickel. Its color is normally apple-green, but varies to deep green. The darker varieties of chry ...
are also mined in commercial quantities.
In the 2008-09 financial year Queensland collected A$3 billion in mining
royalties
A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...
.
Coal seam gas
Despite being positioned under prime agricultural land the
Bowen Basin
The Bowen Basin contains the largest coal reserves in Australia. This major coal-producing region contains one of the world's largest deposits of bituminous coal. The Basin contains much of the known Permian coal resources in Queensland includ ...
and
Surat Basin
The Surat Basin is a geological basin in eastern Australia. It is part of the Great Artesian Basin drainage basin of Australia. The Surat Basin extends across an area of 270,000 square kilometres and the southern third of the basin occupies a lar ...
are becoming intensively developed by the mining industry as Queensland's coal seam gas industry booms. In the ten from 2000, about 1200 wells have been sunk in the western Darling Downs, with that figure set to rise to 20 000 over the following decade.
In 2010, coal seam gas was generating 30% of the state's electricity.
Several international energy companies are investing in multibillion-dollar projects to convert the coal seam gas to
liquified natural gas
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volu ...
and export it via the Port of Gladstone.
Landowners have raised concerns with the mining development ranging from a lack of compensation, property access, construction of gravel roads on farming land, water runoff from drill sites and the potential problems from the millions of tonnes of salt that will be brought to the surface each year.
Refineries
One of the largest
alumina refineries in the world,
Queensland Alumina, was built at
Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
in 1967.
Bauxite for the refinery is transported from Weipa to Gladstone via sea.
Also located here is Australia's largest aluminium smelter, Boyne Smelters.
Bulwer Island Refinery was the state's largest
oil refinery
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, lique ...
, owned by
BP, at
Bulwer Island in Brisbane until it was converted to an import terminal. Near
Townsville
Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...
is a major
nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...
and
cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, pr ...
refinery known as Queensland Nickel.
Ports
Until an extensive
rail network
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
developed in the state early industries depended on seaports to get their products to market.
The largest ports in Queensland are the
Port of Gladstone
The Port of Gladstone is Queensland's largest multi-commodity port and the fifth largest multi-commodity port in Australia. It is the world's fourth largest coal exporting terminal. It is within the locality of Callemondah in Gladstone in Centra ...
, followed by the
Port of Brisbane
Port of Brisbane is the shipping port and coastal suburb of the City of Brisbane, on the east coast of Queensland, Australia. In the , Port of Brisbane had no residents living in the suburb. The port is the largest in the state of Queensland.
...
and then the
Port of Townsville
Port of Townsville is a government-owned Corporation and seaport in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It is the third largest seaport in Queensland after Port of Brisbane and the Port of Gladstone. It is located south of the mouth of Ross Cree ...
. Some
Central Queensland
Central Queensland is an ambiguous geographical division of Queensland ( a state in Australia) that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton. The region extends from the Capricorn Coas ...
ports have experienced significant backlogs in recent years. For example, in 2007 there were 50 ships waiting off the coast to be loaded.
In 2008, the
Federal Government
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...
provided Queensland an extra $20 billion for major capital works to address port and rail infrastructure shortcomings.
State budget
The
Queensland Treasury
The Treasurer of Queensland is the title held by the Cabinet minister who is responsible for the Queensland Treasury, and by extension, all financial matters of the Queensland Government.
List of Queensland treasurers
See also
*Politics of ...
is the state government department that devises economic and financial policy advice, prepares the state budget, organises revenue collection and provides statistical research.
Economic policy priorities for Queensland are to develop a diverse economy, to create more jobs and to manage both urban growth and develop Queensland's regions.
Queensland is predicted to be in deficit until the 2015-16 budget.
The deficit has been partly caused by decreases in the prices for both coking coal and thermal coal.
Declining GST revenue is another cause that is partly attributed to the deficit.
Strong population growth and the demands this has placed on infrastructure spending as well as reductions in mining royalties have also strained recent state budgets, resulting in the loss of the state's AAA
credit rating
A credit rating is an evaluation of the credit risk of a prospective debtor (an individual, a business, company or a government), predicting their ability to pay back the debt, and an implicit forecast of the likelihood of the debtor defaulting.
...
. Poor planning including the canceled
Traveston Crossing Dam
Traveston Crossing Dam was a proposed water project that was initiated by the state government of Queensland, Australia, in 2006 as a result of a prolonged drought which saw South-East Queensland's dam catchment area receive record-low rain. T ...
and cost blowouts in the budgets for the
Gold Coast desalination plant
The Gold Coast Desalination Plant is a reverse osmosis, water desalination plant located in Bilinga, a seaside suburb of the Gold Coast, in Queensland, Australia. It supplies water to the South East Queensland region via the South East Queensl ...
,
Wyaralong Dam
The Wyaralong Dam is a mass concrete gravity dam with an un-gated spillway across the Teviot Brook that is located in the South East region of Queensland, Australia. The main purpose of the dam is for supply of potable water for the Scenic Rim ...
,
Tugun Bypass
The Tugun Bypass is a stretch of motorway-grade road, Bypass (road), bypassing through the suburb of on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, in Queensland, Australia. The speed limit on the Tugun bypass is and provides a high-speed motorwa ...
and
Airport Link projects has not helped the bottom line.
In 2009, Queensland Premier
Anna Bligh
Anna Maria Bligh (born 14 July 1960) is a lobbyist and former Australian politician who served as the 37th Premier of Queensland, in office from 2007 to 2012 as leader of the Labor Party. She was the first woman to hold either position. In 2 ...
announced plans for the
privatisation
Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
of a number of government owned assets including
Queensland Motorways,
Queensland Rail
Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...
's coal rail business
QR National, the
Port of Brisbane
Port of Brisbane is the shipping port and coastal suburb of the City of Brisbane, on the east coast of Queensland, Australia. In the , Port of Brisbane had no residents living in the suburb. The port is the largest in the state of Queensland.
...
, the
Abbot Point
Abbot Point Port is home to the North Queensland Export Terminal (NQXT), the most northerly deepwater coal port of Australia, situated approximately north-west of the township of Bowen (Queensland). Established in 1984, it consists of a rail ...
coal terminal and
Queensland Forestry Plantations.
The asset sale is expected to raise A$15 billion. There has been widespread public criticism of the sell-off which has led to slump in the Premier's popularity.
Unions and economists criticised the plans as unjustified and poorly timed.
Taxation
Historically Queensland has been viewed as the lowest-taxing state. Queensland has slid to third place behind Victoria and Western Australia in a comparison of taxation competitiveness between other states and territories.
A measure of tax per capita from 2002 to 2007 has seen the figure rise 70%, from $1,321 up to $2,226, per person.
Payroll tax, which is payable when an employer's total annual wage payout is greater than A$1 million and has been described as "crippling" by some businesses, accounted for 26% of Queensland government tax revenue in the 2007-08 fiscal year.
Tourism
![Noosa Heads beach, Queensland 02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Noosa_Heads_beach%2C_Queensland_02.jpg)
The tourism industry plays a key role in the economies of
regional areas and supports thousands of small businesses. Queensland experiences the second highest volume of tourists after
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
. Foreign
backpackers and students on
working holiday visas make up a large proportion of international visitors. The tourism industry in Queensland employs 5.7% of the workforce, or about 119,000 people and accounts for 4.5% of the state's GSP,
directly generating A$$8.8 billion to the state's economy.
Tourism Queensland
Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) is the Queensland Government's lead marketing, experience development and major events agency, representing the state's tourism and events industries.
TEQ operates on a national and international level, looki ...
is the government agency responsible for the development of the state's tourist industry.
As a result of its many varied landscapes, warm climate and abundant natural beauty, tourism is Queensland's leading tertiary industry with millions of interstate and international visitors visiting the state each year. The industry generates $8.8 billion annually, accounting for 4.5% of Queensland's Gross State Product. It has an annual export of $4.0 billion annually. The sector directly employs about 5.7% of Queensland citizens.
Accommodation in Queensland caters for nearly 22% of the total expenditure, followed by restaurants/meals (15%), airfares (11%), fuel (11%) and shopping/gifts (11%).
The most visited tourist destinations of Queensland include
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
(including
Moreton Moreton may refer to:
People Given name
* Moreton John Wheatley (1837–1916), British Army officer and Bailiff of the Royal Parks
Surname
* Alice Bertha Moreton (1901–1977), English sculptor, draughtsman and artist
* Andrew Moreton, a ps ...
and
South Stradbroke islands), the
Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
, the
Sunshine Coast, the
Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...
,
Cairns
Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...
,
Port Douglas
Port Douglas is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Douglas, Queensland, Australia, approximately 60 km north of Cairns. In the , Port Douglas had a population of 3,504 people. The town's population can often double, however, with the in ...
, the
Daintree Rainforest
The Daintree Rainforest is a region on the northeast coast of Queensland, Australia, north of Mossman, Queensland, Mossman and Cairns. At around , the Daintree is a part of the largest continuous area of tropical rainforest on the Australia (co ...
,
Fraser Island
Fraser Island (Butchulla: ) is a World Heritage-listed island along the south-eastern coast in the Wide Bay–Burnett region, Queensland, Australia. The island is approximately north of the state capital, Brisbane, and is within the Fraser ...
and the
Whitsunday Islands
The Whitsunday Islands are 74 continental islands of various sizes off the central coast of Queensland, Australia, north of Brisbane. The northernmost of the islands are off the coast by the town of Bowen, while the southernmost islands are ...
.
[
][
]
Brisbane is the third most popular destination in Australia following
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
and
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
. Major attractions in its metropolitan area include
South Bank Parklands
The South Bank Parklands are located at South Bank within the suburb of South Brisbane in Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list ...
, the
Queensland Cultural Centre
The Queensland Cultural Centre is a heritage-listed cultural centre at Grey Street, South Brisbane, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is part of the South Bank precinct on the Brisbane River. It was built from 1976.
The major compone ...
(including the
Queensland Museum
The Queensland Museum is the state museum of Queensland, dedicated to natural history, cultural heritage, science and human achievement. The museum currently operates from its headquarters and general museum in South Brisbane with specialist mu ...
,
Queensland Art Gallery
The Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) is an art museum located in South Bank, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The gallery is part of QAGOMA. It complements the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) building, situated only away.
The Queensland Art Gallery ...
,
Gallery of Modern Art,
Queensland Performing Arts Centre
The Queensland Performing Arts Centre (also known as QPAC) is part of the Queensland Cultural Centre and is located on the corner of Melbourne Street and Grey Street in Brisbane's South Bank, Queensland, South Bank precinct. Opened in 1985, it ...
and
State Library of Queensland
The State Library of Queensland is the main reference and research library provided to the people of the State of Queensland, Australia, by the state government. Its legislative basis is provided by the Queensland Libraries Act 1988. It contai ...
),
City Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
, the
Story Bridge
The Story Bridge is a heritage-listed steel cantilever bridge spanning the Brisbane River that carries vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic between the northern and the southern suburbs of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is the long ...
, the
Howard Smith Wharves
Howard Smith Wharves is a heritage-listed wharf on the Brisbane River at Boundary Street, Brisbane City and Fortitude Valley, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built from to 1940s circa. It is also known as Brisbane Central Wha ...
,
ANZAC Square,
St John's Cathedral :''This list is for St. John the Evangelist Cathedrals. For St. John the Baptist Cathedrals, see St. John the Baptist Cathedral (disambiguation)''
St. John's Cathedral, St. John Cathedral, or Cathedral of St. John, or other variations on the name ...
,
Fortitude Valley
Fortitude Valley (often called "The Valley" by local residents) is an inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. In the , Fortitude Valley had a population of 9,708 people. The suburb features two pedestri ...
(including
James Street and
Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
),
West End, the
Teneriffe woolstores precinct, the
Brisbane River
The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the Go ...
and its
Riverwalk network, the
City Botanic Gardens
The City Botanic Gardens (formerly the Brisbane Botanic Gardens) is a heritage-listed botanic garden on Alice Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was also known as Queen's Park. It is located on Gardens Poin ...
,
Roma Street Parkland
Roma Street Parkland covers 11 hectares in the centre of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The Roma Street Parkland is adjacent to Brisbane Transit Centre and the Roma Street railway station from which it takes its name (the park ...
,
New Farm Park
New Farm Park is a heritage-listed riverfront public park at 137 Sydney Street, New Farm, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Albert Herbert Foster and built from 1914 to 1950 by Gladwin Legge & Co. It was added to the ...
(including the
Brisbane Powerhouse
Brisbane Powerhouse is an arts and cultural hub located in a former power station in the Brisbane suburb of New Farm, Queensland, Australia. The venue offers an array of performing arts, visual arts, festivals, and free community events.
The fir ...
), the
Kangaroo Point Cliffs
The Kangaroo Point Cliffs are heritage-listed cliffs located at Kangaroo Point just across the Brisbane River from the Brisbane CBD in Queensland, Australia. A popular recreation spot, especially for climbing and running, they are convenientl ...
and park, the
Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is an koala sanctuary in the Brisbane suburb of Fig Tree Pocket in Queensland, Australia.
Founded in 1927, it is the oldest and largest koala sanctuary of its kind in the world.
History
The name originates from a l ...
, the
Mount Coot-tha Reserve (including
Mount Coot-tha Lookout
Mount Coot-tha Lookout & Kiosk is a heritage-listed lookout at Sir Samuel Griffith Drive, Mount Coot-tha, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. At above sea level, it is the best known vantage point from which to view the city and surr ...
and
Mount Coot-tha Botanic Gardens), the
D'Aguilar Range
The D'Aguilar Range is a mountain range near Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The town of Dayboro, Queensland, Dayboro is situated on the lower foothills midway along the range and the Sunshine Coast Hinterland town of Mooloolah, Queensland, ...
and
National Park
A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...
, as well as
Moreton Bay
Moreton Bay is a bay located on the eastern coast of Australia from central Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources. The waters of Moreton Bay are a popular destination for recreational anglers and are ...
(including
Moreton Moreton may refer to:
People Given name
* Moreton John Wheatley (1837–1916), British Army officer and Bailiff of the Royal Parks
Surname
* Alice Bertha Moreton (1901–1977), English sculptor, draughtsman and artist
* Andrew Moreton, a ps ...
,
North Stradbroke and
Bribie islands, and coastal suburbs such as
Shorncliffe,
Wynnum
Wynnum is a coastal suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Wynnum had a population of 12,915 people. The suburb is a popular destination in Brisbane due to its coastline, jetty and tidal wading pool.
Geography
Wynnu ...
and those on the
Redcliffe Peninsula
The Redcliffe Peninsula is a peninsula located in the Moreton Bay Region LGA in the northeast of the Brisbane metropolitan area in Queensland, Australia. The area covers the suburbs of Clontarf, Kippa-Ring, Margate, Newport, Redcliffe, Ro ...
).
The
Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
is home to numerous popular surf beaches such as those at
Surfers Paradise
Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...
and
Burleigh Heads
Burleigh Heads is a suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Burleigh Heads had a population of 10,077 people.
Geography
Burleigh Head is a cape () jutting into the Coral Sea at the northern mouth of Tallebudgera C ...
. It also includes the largest concentration of
amusement park
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
s in Australia, including
Dreamworld,
Movie World,
Sea World,
Wet 'n' Wild and
WhiteWater World
WhiteWater World is a seasonal water park situated in the suburb of Coomera on the Gold Coast, Australia. It is owned and operated by Ardent Leisure and is the sister park to Dreamworld.
After years of planning and a year of construction, Wh ...
, as well as the
Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary
Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary is a heritage-listed zoological garden at 28 Tomewin Street, Currumbin, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1947 onwards. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 18 September 2009. The sanctuary is w ...
. The Gold Coast's hinterland includes
Lamington National Park
The Lamington National Park is a national park, lying on the Lamington Plateau of the McPherson Range on the Queensland/New South Wales border in Australia. From Southport on the Gold Coast the park is to the southwest and Brisbane is north. Th ...
in the
McPherson Range
The McPherson Range is an extensive mountain range, a spur of the Great Dividing Range, heading in an easterly direction from near Wallangarra to the Pacific Ocean coastline. It forms part of the Scenic Rim on the border between the states of Ne ...
.
The
Sunshine Coast includes popular surfing and beach destinations including
Noosa Heads
Noosa Heads is a coastal town and suburb in the Shire of Noosa, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Noosa Heads had a population of 4,484 people. It is a popular holiday destination.
Geography
The suburb is bounded to the west by We ...
and
Mooloolaba
Mooloolaba is a coastal suburb of Maroochydore in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It is located north of the state capital, Brisbane, and is part of the Maroochydore urban centre. In the , Mooloolaba had a population of 7,73 ...
. It is also home to
UnderWater World and
Steve Irwin
Stephen Robert Irwin (22 February 19624 September 2006), known as "The Crocodile Hunter", was an Australian zookeeper, conservationist, television personality, wildlife educator, and environmentalist.
Irwin grew up around crocodiles and ot ...
's
Australia Zoo
Australia Zoo is a zoo located in the Australian state of Queensland on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Sunshine Coast near Beerwah, Queensland, Beerwah/Glass House Mountains National Park, Glass House Mountains. It is a member of the Zoo and A ...
. Its hinterland includes the
Glass House Mountains National Park
Glass House Mountains National Park is a heritage-listed national park at Glass House Mountains, Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It is also known as Beerburrum Forest Reserve 1. It is north of Brisbane and consists of a flat plai ...
.
Cairns
Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...
is renowned as the gateway to the
Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...
,
Far North Queensland
Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stretches north to the Torres Strait, and west to the Gulf C ...
(including
Port Douglas
Port Douglas is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Douglas, Queensland, Australia, approximately 60 km north of Cairns. In the , Port Douglas had a population of 3,504 people. The town's population can often double, however, with the in ...
) and the
Daintree Rainforest
The Daintree Rainforest is a region on the northeast coast of Queensland, Australia, north of Mossman, Queensland, Mossman and Cairns. At around , the Daintree is a part of the largest continuous area of tropical rainforest on the Australia (co ...
.
The
Whitsunday Islands
The Whitsunday Islands are 74 continental islands of various sizes off the central coast of Queensland, Australia, north of Brisbane. The northernmost of the islands are off the coast by the town of Bowen, while the southernmost islands are ...
off the coast of
North Queensland
North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...
are a popular tourist destinations for their
resort
A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term ''resort ...
facilities, access to the Great Barrier Reef and natural beauty.
Labour market
Although there was a rise in the number of unemployed people, the labour market expanded 2.2% in the 2008-09 financial year.
The Queensland
labour market was hit by skilled labour shortages in 2007.
A lack of people completing
apprenticeships
Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...
in the construction industry is a current concern. The problem is particularly acute because the state is already dealing with an inadequate supply of new housing to cope with its
population growth
Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to ...
. In the past there have been shortages of doctors, nurses, teachers as well as shortages in the agriculture and hospitality sectors. A lack of university places is another factor limiting that is affecting the availability of skilled labour in some regions.
Household income
![Map of median household income in Australia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Map_of_median_household_income_in_Australia.PNG)
The
average weekly earnings for a full-time adult person in Queensland in 2009 was $1,177.00.
While Queensland generally does not have high
cost of living
Cost of living is the cost of maintaining a certain standard of living. Changes in the cost of living over time can be operationalized in a cost-of-living index. Cost of living calculations are also used to compare the cost of maintaining a c ...
, housing is expensive compared to other states. Housing in Queensland is the least affordable of any state or territory.
The average Queensland homeowner had to pay 40.5% of their
household income
Household income is a measure of the combined incomes of all people sharing a particular household or place of residence. It includes every form of income, e.g., salaries and wages, retirement income, near cash government transfers like food stamp ...
towards home loan repayments and tenants on average paid 26.5% for rent during the first quarter of 2008.
Average wages rose by 7.5% in 2009, three times the national inflation rate.
Economic history
19th century
![Proserpine-Sugar-Mill-1204](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Proserpine-Sugar-Mill-1204.jpg)
One of the first industries to spread across the state was
pastoralism
Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as "livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands (pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The animal ...
. Starting in the Darling Downs in the 1840s,
squatters
Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...
and pioneering families established cattle stations up until the 1870s, as far north as the
Gulf Country
The Gulf Country is the region of woodland and savanna grassland surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory on the north coast of Australia. The region is also called the Gulf Savannah. It ...
.
The early settlers of Queensland faced many problems, including a lack of labour, a lack of transport facilities to markets, attacks by
Aboriginals, a climate that was too wet, drought and falling commodity-prices.
An Australia-wide trend towards recession hit Queensland particularly hard from July 1866.
Immigration
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
faltered, unemployment rose and business activity contracted. It was not long before gold discoveries signaled a turnaround in Queensland's economic activity.
Gold was discovered in the state in 1861 at
Peak Downs near
Clermont and in 1867 at
Gympie
Gympie ( ) is a city and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the Wide Bay-Burnett District, Gympie is about north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city lies on the Mary River (Queen ...
. Many gold miners left the Victorian goldfields in the 1870s - surface gold had become scarce in that state - and moved to Queensland to try their luck.
During the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
(1861-1865) a shortage of
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
in Europe caused a cotton boom in Queensland.
Copper was discovered at Cloncurry in 1869.
In 1863 the first sugar-cane plantation was established and the first South Sea Islanders, referred to as
kanakas
Kanakas were workers (a mix of voluntary and involuntary) from various Pacific Islands employed in British colonies, such as British Columbia (Canada), Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Queensland (Australia) in the 19t ...
, arrived, providing cheap labour
- compare
blackbirding
Blackbirding involves the coercion of people through deception or kidnapping to work as slaves or poorly paid labourers in countries distant from their native land. The term has been most commonly applied to the large-scale taking of people in ...
. The sugar-cane industry expanded northwards along the coast with a plantation and mill operating at
Innisfail in 1881
and in the following year a mill opened in
Bundaberg
Bundaberg is a city in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia, and is the tenth largest city in the state. Bundaberg's regional area has a population of 70,921, and is a major centre of the Wide Bay–Burnett geographical region. The Bun ...
.
By 1890 developments in
refrigeration
The term refrigeration refers to the process of removing heat from an enclosed space or substance for the purpose of lowering the temperature.International Dictionary of Refrigeration, http://dictionary.iifiir.org/search.phpASHRAE Terminology, ht ...
technologies had opened new markets for types of produce which would previously have spoiled on the two-month-long journey to England.
During the early 1880s the
Dingo Fence was constructed to protect livestock in south-east Australia. It protected southern Queensland, aiming to stop attacks on sheep from Australia's
native dog. The fence was maintained up until the 1970s.
experts estimated that $60 million in losses occurs annually in Queensland due to dingoes that have penetrated the barrier. In 1886 the
introduced rabbit crossed into southern Queensland,
[
]
causing yields from pasture production to decrease. The rabbit also contributed to
soil erosion
Soil erosion is the denudation or wearing away of the upper layer of soil. It is a form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that is, water, ice (glaciers), snow, air (wind), plants, and ...
through overgrazing.
20th century
![StateLibQld_1_64303_Pineapple_plantation_at_Fred_Zerner%27s_farm,_Cleveland,_1907](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/StateLibQld_1_64303_Pineapple_plantation_at_Fred_Zerner%27s_farm%2C_Cleveland%2C_1907.jpg)
A
drought in 1902 drastically reduced agricultural productivity.
By 1906, maize covered 25%, sugar cane 23.8% and wheat 20.5% of cropping land in the state. In 1908, 700 bores were supplying
artesian basin
An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater under positive pressure. An artesian aquifer has trapped water, surrounded by layers of impermeable rock or clay, which apply positive pressure to the water contained within th ...
water to western Queensland, transforming an otherwise mostly arid landscape into a more productive area.
Refrigeration and regular steamer services between Brisbane and London allowed Queensland to become Australia's largest exporter of meat in the same year. The
Franco-British Exhibition
The Franco-British Exhibition was a large public fair held in London between 14 May and 31 October 1908. The exhibition attracted 8 million visitors and celebrated the Entente Cordiale signed in 1904 by the United Kingdom and France. The chief ar ...
of 1908 was a good opportunity for Queensland to promote itself, particularly the desirable climate and expanses of fertile land. Tourism was promoted under the banner of "the Winter Paradise of the Southern Hemisphere".
A souvenir guide from the show boasted that Queensland cultivated the richest of fruits including pineapples, bananas, mangoes, grapes and citrus fruit.
Australia's largest airline,
Qantas
Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...
was founded as ''Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services'' in
Winton in 1920. Silver, copper and lead were being mined from Mount Isa by 1925.
Wool became an important export for Queensland during the early 20th century, contributing to half of the state's total exports by 1930.
The 1950s saw a resurgence of whaling in Australia. A new whaling station was set up at
Tangalooma on
Moreton Island
Moreton Island (Mulgumpin) is an island on the eastern side of Moreton Bay on the coast of South East Queensland, Australia. The Coral Sea lies on the east coast of the island. Moreton Island lies northeast of the Queensland capital, Brisbane. ...
to process slaughtered whales.
In 1963 the world's richest deposit of bauxite was discovered at Weipa.
Dairying, once an important local industry in the state, declined towards the end of the 20th century. The Queensland economy last contracted during the 1990-91 financial year at a rate of -0.7%.
21st century
![Queensland's raw coal production](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Queensland%27s_raw_coal_production.jpg)
In 2004, a
citrus canker
Citrus canker is a disease affecting ''Citrus'' species caused by the bacterium ''Xanthomonas'' (''X.axonopodis; X. campestris''). Infection causes lesions on the leaves, stems, and fruit of citrus trees, including lime, oranges, and grapefruit ...
outbreak forced farmers to destroy every
citrus
''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Lemon, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and lim ...
tree in the
Emerald
Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr. and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991) ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York, p ...
region. This amounted to half a million commercial trees being destroyed during an eradication program that lasted five years. The banana industry was devastated in 2006 from the flooding and crop destruction left in the wake of
Cyclone Larry
Severe Tropical Cyclone Larry was a tropical cyclone that made landfall in Australia during the 2005–06 Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclone season. Larry originated as a low pressure system over the eastern Coral Sea on 16 March 2006, and wa ...
. 90% of the country's banana crop was destroyed. The price of bananas doubled to A$6 a kilogram as a result.
In the 2006-07 financial year, the nominal value of the Queensland economy surpassed A$200 billion for the first time.
In early 2009, Queensland's
credit rating
A credit rating is an evaluation of the credit risk of a prospective debtor (an individual, a business, company or a government), predicting their ability to pay back the debt, and an implicit forecast of the likelihood of the debtor defaulting.
...
was downgraded by rating agency
Standard & Poor's
S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is con ...
to AA+ after the state's budget deficit increased to more than A$1.5 billion.
See also
*
South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan and Program
The South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan and Program 2010–2031 (SEQIPP) is produced by the Queensland Department of Infrastructure and Planning and outlines estimated infrastructure investment across South East Queensland Australia to 2031. ...
References
External links
Queensland Economy WatchOffice of Economic and Statistical ResearchProvides monthly and quarterly economic data relating to Queensland
{{Economy of Australia