{"id":187215,"date":"2017-08-18T14:51:18","date_gmt":"2017-08-18T04:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=187215"},"modified":"2019-08-13T15:54:09","modified_gmt":"2019-08-13T05:54:09","slug":"new-plan-not-a-bad-idea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2017\/08\/18\/new-plan-not-a-bad-idea\/","title":{"rendered":"New Plan Not a Bad Idea"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>August 18, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Dafyd Martindale<\/strong><\/p>\n

The South Burnett Regional Council adopted a new three-year Economic Development Plan at its August monthly meeting.<\/p>\n

The plan calls for the region to create 3000 jobs and triple tourist revenue between now and mid-2020, and was developed internally by Council officers.<\/p>\n

While it’s good for our Council to have such high aspirational targets – and we agree it’s always better to dream big than small – we think the chances of these goals being fully achieved in the coming 36 months aren’t particularly high.<\/p>\n

Tripling tourist revenues isn’t something any other rural Queensland region has ever been able to achieve (not that we’re aware of, anyway).<\/p>\n

And creating 3000 jobs in an area with a workforce of 13,000 burdened by 9.1 per cent unemployment would be something rare and wonderful, too.<\/p>\n

But if the Council managed to achieve even half of the headline figures in its plan, they would make a significant difference to our local economy.<\/p>\n

And they would positively affect the lives of many residents, particularly younger residents in search of a job.<\/p>\n

How much of a difference? Well, let’s look at some data:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last November, the Queensland Resources Council estimated the resources industry directly employed 678 people in the South Burnett in 2015-16 and paid them $100 million in wages.<\/p>\n

The Resources Council also said the industry spent an extra $121 million on goods, services and community contributions in our region that year, which in turn helped support an extra 2182 local full-time jobs and value-added a further $228 million to the South Burnett\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

All up, the Resources Council claimed resources injected $449 million into our Gross Regional Product in 2015-16, which accounted for 26 per cent of it; directly employed 678 people; and helped keep a further 2182 jobs going in the wider community.<\/p>\n

And in July this year, the Southern Queensland Country regional tourism organisation estimated the South Burnett makes slightly more than $100 million a year from tourism at the moment.<\/p>\n

But tripling tourism revenues by 2020 would expand this to $300 million, injecting an extra $200 million a year into our regional economy.<\/p>\n

Which would be roughly equivalent to opening another industry the size of Stanwell and\/or Meandu Mine.<\/strong><\/p>\n

So putting both these sets of data together, it’s easy to see that even if the Council achieved only half its target, the impact on our local economy would be significant.<\/p>\n

We would virtually wipe out most of our unemployment and probably need to import more people to meet demand.<\/p>\n

That being so, I think we should all lend our support to the Council’s initiative where we can.<\/p>\n

Even something as simple as getting visiting friends and relatives to stay a little bit longer and get out to see what the South Burnett has to offer can make a big difference.<\/p>\n

So can talking up the positives of our region, rather than putting it down.<\/p>\n

Yes, the Council’s targets may be aspirational. And possibly a little over-optimistic.<\/p>\n

But its aim – to turn things around for the better – is something I think most people can easily agree with.<\/p>\n