Private Members’ Statements 09 Jun 2010

Sunshine Coast, Job Creation

Ms SIMPSON (Maroochydore—LNP) (11.43 am): During the last election campaign the Bligh  Government promised Queenslanders a jobs plan but, 12 months on, no plan has been announced for the Sunshine Coast. In regard to jobs, this region has been ignored by this government. I ask the Premier: where are our jobs? Or has the Premier forgotten that it is small business that provides the majority of these jobs? Those small businesses now have record business costs imposed on them by her government: water, power, vehicle costs, registration, petrol, increasing council levies and other charges. In fact, most regions of Queensland have seen no economic strategy and jobs plan from this government.

The SEQ Regional Plan and accompanying investment time frames in SEQIPP do not cater for growth. But this is a doubly cruel hoax when we realise that there is no economic strategy accompanying the land use strategy. The same is true for the Sunshine Coast Regional Council’s current draft Maroochydore structure plan, which is anti investment and jobs. I table separately a number of documents relating to the commercial uptake of property, the transport department’s own projections as to where jobs will be generated versus where the population has grown, the business confidence survey and UDIA’s commercial analysis.

Tabled paper: Graph titled ‘Growth: SEQ by TransLink Sub Region: Growth 2006-2031’.

Tabled paper: Chart from ABS Labour Force Survey titled ‘Queensland: Unemployment Rates by Labour Force Region, April 2010

Tabled paper: Media release by Boardroom Business, dated 17 May 2010, titled ‘Business Confidence on Sunshine Coast drops’.

Tabled paper: Sunshine Coast Business Confidence Survey, April 2010, by Boardroom Business.

Tabled paper: Office Market Report: Statistical Summary, January 2010, and Office Market Summary, January 2009.We see now that the Sunshine Coast has double the population growth compared to the jobs growth. That means that, without a genuine, coordinated and focused jobs plan for the region, people will be commuting to Brisbane and elsewhere for a job. That is happening now. I am fighting for a sustainable Sunshine Coast—sustainable for the environment and the lifestyle and the businesses that supply the jobs in the local economy. Without this plan from the government we will continue to see people losing their jobs, leaving the region and facing increased costs.

These documents show that the current plans of this government and also, unfortunately, the draft structure plan of the council are anti jobs and anti investment. We do not want to see small businesses bled anymore. We see from the documents that I have tabled that, clearly, there is a major issue with small businesses and jobs, particularly in the Sunshine Coast region.