The Jewel of the Sunburnt Country
Queensland, Australia’s 2nd largest state by land mass, enjoys an unrivalled global reputation for being the jewel of “Downunda”.
With 13,347 km of coastline, including 1,955 recorded islands as well as 1,711 beaches, is it any wonder why the Sunshine State is Australia’s leading tourism destination -- attracting nearly 2 million international tourists each year? It also has the largest forested area in Australia and five of her eleven World Natural Heritage areas.
Off the coast of Queensland is the world’s largest coral reef, called the Great Barrier Reef, and Fraser Island the world’s largest sand island. Queensland holds the record for Australia’s highest permanent single drop waterfall. Remarkably, its landmass is larger than all but 15 countries around the world while its population, a modest 5.3 million, is roughly the same as New Zealand, Denmark, Finland, and Ireland. Does Queensland offer more than just a nice place for a holiday and lifestyle without peer? Old stereotypes held in the southern states, and to some extent overseas, die hard. As editors, we felt strongly that an incisive and contemporary portrayal was overdue.
A Rich History of Pioneers
Queensland has a rich history of national and world firsts in many endeavours. Queensland pioneered the state secondary education system, and compulsory voting in Australia 100 years ago. Most will not know that Queensland was the first state in the British Empire to abolish capital punishment. Queensland was the first state to introduce free primary education in Australia. It was also the first state to moot the idea of Anzac Day and to be granted a Coat of Arms. Queensland was the first parliamentary library in Australasia to make use of computerised information storage and retrieval. In healthcare, it was the first state in Australia to establish a Cancer Institute and lead the nation in the computerization of all medical records. With the tyranny of distance to contend with, it also pioneered the Flying Doctor Aerial Services. Queensland was the first Australian state to develop an electric vehicles strategy. Queensland was the first state to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of breastfeeding. Queensland was the first state in Australia to use natural gas for town lighting. And of great import for entrepreneurs: Queensland is the first state to set a target to do business with more local Queensland small and medium sized businesses.
A Rising Economic Powerhouse
Socially and economically, Queensland is as unique, rich, and diverse as its natural environment. It now has the best performing economy in Australia. And also is now the fastest-growing state, population-wise. It has the largest onshore oil and gas potential in the country. Queensland has the largest fishing and seafood processing industries in Australia too, and the largest Aboriginal population in Australia. Queensland has a number of major food manufacturing regions across the state. Queensland has the largest army base in the country and is at the front line of army deployment in Australia. It has the largest number of residents outside major cities and ‘inner regional’ areas of all. Queensland is fast becoming the centre of Australian sport and major events. Queensland has the largest area of agricultural land of any Australian state and the highest proportion of land area dedicated to agriculture. Queensland has a varied and robust mining industry with unique areas of research.
From The Sunshine State to The Smart State
Queensland is advancing, rapidly. Brisbanites, have long ceased to describe their home city as a “big country town”. It has become a thriving eclectic city on the move. Having quietly won the 2032 Olympic Games, there is an energetic mood here that the city – and the state -- are catapulting themselves, quite consciously, into a more dynamic future.
Queensland is now the second startup capital in the nation. It is fast being recognised as Australia’s gateway for battery innovation. Queensland is fast becoming Australia’s premier investment destination and a major hub for scientific research. Recently it has overtaken Victoria in EV purchase, in spite of lesser subsidies.
Queensland leads the way in decarbonization as farmers and scientists team up to target net zero. Queensland is leading the nation in business innovation – especially in the areas of goods and services, operational and managerial processes and marketing. Queensland leads the world in rooftop solar, as it probably should with all of that sunshine. Queensland is a top performer nationally for the percentage of businesses innovating and in new business entry rate.
An emerging leader in Business, Technology and Innovation
The Queensland Government’s leadership has recently announced amongst its largest ever investments into the state’s innovation future, a nearly $150 million diverse financial package backed by well-considered policy.
Innovatia, a new digital journal of distinction with its established audience of at least 250,000 is aimed at the forward-thinking professional, and C-level management, across industry, finance, business, academia, NGOs, and the media. It is scheduled for launch by multi-decade specialist publishing company One Mandate Group (IMG) in mid-2023. 1MG is the nation’s acknowledged leading publisher on innovation, since 1982, an NFP since 2015. Its most recent title contained over 500 pages on the subject, by more than 100 respected leaders across the country. The company has a long history of reporting on business, industry, finance and education in Queensland.
“The Queensland Convergence”: An Innovatia Business and Innovation special report will examine the present, emerging, and future potential of the Queensland economy. Convergence is an appropriate word in the present context. Why? Over the past decade or more numerous Queensland financial enterprises have matured significantly, such as Suncorp, Bank of Queensland, and Queensland Investment Corporation. A new private sector initiative seeks to establish Brisbane as a financial hub.
Science leaders TRI and QIMR have blossomed to international recognition. Three internationally recognized universities have grown apace, creating new areas of research, and new departments.
An increasing number of substantial HQ operations have established themselves here, notably Virgin Airlines Australia, and Village Roadshow, and homegrown technology companies led by Technology One, and NEXTDC have grown hugely and diversified. These two IT companies are prime examples of synergistic agents which encourage other startups. Aurizon, a highly profitable rail freight and technical services company, now the nation’s sectoral leader describes its impressive growth as leveraged by technology and innovation.
The greater Brisbane region has equalled or outperformed Sydney and Melbourne as a startup capital, while the Gold Coast has matured into a city larger than Canberra and one very actively engaged in economic diversification. On a smaller scale, Logan City, Ipswich and Toowoomba, all in easy reach of Brisbane are planning their futures with an eye to employment and business development.
Further afield, Townsville and Cairns, particularly the former have been actively diversifying and to effect; the city is successfully growing its manufacturing and technical service sector and experienced a surge of population in the past decade of over 15 per cent.
In southern Queensland, sizable population and talent inflows from overseas and the southern states continue year on year. Quality of life cannot be underestimated as a prominent economic driver.
The result of these progressive forces result in a broader, deeper, and more complex -durable-economy. Inevitably, collaboration, interactivity, and business creativity follow. A powerful virtuous cycle is gaining momentum. Hence, convergence. Queensland is entering a period when disparate forces are coming together in significant ways, and a focussed explication is exceptionally timely.
This special report has been commissioned by a distinguished Advisory Board, which includes Queensland innovation luminaries like Ben Kehoe, long term Brisbane based innovation consultant and author. Financially backed, in part, by the Queensland Government and endorsed by Queensland Premier The HON Annastacia Palaszczuk MP and the current Queensland Chief Entrepreneur Julia Spicer OAM, though the report remains independent as an Innovatia editorial analysis.
This major report, likely the largest ever in content and certainly in relevant audience size, will contain 10 pages dedicated to the Queensland Government’s recent group of innovation funding programs and their likely flow on effects. As a stimulus to the “organic” growth seen in nearly all sectors of the economy, their impact will no doubt be of significance. Innovatia will examine the mechanisms and thrust of government funding as a crux of innovation.
This panoply of positive factors, coupled with the still perhaps underestimated impact of the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games, calls for a rigorous business analysis. The Innovatia report will inform leaders in business and industry, investors, and potential new residents in a comprehensive manner, and form medium- and longer-term views, as well as provide acute commentary on the state of innovation in the Sunshine State.
