The Cairns Manufacturing hub will focus on marine, aviation and food production.

James Cook University’s vision to turbocharge innovation in northern Queensland has taken a big step forward, with construction commencing on the Ideas Lab. The facility will translate JCU’s teaching and research into innovation that generates jobs and economic growth for Cairns and the broader region.

The Far North Queensland region is centred on the coastal city of Cairns. The region includes Daintree and Mossman to the north, Innisfail to the south and the Atherton Tablelands to the west. It contains a number of world heritage-listed areas, including the iconic Great Barrier Reef, and the Wet Tropics and Daintree rainforests, which are major world biodiversity hotspots and significant international tourist destinations.

Protecting the world’s largest living structure (the Great Barrier Reef) and the oldest continuously surviving rainforests (the Wet Tropics) – as well as the other spectacular natural areas in the region – is a huge challenge and needs resources.

These World Heritage Areas are important to Australians and global citizens alike so we also need people outside the region to join and support us in giving voice to the local community members who speak and act for these globally-recognised natural wonders.

The Cairns Region is clearly the leading hub for cultural and creative activity in Queensland outside of the South East corner and northern Australia.

In Cairns, Flame.Arts aims to help garage bands find a stage, to turn a ‘hobby’ into a creative career, support a young phone videographer move towards the big screen or give a promising performer the mentorship and confidence they need to find their audience.

Through workshops, skills development, grants, mentoring, performance and exhibition opportunities, Council’s Creative Life team – who are established creatives and arts workers themselves – are committed to igniting creative expression in Cairns.

The northernmost part of the state, Far North Queensland is a tropical region stretching from Cairns to the Torres Strait. With the magnificent coral of the Great Barrier Reef off the coast and World Heritage listed tropical rainforests on the land, there are not many locations in the world that can boast such unique natural attractions within easy reach.

The Wet Tropics region is located along the coast of Far North Queensland (FNQ), between Townsville and Cooktown. Fertile soils and high rainfall have historically supported significant agricultural production and by the middle of last century, agriculture had become the region’s dominant economic driver.

Over the past 50 years, the region’s agricultural profile has continued to change. The sugar, maize and beef industries have remained constants, while a number of other industries emerged including tobacco, dairy and horticulture, to become significant contributors to the region’s economic and social fabric. While horticulture, particularly bananas, remain significant industries within the region, tobacco has disappeared and dairy has declined.

Today, seafood, horticultural tree crops, vegetables and beef cattle are the big growth opportunities among the region’s high-value food commodities.

Queensland’s long history of resources activity has left a legacy of abandoned mines across the state but, thanks to advancing technology and changing market demands, some of these mines have the potential to once again become commercial operations.

Situated 90km west of Cairns, Wolfram Camp is named for wolframite – an important primary ore of tungsten which miners have been extracting from the site since the 19th century.

The critical mineral has numerous uses including in solar technology, wind turbine blades, drill bits and filaments for lighting.

The Weipa region is mined for bauxite and kaolin. The Rio Tinto Weipa operations in Far North Queensland includes three bauxite mines, processing facilities, shiploaders, an export wharf, two ports, power stations, a rail network and ferry terminals

The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Armidale and Cape Class Patrol Boat presence in Cairns, and the strength of the Cairns marine industry capability in maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of the vessels locally, play an essential role in protecting Australia’s northern maritime borders.

Queensland’s maritime sector is world class, delivering quality maintenance, repair and overhaul capabilities to sustain ADF naval and Australian Border Force platforms, as well as the Pacific Island Guardian-class patrol boats.

The Regional Maintenance Centre north east, in Cairns, provides supply chain support and maintenance services for Defence vessels based in and visiting the region.

The Cairns Defence Precinct comprises HMAS Cairns (approximately 1000 personnel) and is a strategic base that provides maintenance, logistics and administrative support for fleet units including patrol boats, landing craft, hydrographic ships and the Laser Airborne Depth Sounder. Patrol boats from Cairns support Operation Sovereign Borders in the Christmas Island region as well as defence engagement in the South West Pacific region.

Far North Queensland is our largest region covering 20 per cent of the state. It boasts World Heritage areas including the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics – one of the world’s oldest rainforests – as well as many authentic Indigenous experiences from the world’s oldest living culture.

This region is home to memorable tourism experiences and filled with innovators with ground-breaking ideas that are putting us on the world map.

Cairns is a popular travel destination for tourists from all around the world, the region attracts more than 2 million domestic and international visitors each year. Cairns is a unique town for being around so much beautiful natural wonders such as the largest coral reef in the world and one of the oldest rainforests in the world. Cairns is also the perfect place for the adrenaline seeker with many wonderful adventure activities available daily.

Far North Queensland faces a unique set of challenges in delivering cost effective and sustainable waste services. Considering the region’s two World Heritage listed areas (Wet Tropics and the Great Barrier Reef) those challenges can vary significantly from one council to the next.

All councils in the region struggle with issues such as access to secondary markets and transport costs, and the increasing costs and difficulties in developing new waste infrastructure

The Cairns Health Innovation Centre will incorporate research, education and training facilities and will be part of the transition to Cairns University Hospital.

The project will deliver additional capacity for clinical services within the existing Cairns Hospital precinct and provide necessary health education, training, and research facilities for our future medical professionals in Cairns.

The Gladstone Manufacturing Hub will be an access point for local manufacturers to develop their skills and expertise for advanced manufacturing.

Gladstone is already one of Queensland’s industrial powerhouses with access to a significant State Development Area and the Port of Gladstone.

This will complement the work of the Rockhampton Hub focusing on Central Queensland’s key manufacturing strengths of rail, metal production and food innovation.

Our region experiences extremes across multiple hazards. It floods, it burns, the land moves and changes, it can get uncomfortably hot and the wind can howl. Storms can be severe, and cyclones cross the coast here. In addition, our climate is changing and this is presenting a key driver and amplifier of natural hazard risks across out region.

Historically and as the economic hub for Central Queensland, our Region has many strengths in agriculture, mining services, energy, construction, education and health services. Our strategic location as a logistics hub well serviced by road, rail, air and sea positions us positively for future opportunities as Northern, Central and Southern Australia continue to grow.

Apprenticeships and traineeships are excellent examples of pathways into work that have proven to be effective. But they are specific to certain occupations.

Apprentices and trainees made up about 10 per cent of the pathways people take into the workforce. He said policymakers needed to create better vocational education and training (VET) courses to give young people stronger options outside universities and apprenticeships.

3.9 million people were enrolled in vocational education and training last year, but up to 2.4 million of those were in short courses such as first aid and construction safety.

Fitzroy agriculture is predominantly based on livestock. It is the main hub for meat production throughout the entire GBR Region. Cattle meat production in 2014-15 was an estimated $1,285 million, which is 54% of the total value of cattle meat production within the GBR Catchment Area. Other agricultural commodities make up a smaller share of production value in Fitzroy, with the most significant of these being broadacre crops less sugar and cotton, with production of $236 million in 2014-15.

Innovation isn’t just something happening in our big cities. It is important people living in remote areas are able to participate in these programs, events and activities.

Central Highlands Development Corporation Acting General Manger Liz Alexander said the funding would support CHDC, Central Highlands Regional Council, BMA, CQUniversity, Rural Business Collective and C-RES (Queensland) to boost the emergence and development of innovation and cross-regional collaboration.

The Central Queensland resource sector, which includes not just coal, but other minerals like gold, copper, magnesium and salt, contributes significantly to the Rockhampton economy. Over 1500 Rockhampton locals are directly employed by the resource sector, with this sector responsible for 25% of Rockhampton’s Gross Regional Product at a value of over $1.4 Billion.

It is an exciting time for Rockhampton with the amount of large infrastructure projects currently in construction, the ever increasing presence of local, superior mining sector companies operating out of Rockhampton, with projects such as Carmichael Mine, Olive Downs Mine and the potential of Mt Morgan gold mine being reopened.

Leveraging its proximity to the Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Rockhampton Airport, Port Alma, and the Bajool Magazine, Rockhampton Region is uniquely placed to support a permanent Australian Defence Force (ADF) presence. With experienced large equipment maintenance providers, Rockhampton provides future defence industry capability.

As the name suggests, Capricorn Region lies on the Tropic of Capricorn, spanning from the National Parks of the Central Highlands that border Outback Queensland to the coastline of the Southern Great Barrier Reef and the green continental islands of the Keppel Group. At the heart of the region is the city of Rockhampton, ‘Rocky’ to the locals and those who know it well – it’s Australia’s ‘Beef Capital’.

Rockhampton lies on the banks of the mighty Fitzroy River, the second largest river system in Australia. The city’s wealth of historic buildings, best illustrated in the riverside precinct of Quay Street, reflects the age of the gold rushes in the 19th century centred at nearby Mt Morgan and followed by the cattle grazing industry. Visitors can get a taste of the local steaks and a rodeo at one of Rocky’s heritage pubs. Be sure to also visit the limestone caverns of Capricorn Caves.

On the nearby Capricorn Coast holiday havens start with the welcoming seaside town of Yeppoon. On the northern edges of this coast is Byfield National Park, rich in birdlife while to the south lie small beachside communities, a marina and attractions including a crocodile farm. Floating on the horizon, Great Keppel Island is a tropical island destination with 17 glorious beaches and a choice of holiday options.

Inland you can discover real gems – sapphires and other precious stones – amidst the prospectors’ claims in the Gemfields. Head south to include Carnarvon National Park and the walking path through Carnarvon Gorge with its steep escarpments, pockets of rainforest, ancient Aboriginal rock art and native fauna.

Resource recovery from a number of different waste streams is already being undertaken in the region, diverting materials such as clean fill, green waste, paper and cardboard, timber, metals and glass.

The amount of material recovered through these activities has followed an increasing trend over the last three years and is likely to continue as further resource recovery initiatives and technologies are introduced.

Education and engagement with the community plays a critical role in meeting waste management targets and reducing contamination rates. It is a key element in the successful implementation of this strategy, supporting the actions and objectives of other priorities.