Brisbane has rapidly emerged as an influential leader in the Asia Pacific and a highly desirable place to do business. The city’s growing global recognition was accelerated by its highly successful staging of the 2014 G20 World Leaders Summit. Capitalising on its enhanced international reputation, Brisbane is shaping itself as a vibrant hub and world leader attracting industry sectors that are globally scalable in the new world economy.

New investment helps to establish Brisbane as a global hub for competitively advantageous industries. Brisbane’s strong growth prospects can be leveraged to attract new investment to the city, even during a time when global investment trends are weak.

Specific advantages linked to Brisbane include:
 competitively positioning Brisbane within Asia as a global centre of excellence for mining and energy technologies
 a desirable location to support fly-in fly-out operations
 significant and growing capacity in innovative manufacturing, ICT, design, creative industries, biomedical, education, research, food manufacturing, clean technologies, aviation and logistics
 large and continuing infrastructure investments  a single council looking after most of the
capital city economy
 a world class air and sea port located close to the city, with capacity to accommodate new industrial developments within the precinct at Australia TradeCoast.

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.

The Wide Bay Burnett region is one of the most diverse regions in Queensland, boasting outstanding natural assets and resources, agricultural land, and unique townships.

The region’s agriculture, renewable energy, manufacturing and tourism industries are key contributors to Queensland’s economy.

Logan is a rich and diverse community filled with a myriad of talented and dedicated artists, makers and creatives – musicians, performers and producers, writers, visual artists and more.

While local council is supportive of arts culture, there is a distinct lack of diversity in local infrastructure and community-led programs for the creative sector.

We lack a range of independent commercial spaces to develop, practice and engage the greater community in the arts.

The University of Southern Queensland is where students, researchers, community, and partners access excellence. By offering a mix of open and flexible programs in business, education, law, arts, health, engineering, surveying, agriculture, and sciences (including paramedicine and aviation), the University of Southern Queensland meets the educational needs of students, industries, and the Ipswich community.

Matthew a first-year aviation student at University of Southern Queensland and second-year student Cassie both chose to pursue a career as a pilot. Cassie and Matthew are both pursuing a Bachelor of Aviation (Flight Operations), one of two undergraduate aviation bachelor degrees available at University of Southern Queensland.
University of Southern Queensland aviation program director Dr. Tarryn Kille said the suite of qualifications at the university were designed to capture strong employability and industry-informed skill requirements of future aviation professionals.

Brisbane’s innovative capabilities are grounded in competitive business, world-class research and development, a highly skilled workforce, and leading education institutions.

At the heart of Brisbane’s innovation is its human capital – the people with the skills, knowledge and entrepreneurial know-how to transform ideas into products and services that will benefit businesses and the community, not only in Australia but the world.

The Toowoomba’s region’s economic role as a smart region, an agricultural centre, knowledge and research region and freight and logistics hub, provides enormous strengths and competitive advantages. This role will be pivotal in the region positioning itself to catch the next wave of industry, employment and investment opportunities.

Those industries with a relatively high knowledge worker content and which present opportunities for growth in the Toowoomba region, include business services such as financial and legal services, education and training, specialist health care and wellbeing, scientific and technical services to agriculture and mining, including specialist agriculture-related research and technology industries, and the creative industries, particularly creative services like architecture and design, communications and marketing and digital content.

International defence primes have set up operations in Brisbane including Boeing, Northrop Gunman, Airbus, Rheinmetall, BAE Systems and Raytheon.

Rheinmetall’s Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence facility in Ipswich was delivered in partnership with the Queensland Government, bringing a new international defence prime contractor to our state, demonstrating how partnerships between government and industry create jobs and prosperity.

Traditional industries, including sugarcane and macadamia nut growing are the foundation of world class brands including Bundaberg Sugar, Bundaberg Rum, Bundaberg Ginger Beer and Suncoast Gold Macadamias.

The region also produces citrus, avocados, olives, potatoes, peanuts, beef, fresh fruit and vegetables, fish and seafood.

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.

Ipswich economy is driven by high value industries of manufacturing, health care and social assistance, retail trade, education and defence. Ipswich is located in a prime location in South East Queensland, between Gold Coast to the south, Toowoomba to the west, Brisbane to the east, and the Sunshine Coast to the north.

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.

The largest industries in Logan in terms of contribution to Gross Regional Product (value added) are health care and social assistance, construction, manufacturing, retail trade, education and training, and wholesale trade. Some of these, particularly health and retail trade, are strongly linked to the growth and profile of the region's population. Construction is related to population growth, but Logan’s construction firms also service the wider region.

Manufacturing is the traditional strength of the city. Emerging industries in Logan include the care economy, advanced manufacturing, the circular and low-carbon economy, tourism, and creative and entertainment industries. Logan has emerging expertise in circular economy and low-carbon thinking.

The North Queensland region spans from Ingham in the North to the Whitsundays in the south, and as far west as Mount Isa. It incorporates the regional centres of Townsville, Mackay, the shire of Burdekin, as well as smaller rural towns including Charters Towers, Bowen, and Normanton.

A full range of study areas are offered in North Queensland including automotive, beauty and hairdressing, building and construction, business, child care, community services, electrotechnology and utilities, engineering, general education and training, horticulture, hospitality and cookery, information technology, nursing and health, tourism, resources and infrastructure, and visual arts.

James Cook University offers a number of avenues for engagement between business and industry. Whether you need research capacity or professional development opportunities, or want to host an intern, JCU can assist.

Manufacturing in the Mackay Isaac Whitsunday Region is a diverse and dynamic sector – having demonstrated resilience and rapid response to shifts in the regional economy over time.

Key manufacturing industries include mechanical and machinery production for the resources and agricultural sectors, mining equipment, polyurethane products, as well as sugar and ethanol production.

Emerging opportunities exist in further development of advanced manufacturing capabilities, tapping into growing domestic and international markets, as well as in biofutures, another emerging sector utilising renewables for development of a range of bioproducts.

The Greater Whitsunday region covers 90,354 square km. Comprising of the Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday local government areas, the Greater Whitsunday Region is encompassed by St Lawrence in the south, Gumlu in the north to Clermont in the west and the Great Barrier Reef Whitsunday’s group of 74 islands to the east.

The region is one of the most naturally beautiful and resource-rich locations in Australia contributing more than $46 billion in economic output to the Australian economy.

From the largest coal mining deposits in Australia, the Bowen and Galilee basins, the iconic Great Barrier Reef and Whitsunday Islands and boasting a diverse agricultural industry which provides over $1.46 billion to the Queensland economy, the region is an economic powerhouse that is key to Queensland’s economy.

The City of Logan and the rest of Australia, like many parts of the world, can expect climate change to exacerbate the frequency and severity of events such as foods, droughts, heatwaves and bushfires.

We will increasingly be affected by changes in temperature, rainfall, sea level and extreme weather conditions. The impacts of such events in many parts of the world include population displacement, damage to infrastructure and species shift.

Less recognised are the indirect flow-on effects and opportunities. These can be changes to policy, legal frameworks, technology and markets. Examples include higher insurance costs or inability to get insurance for newly food affected areas following policy changes to insurance premiums or risks associated with changes to legal liability case law.

The Darling Downs manufacturing sector is worth around $2.8b annually to the local economy with approximately 380 businesses focusing predominantly on food and metal related products. With some support, local manufacturing could increase substantially.
The Federal Government has launched the Modern Manufacturing Strategy to make Australian manufacturers more internationally competitive, help businesses scale-up and where possible adopt advanced manufacturing technologies to improve outputs. The strategy has chosen six industries based on Australia’s competitive advantage, which will become the manufacturing sector’s focus. These sectors include:
• Resources technology and critical minerals processing
• Food and beverage
• Medical products
• Recycling and clean energy
• Defence
• Space
Pixie Ice Cream have invested in packaging automation equipment from German-based company Schubert. This has significantly increased their production capacity to service the Australian and now international markets. Home Style Bake purchased machinery from Switzerland that will triple the output of their bread roll manufacturing. Wagner’s Composite Fibre Technologies recently introduced new robotic technology, enabling cross arms production to increase from 1,000 to 20,000 per month. Oakey Beef recently completed an automated cold storage facility and robotic palletising system.

Manufacturing is the largest export industry for the Moreton Bay Region, valued at approximately $923.8 million. The region’s industrial precincts are Industry 4.0 enabled as they are either already connected to the National Broadband Network (NBN) or the rollout has substantially commenced. The region's proximity to major transport infrastructure and a skilled workforce provide the convenience of a major city without the high price tag.

Through our Economic Development Action Plan council is committed to supporting regional manufacturers to be more productive, increase their international competitiveness and access emerging growth opportunities in the Moreton Bay Region.
In the Moreton Bay Region you’ll find:
• Three major industrial hubs, including the Brendale Industrial Precinct, one of the top 10 places to work in Greater Brisbane.
• Access skilled workforce.
• Road and rail connections to the Port of Brisbane, Brisbane Domestic and International Airports, and Australia's newest international airport, the Sunshine Coast Airport.
• NBN connectivity in industrial precincts.
• Available and affordable industrial land.
• Development of Smart City infrastructure.
• $1.7 billion in local manufacturing sales.
• Raw input providers including timber plantations and saw mills, quarries and agricultural producers.
• Two large greenfield future industrial hubs on the last northern Bruce Highway interchanges.
• Innovative businesses embedded in local and global supply chains.