Townsville’s diverse economy, enviable tropical lifestyle and push towards establishing future industries have been some of the factors behind the city recording the lowest unemployment numbers in Queensland.
More than 6,700 jobs were created in Townsville in the last 12 months, as the city’s unemployment rate sits at 2.7 per cent, well below inner city Brisbane (3.2 per cent), Gold Coast (3 per cent), Cairns (3.2 per cent) and Ipswich (5.2 per cent).
Mayor Jenny Hill said Townsville was leading the way in creating jobs.
“Townsville City Council has been very clear that our main goal is to grow Townsville and as the numbers show our region is one of the fastest growing in northern Australia,” Cr Hill said.
“Data from the Regional Institute of Australia highlighted a 520 per cent surge in Australians who migrated to Townsville in the previous financial year.
“Townsville will soon become the defence capital of Australia with the announcement of an additional 500 troops set to be based here.
“Projects like the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct and NQ Spark continue to attract interest from investors and will pave the way to creating high-tech and well-paid jobs in our city.
“We have confirmed ourselves as the events capital of northern Australia as our city continues to attract major sports and performance events to the region, including Pink, the Matildas, State of Origin, the NRL Pacific Championships and more.”
Cr Hill said the low unemployment rate and the number of people wanting to move to Townsville has placed some strain on the city’s housing market.
“Our rental vacancy rates are some of the lowest they’ve been in a long time and currently sit below 1 per cent,” she said.
“It’s why Council has stepped in to try to create more housing availability through a range of initiatives.
“The North Rail Yards Project will open up a range of affordable housing options close to the city.
“Our Affordable Housing Action Plan has identified several action areas including looking to open up Council-owned land parcels for medium to high-density affordable housing.
“We are talking with the State and Federal Governments on what support they can offer to accelerate housing in our city.
“The future of Townsville is looking very bright and Council is implementing a range of measures to ensure the region can fully capitalise on those opportunities.”
