Our economy is punching above its weight and jobs are being created faster than the economists
can comprehend because condence is rippling through the community.Property markets are rising
again on the back of growing optimism. No place demonstrates the impact of self-belief better than
Townsville, in north Queensland.

Townsville has become a very confident city, buttressed by an economy with numerous sturdy
elements: tourism, administration, manufacturing, education, the military, resources. Its residential
market had five strong years from 2003 to 2008, before taking a breather over the past 18 months.

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A HOUSING shortage in Cairns is looming by the end of the year, a new report warns.The Herron
Todd White monthly review predicts a lack of new residential properties late this year.“Of longer
term concern is the slowdown in residential development with new house construction down, at
an average of about 60 building approvals for new houses each month compared to a long-term
average requirement of about 100 per month,” the report said. “New unit development is at an
almost standstill.

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Across Australia, there is one mining boom town that stands head and shoulders above the rest;
one town with over a massive $65bn in planned and committed infrastructure projects. That town
is Gladstone, a town of 30,000 on the mid-north coast of Queensland, just to the south
of Rockhampton.

With nine planned or committed infrastructure projects over $1bn in value, Gladstone is the classic
example of an infrastructure boom town. The value of the town’s projects has rocketed by 191%
over the last two years to a breath-taking $65bn (see Chart 1, right). Gladstone can no longer be
called just an infrastructure boom town. It has now joined the ranks of Karatha, Port Hedland and
Dampier in becoming a true ‘super-infrastructure’ boom town.

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SOME are calling it ‘‘payback year’’, others ‘‘the year of the investor’’.I see it as ‘‘the year of
the regional centre’’. It’s clear 2010 will be a dierent year to the previous one, with those
who worked hard for not much reward in 2009 expecting better returns. These are the people
looking for payback.

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One day after receiving an annual QSUPER statement from my employer I feltincredibly frustrated,
and shocked. I could not believe that after committing to university study for seven years and
working within my profession for over 20 years that my life savings (not including the equity in my
home) would amount to less than $100,000 (yes the Global Financial Crisis desecrated by Super).
Something had to change, and fast…I could keep doing what I was doing for another 20 years and
have the same result OR do something .......

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