Region to be tested

Economic lobby group praises economic resilience to COVID-19

THE Darling Downs’ peak economic lobby group has praised the Toowoomba region’s export market for its “resilience” in the face of coronavirus.

Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise CEO Ali Davenport said the region was uniquely placed to combat the threat of reduced exports and trade.

“While no-one can be sure of the economic impacts of COVID-19, one thing that we can be certain of is that the Darling Downs has one of the most resilient and diverse economies in Australia, and therefore we will recover quicker than most parts of the country,” she said.

“We have six pillars to our economy – energy and resources, agriculture, health, education, retail and defence.

“It’s this diversity that gives us our strength economically and has provided Toowoomba with an average growth rate of four per cent over the last 10 years, which is double that of Queensland and Australia.”

It comes as the first Coronavirus cases are confirmed outside of southeast Queensland, including one in Kingaroy and Rockhampton.

Contact tracing is under way for these new cases, which brings the total confirmed in Queensland to 35.

Ms Davenport said the incentives and grants offered by the Federal and State Governments would be welcomed by a business sector racked with uncertainty.

“The Federal Government has implemented an almost $18 billion stimulus package to ensure that businesses can ride out the disruption caused by the virus,” she said.

Agricultural exporters directly affected by coronavirus will also be able to apply for a new $500,000 grants package by the State Government.

But TSBE food and agribusiness export manager Justin Heaven said it was still unclear how much the region’s economy would be affected by a pandemic.

“Supply chains have slowed but are continuing, so it really comes down to how long this will last, and no one knows,” he said.

“As far as export markets go, they’ll be impacted.”