The big question: what’s in it for us?

When it’s budget season the big question on everyone’s lips is what’s in it for our region?

In the Queensland State Budget, we saw record spending on health and strong funding allocation for statewide infrastructure. Townsville received infrastructure investment worth $996.3m.

This included $232m for the upgrade of the Townsville Channel Capacity, widening it to allow for access by larger vessels. This is an investment that seeks to champion productivity. Similarly, Townsville City Council’s budget saw critical investment in infrastructure and a boost for community services.

Some $33.8m from the council will flow into a Safe City Investment, a scheme that will aim to encourage increased foot traffic and families into Townsville’s city centre. This spend will likely act to boost the appeal for those wanting to move to Townsville.

These investments put down by both the state and council budgets are geared towards drawing investment and migrants to the region, but they have done little to address the elephant in the room.

As the nation grapples with a housing availability crisis and a skill shortage, it was disappointing that there has been little to tackle the attraction of skilled workers to the region, or the acute pressure being felt around housing affordability and availability.

The sole spend on this front, from the State Government, was $7.8 million in additional funding for the Tradies in Paradise Initiative. This expenditure will not stretch far enough. We need tradies and builders to come to Townsville to ensure that the key projects are delivered on time.

Critical to attracting skilled workers is ensuring there are enough houses for both those flocking to the regions.

With opportunity comes responsibility, and it is critical that policymakers take a longterm strategic view to ensure Townsville can capitalise on the opportunities within grasp.