Australia’s resource boom might be cooling, but in the port town of Gladstone on Queensland’s central coast it does not feel that way. On the surface at least it appears to be a boom town, with workers in luminous high-visibility vests clogging streets scattered with billboards recruiting for jobs such as “advanced rigger” and “outdoor technician”.
The contrast with recent headlines, and government ministers, declaring the end of Australia’s resource boom could not be more stark in this town, where cleaners can earn as much as A$2,000 ($2,080) a week with overtime. “Gladstone was a small town,” says Les, a 56-year-old crane driver who has spent most of his working life there. “Now it’s a madhouse. People are making lots of money [and] there’s not enough housing.”
Australia’s exposure to the commodity demand of China, India and other rising Asian economies has driven expansion in towns such as Gladstone and given the country an annual growth rate of about 3 per cent and an unemployment rate of just 5.4 per cent. But falls in the prices of key exports, rising labour costs and a high Australian dollar have seen several multibillion-dollar projects axed or postponed.