"Gold Coast business operators say the Commonwealth Games has come just in time to save many tourist operators on the verge of going broke" (ABC News). This statement is worrying on so many levels.
First, for most of us in Australia (and it seems most in government) Queensland is a land of bounteous opportunity exceeded only by WA. People are, according to the polls, selling up in Victoria and moving in droves to enjoy sun, sea and boom times. If one of the more famous Queensland areas has it hard then either (a) we've all got it wrong about Queensland or (b) Australia is in trouble nationally. And we know that (b) isn't the case (don't we?).
Second, statements like this are self-fulfilling. Headlines like this (and they are not generated this time by the media but by local politicians) have a habit of staying in the memory long after they become false. Witness Victoria and South Australia that both have a lower unemployment rate at 5.3% than Queensland at 5.7% but have both been tarred with being "rustbelt" states.
Third, and this is a concern for democracy in this country, there are a disproportionate number of marginal seats in some areas and this warps our sense of political response. According to Antony Green's Pendulum, of the 20 most marginal Labor-held seats, 6 are in Queensland, 7 are in NSW and no other state has more than 2.
All a bit of a worry really.
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