Advertisement

Business starts to cheer up after Palaszczuk claims a clear mandate

Queensland’s business confidence has surged by the biggest amount in Australia but the state retains the title of least confident of all the states, according to a business confidence survey by Roy Morgan.

Nov 13, 2020, updated Nov 13, 2020
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. (Photo: AAP Image/Darren England)

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. (Photo: AAP Image/Darren England)

The state’s confidence level was up almost 19 points to 90.5 in October in the run-up to the election. Not only was it last on the state table, but it was behind Victoria, which had been in lockdown.

However, Roy Morgan chief executive Michelle Levine said the business sector had been weighed down by the election and the prospect of a hung parliament.

“The decisive victory by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk should remove a great deal of the uncertainty that has depressed business confidence in the state over the last six months,” Levine said.

“Queensland business confidence has now been below that of neighbour NSW since April 2020 despite barely any cases of COVID-19 in the sunshine state during this period.”

Nationally, a majority of industries had positive business confidence for the first time since February 2020. Public administration and defence led the way, followed by wholesale. The rest of the top five sectors were mining, transport/postal/warehousing and property.

Other industries in positive territory include electricity, gas water, community services and information media and telecommunications.

Still in the doldrums were manufacturing, retail, finance and insurance and well below average was the tourism-related accommodation and food services and recreation and personal.

InQueensland in your inbox. The best local news every workday at lunch time.
By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement andPrivacy Policy & Cookie Statement. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

The national business confidence levels was up 13 points in October to just below the neutral level of 100.

A majority of businesses, 52.4 per cent said the next 12 months would be a “good time to invest in growing the business” – the highest figure for this indicator for over a year since September 2019.

Business confidence was highest in Western Australia at 108.4.

More than a quarter of businesses, 28 per cent, said the business was better off financially than this time a year ago while more than half, 53.9 per cent said the business is worse off.

Local News Matters
Advertisement

We strive to deliver the best local independent coverage of the issues that matter to Queenslanders.

Copyright © 2024 InQueensland.
All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy