According to the ANZ-Roy Morgan data, Queensland consumers are buoyant. The confidence level in the state lifted 6.5 per cent last week, the best performance nationwide.

That was put down to the fact that the worst of the Omicron wave appears to be in the rear-vision mirror.

Business confidence, however, has been a disaster.

According to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Pulse survey, business outlook for Queensland over the next year had crashed to the lowest level since the start of the pandemic.

The major difference between the two is a matter of time. January appears to have been when Queensland, and Australia generally, was facing its worst fears about Omicron and that was when the Pulse survey was done.

The veil was lifted in February.

Nationally, consumer confidence lifted 3.3 per cent last week and the ANZ said this was despite the fact that petrol prices were at record levels.

Even creeping inflation couldn’t dull the expectations of consumers.

“Although confidence rose above the neutral level of 100, it is still well below its long-run average, so we can’t say higher inflation isn’t having an impact,” ANZ head of Australian economics David Plank said.

“The passing of the Omicron peak, along with news that international borders will reopen to vaccinated tourists later this month, no doubt helped lift sentiment despite rising petrol prices. Confidence increased in every state.”

Contrast that with the NAB survey in January when it found that “business conditions deteriorated in January as the Omicron variant caused COVID-19 cases to reach unprecedented levels, triggering consumer caution and staff shortages. Profitability, trading conditions, and employment all fell, with the impact felt across almost all states and industries.”