New research by University of Queensland Centre for Coal Seam Gas has shown a trend of increasing unemployment in Queensland’s Western Downs towns affected by the gas boom, but surrounding agricultural businesses are faring well.
The towns of Chinchilla, Miles and Roma have increasing unemployment levels potentially as the gas industry slows in those regions, but surprisingly the ‘out of work’ people are coming from those moving to the towns to take advantage of cheap housing and rentals.
New figures show 688 people have moved to Chinchilla who are participating in the federal government's relocation plan with the numbers of people in the program moving to the region increasing each quarter during last year.
Researchers believe ex-gas workers are more likely to leave a town in search of work and the current increase in unemployment is anecdotally coming from low income families moving to towns with cheap housing, such as Chinchilla’s over supplied housing market. Chinchilla housing values have dropped to $210,000 from a high of $420,000 in 2013, while average weekly rents have fallen to $187 from $400 per week in 2014.
The latest data also shows twice as many drug offences were recorded in the Chinchilla district during 2017 than the Queensland average.
It’s important to note average taxable incomes in the Chinchilla area are similar to the Queensland average at $70,000 a year and UQ research found employment and businesses seem better off than before Coal Seam Gas construction.
Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association state director Rhys Turner said Chinchilla has greatly benefited from the infrastructure and investment brought by the gas industry with higher non-primary business income than a decade ago.
“Over the last five years gas companies have paid over $300 million in direct payments to landholders for access to their properties to undertake activities,” Mr Turner said.
Meanwhile, new figures show primary production business income around Chinchilla jumped by $2.4 million over the past three years. In the Roma district agricultural income lifted by $7.8 million in 2016 from 2013.
University of Queensland’s Katherine Witt said a key message from the new research is each individual regional town has been affected differently from gas industry activity depending on their population size and proximity from major regional centres or a metropolitan city.
Dr Witt said some western Queensland communities have been through a significant period of rapid change and there has been economic benefits and costs.
“We talk a lot about boom and bust but now it’s time to start talking about a recovery phase,” she said.
“It’s about towns identifying strengths plus new opportunities and capabilities in order to speed-up the recovery phase as regions adjust from high levels of gas company activities.”
A full report on regional towns impact by UQ Centre for Coal Seam Gas is expected to be released in a fortnight.
You can have your say in the Coal Seam Gas industry independent report in a online survey.