Mining is becoming the sole driver of the Queensland economy

Mining companies and companies that service their needs are now the main occupiers of office space in the Brisbane CBD. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen Source: The Australian

HERE are three economic indicators that show the current state of the Queensland economy: Qantas has just opened a new lounge at the airport in the central Queensland town of Emerald; the small Darling Downs town of Chinchilla now has a latte joint in the main street with an umbrella outside extolling the virtues of Vittoria Coffee; locals at Port Douglas observe that the Sheraton Mirage resort has not been refurbished since it was built in the late 1980s.

The first two, of course, are products of the mining boom, while the state of the latter, for years the proud standard-bearer of the state's tourism industry after it was built by Christopher Skase, shows just what the industry has become.

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The Australian