Langkawi, a small island off the coast of Malaysia, in 2002 had cable car infrastructure up one of its mountains built. This steep but scenic ride annually attracts around 1M people. Build it and they will come. How many would a cable car up Mt. Archer attract?
Last week I mentioned that Denis Wagner, a Director of Wagner Corporation, is coming to Rockhampton for a business luncheon on August 29th. Wagner Corporation captured national media attention when building Australia’s first public airport in over 47 years on the outskirts of Toowoomba. The construction time taken and the cost to complete were both surprisingly low to say the least. The reason for building it was to make their business park more attractive for businesses to set up there. The businesses came. Along with it more, easier, opportunities for local industries to move freight around Australia, and now into Asia.
What could we build in Central Queensland that would bring more people and opportunities?
A weir, ring-road, art gallery, flood levee bank, an airstrip, conference centre, even island resorts are all on the table along with other projects. The spin-off benefits, the ‘they’s’ that will come, of these projects have all been discussed, some for a number of years.
What though could be built quickly, won’t need government funding and with minimal red tape to deal with, that ‘they’ will come to? Which begs another question: who are ‘they’?
These are the types of questions hopefully Denis Wagner will inflame when he visits Rockhampton.
Wagner Corporation is arguably perceived as a doer. If they recognise a problem they do something about it, fund and build the infrastructure needed if necessary. Not just an airport, they built their own wharf at the Port of Brisbane because they wanted a more efficient way to get their cement products to offshore markets. Striving for intrepid progress to achieve beneficial outcomes, is their slogan.
It will be a shame if Denis’s address at the business luncheon is met with enthusiastic applause but nothing is ignited by it. This is why we should be thinking now of who we want to attract, what needs to be built to attract them, and how it could be done with only minimal government intervention. Things like the wave pool, the company building the prototype on Yeppoon Road have indicated that at this stage there is no plan for it to be opened to the public. Could local investors focussed on developing opportunities here rather than selling the wave pool design worldwide make a go of it? Could that bring additional tourists and lead to complimentary projects built around it, not just a surf board shop, but a white-water raft park for example? Creating more jobs, more reasons for people to visit and perhaps even relocate to the region. It doesn’t just have to be infrastructure that needs to be built for ‘they’ to come. Create an event, look at the crowds Riverfest attracted this year.
We need to stop relying solely on government to be the ‘builder’, or more correctly the instigator and financier. Local businesses need to consider what is needed to make their operations more efficient and research if other businesses have the same issues, then together address them, rather than wait for government to possibly act.
Sure, easy to say, doing this is much harder. But if we don’t, we risk our economy lagging behind those regions that do. Which is not a great business climate to operate within.
Gaining an insight on how others do it is an obvious start. Denis Wagner will be speaking at the Frenchville Sports Club on Thursday August 29, starting 11.30am. To reserve your $30 seat email events@ring.org.au.