Where is the Whitsundays?
Whitsunday Shire is approximately 125km north of Mackay and 250km south of Townsville, and is centred around Hamilton, Hayman, Daydream, South Molle, Lindeman, Brampton & Long Island. The islands are readily accessible by the fast catamaran ferries out of Shute Harbour, which is the second busiest harbour in Australia after Sydney.

What’s happening in the Airlie Beach Region?
Current and planned projects providing continuing employment and spending into the local economy includes:
• A $750 million golf course resort to be built over the next ten years- Link’s
• Gold coast based Resort Corp’s $130 million five star resort and convention centre – Funnel Bay
• $120 million first-stage integrated residential estate by Clough Property Developments Pty Ltd

These developments join another $1 billion in projects already approved and waiting to start plus another $1 billion worth of development under way, which include the $500 million Port of Airlie Marina which will add 240 marina berths, a hotel and luxury residences.
Airport There is continuing discussion as to the final location of the Whitsunday Airport, and one of the current proposals is that it be located midway between Bowen and Proserpine, which would provide ideal access for this property.
Whitsunday Regional Council: the council has recently gone through a major reform as part of the State Government initiative. The Whitsunday Regional council is now responsible for Bowen, Airlie Beach and Proserpine as well as 23 other small localities within the region.

What is so special about the Whitsunday Region?
From an investor’s point of view – the place is landlocked by its natural surroundings. It is squeezed between the Great Barrier Reef (which was world heritage listed in 1981) and the Conway Range National Park to the South, leaving only a limited amount of available land and most of this is already developed. It is a simple matter of demand chasing too little supply – and as another wise man once said –“they ain’t making any more land!”

From a visitor’s point of view – tourists come for the beaches, weather, sailing, scuba diving or snorkelling and the reef. (Roy Morgan Research – Brand Positioning Research, 2004)

The Whitsunday A Real Estate ‘hot spot’…now its official!

Australian property research guru Michael Matusik confirmed that the Whitsundays was a real estate “hot spot” when he addressed PRD nationwide Whitsunday Development Luncheon on Friday April 20 2007.

Mr Matusik said the region “well and truly” met the criteria for the sustained price growth which included a strong rate of sale and re-sale, increased investor interest, rising rents and limited supply of new properties.

According to Matsik, the Whitsundays are underpinned by a buoyant Queensland economy which continues to benefit from a rising population are excellent employment prospects.

“You read a lot about so-called hot-spots but there’s no doubt that the Whitsundays meets all the requirements for long-term growth”, he said. “Queensland developer Resort Corp will build a new resort in Airlie Beach as part of a $1 billion rollout of a series of Balinese inspired resorts” Midwood Australia May 07 report

Tourism
“The Whitsundays offers a unique combination of water, reef, island and coast and attract nearly 700,000 visitors per annum. In the year ending December 2004, 40% of all visitors to the Whitsundays were domestic intrastate visitors, 35% were overseas visitors and 25% were domestic interstate visitors.” 3.8.05 PRD Market Research Report

‘51,000 domestic and 213,600 international visitors in 2006 stayed a total of 3,703,300 nights in the Whitsundays (Tourism Research Australia – National Visitors survey)

Surrounding Region Infrastructure
Expansion of the rail and port infrastructure is also underway or planned. Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal at the Port of Hay Point, Bowen is reviewing expansions that may total over $850 million. The Hay Point coal terminals and some coal mines are now being expanded at a cost of $240 million and future expansions are under consideration. The Port Corporation is also spending $50 million at the Port of Hay Point. (Local industry MINING Source: Department of QLD Government 25.6.07)

The Mackay Whitsunday region is the black coal mining capital of Queensland. In 2003-04 there were 45 coal mines in Queensland: 34 open-cut and eleven underground. In the Mackay and Whitsunday region there were eighteen operating mines, sixteen open cut and two underground.

The world is demanding more coal from the region, particularly coking coal to feed the industry. To put it into context, coal exports in 2003-04 were valued at $4.5 billion – 76% of Queensland’s exports and 41% of Australia’s exports. The region’s mines employees more than 6,000 people and 9.8%* of all Queensland mining business (81 businesses) are located here. (*1998 ABS Business Register, Unpublished data, 2001 Geographic Boundaries)

Mackay/Whitsunday competitive advantages

• Large black coal deposits suitable for large scale, low cost mining methods, providing the basis of a world class coal mining province
• Bulk transport facilities include electric rail systems and two ports dedicated to the efficient transport and storage of black coal
• An established industry services sector, based on a solid nucleus in Mackay city, maintains the coal mining industry throughout the Bowen Basin
• Regional education institutes with mining and engineering research focus
• Mackay chosen as location for Queensland Mining Centre of Excellence

Corporate players in the region include BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), BHP Billiton Mitsui Coal Pty Ltd, Anglo Coal Australia Pty Ltd, Xstrata, Peabody Energy Australia Pty Ltd, Rio Tinto Coal Australia Pty Ltd, Australia Premium Coals Pty Ltd and Macarthur Coal. These companies are on the leading edge of coal mining innovative technology. Macarthur Coal plans to recover millions of tonnes of otherwise useless coking dust from tailing dams throughout the Bowen Basin. When mixed with weaker blends of coking coal the result is strong lump coal suitable for steel making.

“As a new entrant into the Mackay region market place, we have been pleasantly surprised with the level of sophistication, quality control and attention to detail exhibited by most businesses in the region. It is refreshing to see such a high level of commitment to customer services.” Greg Smith, General Manager – Operations, Prime Infrastructure

Looking ahead
Future growth opportunities in the region are excellent. The bulk of its production is cooking coal for furnaces. And as the world’s industry expands, especially in China, the export of coking coal from Mackay Whitsunday region expands with it. Coal production is expected to increase five to thirteen percent per annum to 2009-10 in Queensland – with similar growth rates predicted for Mackay. Source: ABS international trade statistics

Existing mines are being expanded – for example, the Rio Tinto new Hail Creek mine is increasing from eight to thirteen million tonnes per annum. Several new mines are under construction, while another twelve projects either have production leases or have submitted applications. BHP Billiton has announced plans to be a 100 million tonne coal company over the next decade, which will entail doubling production of coal in the Mackay Whitsunday region