Thousands of Sydneysiders flocked to a Queensland jobs expo over the weekend, to see what options are available to them if they relocated north and went to work in the Sunshine state.
More than 5000 people, ranging from singles and young families to experienced professionals turned up to the 'Queensland on Show' jobs expo. Tradespeople are in high demand and Queensland is offering lucrative deals to tradies who make the move.
Expo Organiser Robin Grundon says the property and the resources boom are the part of the reason tradespeople are in high demand.
He told the ABC: "We've had a huge change in vocation from the hospitality industry going into real estate, from sheetmetal workers on the coast moving to the mines. So in turn we need the skilled labour to come and service the needs of citizens."
Queensland's Premier Anna Bligh is not apologising for poaching NSW workers and has likened the skills shortage to the State of Origin rivarly between the states.
"This is an entirely guilt-free experience," she said. "There's no doubt it's a bit cheeky and I appreciate that not everyone would be happy about us being down here on NSW turf."
"The reality is we need skilled people to keep growing Queensland's economy."
The push is not just targeted at people currently residing in NSW with some 5000 Victorians attened the expo in August this year and a number of job offers made on the spot.
Alan Wetton, the principal of LJ Hooker real estate at Hervey Bay and Maryborough,said:"For people it's more than just the weather to make them move north," he said. "It's the whole lifestyle package. We've had a lot of questions about the price of housing, the crime rate, what the schools are like."
Leah McHenry, a duty manager at the Airlie Beach Hotel, found a new housekeeper for the hotel at the show.
"Housekeepers and chefs are very hard to find," she said. "We spoke to a lady who was incredibly keen to move to Queensland and signed her up as a housekeeper."
Ms McHenry said because of the transitory nature of the population in the Whitsundays it was very difficult to find skilled people who were willing to commit to stay for longer than six months.
Ms Bligh said all levels of government needed to increase their commitment to training local people to fill skills gaps, but until those numbers started flowing through the system, recruiting overseas and interstate would continue.
"From our perspective, Queensland is building the largest projects in the country and while we're unashamedly pro-Queensland while we're down here I think it's also important to understand that this is important for the Australian economy," she said.
