City’s economy endures strain

New report shows growth across many sectors

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Midwives so special to mums

l CAIRNS NORTH

| Isabella Guzman Gonzalez

CAIRNS Hospital has paid tribute to its resilient midwives and their lifechanging work in the region during International Midwives Day on May 5.

Midwives across the Far North and the Midwifery Group Practice, antenatal clinic, birth suite and the Pregnancy Day Clinic were celebrated for supporting mums-to-be in their physical and psychosocial well-being.

International Midwives Day is an important day for three of Cairns’ longest- serving midwives: Doreen Gaudron (40 years), Nerissa Ward (34 years) and Margaret Heenan (26 years). Together they have clocked up 100 years of midwifery and nursing services. With so many years of service, the three midwives have lost count of how many mothers and babies they have cared for, but the figure is in the thousands. What they remember very well is the number of babies named after them. Ms Ward’s count stands at three, Ms Heenan two and Ms Gaudron one.

Currently, Ms Heenan works in the Pregnancy Day Clinic with women with high-risk pregnancies. “I do like working with more complex cases because you’re improving outcomes for mothers and babies in a very tangible way,” she said.

“I get to know the women very well as I might see them once or twice a week.”

Ms Ward said midwifery was more than just a job.

“Midwifery really is a vocation. It’s not so much a job as it is a passion,” she said.

Trained as a nurse in 1971 and then as a midwife in 1974, Ms Gaudron can’t imagine herself doing anything else.

“If you say to people that you’re a midwife, they think that it must be a nice job to do," she said.

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l CAIRNS REGION

Nick Dalton

A NEW report indicates that the economy of the Cairns region is holding up despite the rising costs of living.

Cummings Economics director Bill Cummings said in his February-March 2023 economic trends report “that despite the easing of the flush of activity that took place post-COVID and despite the impact of the Reserve Bank’s moves to curb inflationary pressures, the indications are that the regional economy is holding up well at this point in time”.

He said the population growth of 2900 or 1.7 per cent to over 172,000 people last year “confirms the strong bounceback that occurred as COVID restrictions lifted in 2021-22 with Cairns Local Government Area (LGA) recording growth after the very low figures of the previous year during restrictions.

Mr Cummings said the increase came after strong interstate migration into Queensland in September and December quarters in 2021 (of 16,612 and 19,247).

He said passenger numbers through Cairns Airport domestic and international terminals were improving with domestic numbers 11 per cent down preCOVID although international figures were at 60 per cent of preCOVID.

Mr Cummings said the workforce had probably grown by about 1-1.5 per cent over the past 12 months.

“The index indicates that the employed workforce in the region has probably increased by about 4-5 per cent since the onset of COVID in February/March 2020,” he said.

According to the Queensland Government Statistician’s Office, the total people employed in the Cairns region was 141,900 – up 7400 or 5.5 per cent on February 2022 of 134,500.

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“The long-term fall in numbers on unemployment benefits as COVID effects have passed has ‘flattened’ out below pre-COVID levels,” Mr Cummings said.

In March 2023 8185 people were receiving JobSeeker or other benefits in Cairns and 14,385 in the Cairns region compared to 9449 and 15,767 in March 2022.

Cairns Regional Council building approvals were well above pre-COVID, Mr Cummings said. March 2023 figures were 73, compared to 46 in March last year.

To improve the economy, advocacy and economic development organisation Advance Cairns is pushing for diversification.

Advance Cairns chief executive officer Jacinta Reddan said “Advance Cairns will continue to push for initiatives which foster economic diversification and indeed the rapid climb post-COVID demonstrated the resilience of the broader economy.”

But Cairns Chamber of Commerce vice-president Matthew Tickner said cost of living pressures including soaring electricity process, interest rate rises and inflation were hurting both businesses and households and the federal and state governments needed to do more to help.

It’s never too early to talk, read, sing, play and share stories with your child. First 5 Forever is a family literacy program aimed at supporting stronger language and literacy environments for children aged 0-5 years and their families. Visit our website for more information about session dates, times and locations: www.cairns.qld.gov.au/library/whats-on/event-programs/first5forever

FREE EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Read, learn, create and discover at Cairns Libraries. Offering a wide range of events for all ages, Cairns Libraries provides you with opportunities to connect with ideas, themes, and personalities. Visit our What’s On page on our website for more information and to discover what’s coming up at your local library: www.cairns.qld.gov.au/library/whats-on

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Discover how easy it is to access the library from home 24/7. Our eLibrary collection includes eBooks, eAudiobooks, movies, TV shows, magazines and learning resources, such as online newspapers and family research archives. Visit the Cairns Libraries website to learn more about eLibrary collections: www.cairns.qld.gov.au/library/books-and-more/elibrary www.cairns.qld.gov.au/library