According to the 2001 Census data that has just been released, Queensland's southeast corner has the fastest growing population of any region in Australia; particularly from people moving from interstate or overseas. The Australian economy is considered, by leading economists and the Reserve Bank, to be very sound. Its' stock exchange index is currently at a record high, whilst most western nations are 20% to 30% off their peak.

The engines driving this prosperity are not so much the well-known cities of Sydney and Melbourne, but are the Sunbelt States of Queensland and Western Australia. One indicator is population growth, and in the year to March 2002 the population of Queensland grew 1.9%, Victoria 1.3% and the rest of Australia 1.2%.

Another indicator is GDP growth and in the year to September 2001 Queensland grew 3.9% whereas Australia as a whole grew 2.6%. Queensland's population growth is driven by migration; 55% from other Australian States and 45% from overseas. Its current population of 3.75 million is growing by over 60,000 people every year, of which 35,000 are migrants. This strong growth creates jobs in building houses, schools, etc. and underpins the wealth of Queensland investments.

Queensland is a huge State with a land area three times the size of Texas. But most people live within a few kilometres of the Pacific coast with its endless surfing beaches and Great Barrier Reef that is 2,000 km long.

80% of the population growth of Queensland takes place in the State's far southeast corner within 100km of the capital city of Brisbane. Brisbane is set back from the coast, and two smaller cities have grown up on the coast - Gold Coast to its south and Sunshine Coast to its north. Their current populations and projected growth are:

These cities are all expanding towards each other and will soon form a major conurbation stretching 200 km along the coast in one of Australia's most scenic parts. Brisbane is already the third largest city in Australia and Gold Coast is the sixth largest; consistently ranked as the fastest growing region in the country due mainly to interstate migration.

The great attraction of southeast Queensland is its climate, which is as near to perfection as is possible to find anywhere in the world. Winter daily maximum temperatures are never below 20c and in summer the mercury often stays below 30c. Summer is the wet season, with rain falling mainly at night, and cyclonic winds rarely stretch this far south. Sea temperatures generally range from 21c in winter to 26c in summer, making water sports possible all year round.