The region is benefiting from a post-lockdown "brain-gain" with marked increases in migration from capital cities like Sydney and Melbourne.

The pandemic reshaped work habits, making remote work a preference, allowing people to choose where they live based on lifestyle rather than proximity to employment hubS.

The Sunshine Coast now has approximately 21,400 knowledge sector jobs, with employment growth in managerial and professional services expected to exceed 135% over the next 20 years.

These aren't just remote workers escaping Sydney traffic—they're software engineers, designers, game developers, content creators, and digital entrepreneurs who chose Queensland's lifestyle without sacrificing their global careers. We're already here. We're your built-in SXSW audience and participants. We're the knowledge economy workers who live here by choice and would welcome a world-class event that validates our decision to build our careers from Queensland.

This is Queensland's brain capital—the creative professionals and knowledge workers who power the modern economy. SXSW is how you activate us, connect us globally, and signal to the world that Queensland is where innovation happens.

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World Expo 88 transformed Brisbane from a "big country town" into a world-class city. The event attracted more than 15.7 million visitors and achieved both its economic aims and very good attendances, successfully promoting Queensland as a tourist destination and spurring major re-development at the South Brisbane site.

But the real legacy wasn't just infrastructure—it was cultural transformation. Expo 88 left subtle legacies including a shift in the lifestyles and cultural habits of local people.

It opened Queensland to the world and the world to Queensland.

Brisbane 2032 will do the same—The Olympics brings physical infrastructure and global attention.

But without investment in the innovation economy—the brain capital, the knowledge workers, the cultural experience industries—we risk building stadiums without building the industries that employ Queenslanders when the Olympic torch is extinguished.

SXSW is your investment in that future. Film. Music. Games. Interactive media. These aren't add-ons—they're the industries that will define Queensland's post-Games economy.

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NSW Government invested approximately $12 million over five years (roughly $2.4M annually), plus City of Sydney contributed around $670K total over three years (~$223K annually). Combined: roughly $2.6-2.7M annually.

The Queensland Government is investing $7.1 billion in Olympic venue infrastructure, with the Australian Government contributing $3.435 billion towards Games infrastructure.

SXSW over seven years represents just 0.35% of Queensland's Olympic infrastructure investment.

Put another way: your government has committed $1 billion to tourism over four years ($250M annually). SXSW at $3.6-4M annually is 1.4-1.6% of your existing annual tourism budget. It's not even a new line item—it's a modest reallocation of existing resources toward a globally recognised, pre-built event.

Compare this to what Queensland already spends:

• Tourism Queensland's annual budget: $250 million
• A single major infrastructure project like Cross River Rail: $5.4 billion
• SXSW for seven years: What Queensland spends on tourism in less than two weeks