Gold Coast-based construction company Red Dog Group says numerous infrastructure jobs are currently underway to help underpin economic growth into 2025.

Red Dog Group managing director James Elliott says economic activity advanced in 2024 and has continued to provide employment opportunities and support a range of consulting businesses.

“Big ticket projects such as the Pacific Highway upgrade and the Light Rail Stage 3 are a large part of our workbook, but we’re also seeing a lot of work coming from local government and commercial developers,” he says.

“Things like boat ramps and foreshore upgrades are common, but also large industrial projects for warehousing and logistics are taking a lot of our resources.

He adds that while the broader economy is on life support, these types of jobs should help pull the industry through the first part of the year until other sectors such as retail, services and tourism pick up.

In James’ experience, using funds on infrastructure generally foreshadowed growth in further areas because it set a foundation for employment opportunities in the future.

“Public transport, roads and facilities that provide jobs are all crucial to the country’s next phase of growth and building them now will buttress any eventual upturn which will eventually happen,” he says.

“It’s all cyclical and I’ve seen the position we are in now many times before. You could call it the calm before the storm, but providing the building block through infrastructure development has always created the right environment for the next stage of economic growth.”