With 75 per cent of the crop more or less destroyed, and few sources of alternative supply available, prices to the consumer have quadrupled. The effects of these natural disasters are now gradually abating. Information on coal mining suggests that it is gradually recovering, though more slowly than had been expected initially owing to the difficulties of getting water out of the pits.
Iron ore production has fully recovered. The banana plants are re-generating. Most other crops are also getting back to normal supply levels. As this occurs, we should see the impact of these events on prices start to reverse. For Queensland, the scars from last summer’s events remain – and always will.