People living in working-class suburbs of Logan and Ipswich and in remote Far North Queensland were among the most likely in Australia to tap into their superannuation during the pandemic, leaving almost nothing for retirement.
Under the Morrison government scheme, nine of the 10 areas with the highest withdrawal rates were in Queensland.
The highest withdrawal rate was in the northern peninsula region covering much of Cape York, with more than 55 per cent of working age residents taking money out of their superannuation accounts.
Other withdrawal hotspots were in working-class suburbs of south-east Queensland. From central Logan, through to Browns Plains and out to Goodna, more than one in three people tapped their superannuation.
The cash did nothing to change the unemployment rate in those areas.
The jobless rate in central Logan increased to almost 30 per cent from a pre-COVID 25.6 per cent, while in Redbank Plains it fell to 9.8 per cent from 11.9 per cent.
In the northern peninsula region, home to 2700 people, more than four-in-five have an Indigenous background – withdrawal rates were also high in the Torres Strait, Yarrabah and Palm Island – with the median age just 23.
The region went into the COVID pandemic with an unemployment rate of 17.2 per cent. By the middle of 2020, it had increased to 20.4 per cent.
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