The cry of “what about us?’’ is common from the north every year when Budgets are delivered and the infrastructure funding is dished out. The Olympics and Cross River Rail have only added to the northern belief that they are missing out, that the southeast has hogged all the loot.

Townsville, the de facto capital of the north, has battled unemployment that has reached double figures in the recent past, a juvenile crime wave, staggering insurance costs, floods and an at-times moribund economy.

But being the home of marginal seats and the centre of political attention has its benefits and it could be that the geography and isolation that had worked against Townsville in the past, could now be the catalyst for change.

It’s all about energy and politics.

Billions in development is earmarked for the city and region as renewables, batteries, hydrogen, green metals and services add to the city’s economy. But it is fair to say it has a long way to go.

“Townsville is recovering from a long period of economic underperformance and remains challenged by social dysfunction,’’ a report by PVW partners and local economist and James Cook University adjunct professor Colin Dwyer said.

Dwyer told In Queensland that getting workers to the city was now being affected by crime (100 crimes a day reported), insurance and housing. Up until 2021, its economy was going backwards.

One local builder told Dwyer it was offering tradies 30 per cent more to attract workers to its project.

“There are many other projects that will have to price/wage match or be delayed. In addition, as direct and indirect Olympics 2032 projects become more urgent the same practices will occur, further crowding out regional projects or blowing out costs.’’

Adding to the issue are the state seats of Townsville, Thuringowa and Mundingburra which are vital if the Labor Government wants to retain power. At the moment that is a tough ask, but that hasn’t stopped the money rolling in.

Since the start of the year, it has announced a $500 million battery strategy based in Townsville, an on-country program for troubled youth which focusses on the juvenile crime wave in the city, as well as the expansion of existing the case management team.

On top of that there was a police helicopter for the city, tourism campaigns including government subsidies, funding of a local manufacturer, a new child and youth acute response team, disaster support following Cyclone Kirrily and floods, 81 new interns for the hospital, a pilot program for affordable housing and recruits for the $5 billion CopperString project, a transmission project bought by the Palaszczuk Government.

About 500 extra troops are heading to the northern city over the next few years adding to the 4000 who are currently based there.

Suncorp has also earmarked the city as a northern hub as a sweetener for the $4.9 billion ANZ takeover of its bank.

The $5 billion CopperString electricity transmission project linking the city and Mt Isa has started bringing big opportunities for local business as well about 800 jobs over its construction.

The Miles Government has also just promised $570 million to develop a vanadium battery supply chain in Townsville.

A part of the deal means Idemitsu Australia, Sumitomo Electric Industries and Vecco Group have signed a non-exclusive collaboration agreement to develop an end-to-end vanadium flow battery supply chain.

The Government’s investment could be seen as a bit of a gamble. Despite having a world class vanadium resource west of Townsville and several companies vying to prove their resource, only one mine, Saint Elmo near Julia Creek, is in development.

Richmond Vanadium, Vecco and QEM have their own projects that could provide a substantial boost to the region, but there is no certainty about their projects.

Up ahead is a lot more, including the potential $2.1 billion TECH project to create green metals.

Sun Metals also started a $450 million expansion two years ago and is a key to the development of a hydrogen sector.

Its associated company, Ark Energy (also owned by Korea Zinc) broke ground last year in a 1 megawatt electrolyser for its push into hydrogen.

The city’s hydrogen hub is expected to create about 200 jobs. Edify Energy has about $137 million, including about $27 million from the German Government for its hydrogen scheme in the city Lansdowne industrial precinct where it will build an electrolyser and produce about 800 tonnes a year of hydrogen.

There’s no doubt the city is in need, but there is a long list of cities and towns that would love the attention Townsville is receiving.

In the past regional centres like Gladstone (LNG) and Mackay (coal) have had their booms while Townsville has often been left behind.

But its position as a region that is up-for-grabs politically could be the spark that drives the city of 198,000 people and adds to the emerging benefits of its geographic position.

It would be a safe bet to say that more will come as the October election nears.