The crane index was trotted out by Mr Newman three weeks ago at a Queensland Property Council of Australia lunch when he announced "ladies and gentlemen, the cranes are back".

Joh Bjelke-Petersen coined the index in the 1980s. Peter Beattie pulled it out again in the 1990s, with Anna Bligh following suit.

Now the Newman government can happily announce there are 33 per cent more cranes on the Brisbane skyline than there were late last year, with 48 of the machines reaching for the clouds.

And Mr Newman, having donned the requisite hi-vis and personalised hard hat on Thursday, couldn't be happier.

"It is a measure of economic activity that people can see," he said of the Queensland premiers' obsession with the crane index.

"It demonstrates that people are back on the tools, on the job sites and that we are going ahead as a state.  You can just see it just right there on the skyline."

Mr Newman attributed to the "unapologetic" pro-development attitude of the government, which he said resulted in streamlined planning and development approval systems and incentives like the $15,000 Great Start Grant, which he said had been taken up by almost 7000 householders.

It has also resulted in the city fringe being further gentrified, with more than a dozen cranes in the  Fortitude Valley, Teneriffe, Newstead area alone.

Mr Newman said it was "urban renewal".

"As part of the policies of this government, we want to see a mix of housing choices, so that all people can enjoy the refurbished and re-energised inner-cities in southeast Queensland," he said.

"For example, I know that the Lord Mayor is very much into ensuring that we have a mix of social housing and new developments and there are many examples only a half a kilometre from us right now [Teneriffe] which have been supported by myself when I was Lord Mayor, and as Premier.

"...It is a free market, it has been in this country for many years. Rent control has been found to be a disaster in US cities, so bottom line is to encourage more projects, with a mix of affordable housing, and to actually get rid of the red tape.

The longer it takes to get a project approved, the more expensive it is for developers and those costs ultimately get passed on to consumers.  So having an efficient approval system, having a timely approvals system is the best thing we can do to actually facilitate a proper mix and supply of housing."