Monthly Archives: January 2014

Why is training in oil & gas drilling fee-free?

Posted on January 30, 2014 by

The Queensland Government’s blueprint for reform of vocational education and training (VET), Great Skills Real Opportunities, which was released in June last year, goes a long way toward creating a more efficient and responsive VET sector, but falls short in … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Labour market, Mining | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Rent auctions linked to constraints on inner city development

Posted on January 30, 2014 by

A story in mX yesterday afternoon highlighted an unnecessary law against so-called rent auctions: Brisbane’s rental squeeze is forcing prospective tenants to offer landlords extra cash to secure a place to live. As competition for properties in the inner city … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Regional infrastructure plan should be based on updated population projections

Posted on January 28, 2014 by

Having spent the first fifteen years of my life in Townsville, I’m a great supporter of regional Queensland, but as an economist I think the Government needs to do some further analysis before it commits large amounts of money to … Continue reading →

Posted in Population, Queensland Government, Townsville | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Chinese tourism boom for Cairns?

Posted on January 21, 2014 by

Cairns business leaders have been pinning their hopes on a surge in Chinese tourism for a while now, and they remain confident according to a Cairns Post report from yesterday (Could Cairns be on the cusp of a Chinese tourism … Continue reading →

Posted in Cairns, Tourism | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Qld Govt should implement cycling inquiry recommendation on helmets

Posted on January 20, 2014 by

This afternoon’s Brisbane mX newspaper ran a front page story on the struggling CityCycle bike hire scheme: Brisbane’s bike hire scheme has become a “gimmick” for visitors, with only one in four regular riders taking a subscription for longer than … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Qld jobs market remains sluggish – unlikely trend unemployment rate fell last month

Posted on January 16, 2014 by

Today’s labour force data from the ABS confirmed that the jobs market remains sluggish, with Queensland’s unemployment rate at 5.9 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms. Unfortunately, the ABS data aren’t very precise for Queensland and it’s hard to have … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market, Macroeconomy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Good pick up in home loans in Qld over 2013

Posted on January 13, 2014 by

I agree with MacroBusiness’s assessment (New home finance takes a breather) that the number of loans for the construction or purchase of new houses, which is linked closely with the health of the building industry, picked up in Queensland over … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Where is residential development occurring in the Brisbane metro area?

Posted on January 11, 2014 by

Every month the ABS releases new data on residential building approvals for Level 2 Statistical Areas (SA2s), which broadly correspond to suburbs, at least in the major cities. I’ve mapped the number of approvals for suburbs in the Brisbane metropolitan … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Good news for Qld building industry as new apartment approvals surge

Posted on January 10, 2014 by

Conditions will certainly improve in the Queensland building industry over 2014 as residential building approvals continue to recover (see first chart below based on the new ABS data), although we shouldn’t get too excited yet because the recovery appears to … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

SEQ has expensive public transport due to low density and costly trains

Posted on January 8, 2014 by

While hard on commuters, the recent Translink fare hike (see Brisbane Times coverage) still leaves South-East Queensland with a heavily subsidised public transport system, which it will continue to have given a relatively low population density and historically poor choices … Continue reading →

Posted in Brisbane, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments