It’s clear the mining downturn is having significant adverse effects, such as large increases in unemployment in regions that are more dependent on mining, such as the Mackay and Fitzroy regions (see chart above, and also see the Courier-Mail report Unemployment doubles in Mackay as mining meltdown hammers town, noting the report uses the volatile original ABS data). Given the profound implications of the mining downturn, it is timely that the Griffith APEC Study Centre has arranged an upcoming interactive panel discussion for Tuesday 5 May in Brisbane:
The end of the mining boom: What’s next?
The panel discussion is being supported by the Queensland branch of the Economic Society of Australia, of which I’m the Secretary. I’ll give a presentation at the event, as will my fellow ESA Qld Committee member Michael Knox, Chief Economist and Director of Strategy at Morgans. I’m very much looking forward to it, and I’d recommend it to anyone interested in the outlook for the Queensland and national economies.
Queensland Economy Watch 
“The end of the mining boom: What’s next?”
Perhaps a return to normality and a one-speed economy in Queensland?…..
I think the challenge now facing economists in Queensland is to work out how to make the most of a relatively slower (but stable) economy (a distributional challenge), rather than looking for the next new thing to get excited about (an investment issue).