It’s been an extraordinary day of news for Queensland today, with:
a) record net interstate migration over a twelve-month period of just over 50k, and record quarterly net interstate migration of 19k in December quarter 2021, revealed in the ABS’s latest population report (see chart below*); and
b) the publication of Peter Coaldrake’s hard hitting integrity review, which has confirmed what many of us have suspected for a long time about the inner workings of the Queensland Government – i.e. the excessive influence of lobbyists, a public service manipulated for political purposes, etc. – and has made some excellent recommendations which, to her credit, the Premier has agreed to implement.
With all these new Queenslanders (i.e. approx. 1,000/week if we use the 12 month gain, or nearly 1,500/week if we use the December quarter gain), it’s good we’re finally going to improve government accountability and integrity. Better late than never, of course. One recommendation which blew me away – given I’ve worked as a public servant at both state and federal levels and understand just how radical a measure this is, although apparently it’s been adopted in NZ and is wildly successful – is the presumption that cabinet documents should be made public in a timely fashion. This is the specific recommendation:
Cabinet submissions (and their attachments), agendas, and decisions papers be proactively released and published online within 30 business days of such decisions.
Well done Peter Coaldrake. Now it’s time for the government to follow through.
*Note that although we’re breaking records in terms of the number of people, the proportionate contribution of net interstate migration to state population was higher during previous peaks in the 1990s when we nearly got to 50k/year and had a smaller population.
Please feel free to comment below. Alternatively, you can email comments, questions, suggestions, or hot tips to contact@queenslandeconomywatch.com. Also please check out my Economics Explored podcast, which has a new episode each week.
Queensland Economy Watch 
Great insights, thanks Gene, as usual!
Do we have any insight into where these big inflows are heading?
There seems to be an oddity in the Qld demographic analysis, that splits “Greater Brisbane” (which includes Ipswich, Logan, Moreton and Redlands) into one entity, and regards other areas as regional or rural.
There is a risk that this amorphous urban mass may hide some significant regional trends, such as the voracious growth in Ipswich (including Ripley and Springfield) and the peri-urban areas around Ipswich (eg: Plainland, Rosewood, Boonah), as well as bayside populations centred around Redlands and Redcliffe.
If that is the case, are our various infrastructure planners missing out on these key demographic trends? Will we see increased metro-centralisation in such infrastructure spending, to the detriment of the broader SEQ corner’s growth?
Hi Mike, the ABS is keeping track of regional population growth – e.g.:
https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/regional-population/2020-21#queensland
Yes, those regions you’ve identified are growing strong. Re. interstate migrants specifically, my sense is that they’re largely going to SEQ, as you’d expect given it’s 2/3s of Qld in population terms. I’ll see what data may be out there that would be useful to write up. Thanks for the good question.