Category Archives: Brisbane

Brisbane Lockdown 2.0 – the sequel no one wanted

To keep Queenslanders safe, our state government has decided to lock down the over2 million residents of Greater Brisbane for the next three days, but its sudden, unexpected announcement at 8am sparked immediate panic buying in our supermarkets, and an … Continue reading

Posted in Brisbane, Budget, Macroeconomy, Queensland Government | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Bulk of coal mining jobs in Central Qld, but Brisbane has 2-3K

Last Wednesday, I was pleased to note that the Chinese ban on Australian thermal coal appears to have had little impact so far (check out Pick up in thermal coal prices over last month). This is good news especially for … Continue reading

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Brisbane Inner City still the biggest beneficiary of Qld Gov’t CAPEX

Following last year’s state budget, I posted on how Brisbane’s inner city was the big winner regarding state government capital spending. That continues in 2020-21 with the continuation of the huge Cross River Rail project (see chart below). Out of … Continue reading

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South Bank theatre with $25M cost blow out shouldn’t have been funded by Qld Gov’t in first place

Yesterday, the Brisbane Times reported COVID-19, airconditioning blamed for South Bank theatre cost blowout. The new $150 million state-government-provided theatre attached to QPAC at South Bank will cost an extra $25 million. And the project is less than one quarter … Continue reading

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Bad planning policies leading to poor outcomes in Brisbane City according to UQ researchers

Two UQ geographers have written a great Conversation article, republished in the Brisbane Times, on Why city policy to ‘protect the Brisbane backyard’ is failing. The authors argue that current planning policies lead to undesirable outcomes. Current Brisbane City Council … Continue reading

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Second GC motorway should have been built decades ago – BODBTN extract

It was good to see in a media statement yesterday the state government’s commitment to a second M1: The Palaszczuk Government’s economic recovery plan will be significantly boosted with a $755 million commitment to build the 16-kilometre stage one of … Continue reading

Posted in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Infrastructure, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Gold Coast and Inner Brisbane the worst affected Qld regions in employment terms

According to the latest regional payroll jobs data released by the ABS today, in early August employment on the Gold Coast was still 6% below the level it was mid-March, before all the major COVID-related restrictions began (see chart below). … Continue reading

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Imperative to avoid bad policy measures like super increase which would set back recovery

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is right to consider delaying the legislated increase in the 9.5% superannuation guarantee rate, which is scheduled to start increasing by half a percentage point each year from 1 July 2021 until it gets to 12%. … Continue reading

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Qld’s regional economies & COVID-19 – video chat with Pete Faulkner

Earlier today I chatted with Pete Faulkner from Far-North-Queensland-based Conus Business Consultancy Services regarding how Queensland’s regional economies have been impacted by COVID-19. Check out the recording of our Zoom conversation below. You can download the slides we chatted about … Continue reading

Posted in Brisbane, Cairns, Labour market, Mackay, Macroeconomy, Migration, Mining, North Queensland, Population, Tourism, Townsville, Uncategorized, Wide Bay-Burnett | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cross River Rail cost blowout means project doesn’t stack up

Based on recent Courier-Mail reports of a huge cost blowout, the Cross River Rail project could deliver a net loss to the community of around $5 billion, or almost $1,000 for every Queenslander.  The latest news about the troubled Cross … Continue reading

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