Category Archives: Mining

Rocky apartment tower aimed at Gladstone DIDO workers

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Gene Tunny

The one-and-one-quarter hour drive from Rockhampton to the LNG boom town of Gladstone is comparable to a commute from the Gold Coast to Brisbane, which many people do every day. Hence it makes sense that Rockhampton is being used as … Continue reading →

Posted in Gladstone, Mining, Rockhampton | 2 Comments

Rents growing again (modestly) after post-GFC stability

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Gene Tunny

The 2010-11 Annual Report of the Residential Tenancies Authority, released earlier this week, includes a wealth of interesting data relating to Queensland’s rental sector. While we know rents in some parts of Queensland (e.g. Gladstone) are soaring due to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, Macroeconomy, Mining | Leave a comment

5,000 FIFO/DIDO workers forecast for Surat Basin

Posted on September 25, 2011 by Gene Tunny

OESR released its latest Surat Basin Population report on Friday, and it shows a big expected jump in fly in-fly out (FIFO) and drive in-drive out (DIDO) workers in the region in 2012 (see figure below). OESR notes: The projected … Continue reading →

Posted in Mining, Population | Leave a comment

No sign of global economic turmoil in Gladstone

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Visiting Gladstone today I was struck by the magnitude of the impacts of the resources boom on the city, including rows and rows of dongas lined up at the port ready for transport to Curtis Island and the unavailability of … Continue reading →

Posted in Gladstone, Mining | Leave a comment

Treasurer’s “secret mine deal” shows real leadership

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Treasurer Andrew Fraser has done the right thing in working around the Government’s proposed strategic cropping land (SCL) policy. As reported in today’s Rockhampton Morning Bulletin’s lead story, Treasurer’s secret mine deal: QUEENSLAND Treasurer Andrew Fraser has struck a secret … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Mining | Leave a comment

$660 million of mineral exploration expenditure in Qld in 2010-11

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Gene Tunny

These charts are based on data from the latest ABS Mineral and Petroleum Exploration publication:

Posted in Mining | Leave a comment

Qld still set to boom

Posted on September 14, 2011 by Gene Tunny

BIS Shrapnel has come to the same obvious conclusion as everyone else who has looked at the planned resources sector investment in Queensland (Growth years tipped for Queensland): QUEENSLAND can look forward to booming growth in the next four or … Continue reading →

Posted in Macroeconomy, Mining | Leave a comment

Retail trade has held up better in Qld than in rest of Australia

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Retail turnover has held up better in Queensland than in the rest of Australia (excluding WA) according to this chart in OESR’s latest Queensland Economic Review: Again, while the resources boom is delivering Queensland much good fortune, WA still leads … Continue reading →

Posted in Mining, Retail trade | Leave a comment

Qld agriculture reliant on 457 visas

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Gene Tunny

At the end of July, there were 920 temporary, business-sponsored migrants holding 457 visas working in agriculture in Queensland, compared with 300 in NSW and smaller numbers in other States (see Table 1.22 in this Immigration department report). While over … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Mining | Leave a comment

Buy local policy would be costly in the long-term

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Gene Tunny

With the two-speed (a.k.a. patchwork) economy driven by the resources boom – and associated high exchange rate – Australia was always going to see more job losses in manufacturing, such as the 1,000 jobs lost at BlueScope Steel. The Government … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market, Macroeconomy, Mining | Leave a comment