Category Archives: Townsville

My comments on NQ exit in ABC online story

Thanks to ABC state political reporter Josh Bavas for asking my opinion on the new state of North Queensland that has been proposed from time-to-time, most recently by Katter’s Australian Party and Queensland Senator Matt Canavan, Minister for Resources and … Continue reading

Posted in Cairns, North Queensland, Townsville, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Qld regional unemployment rates facet wrap via R

Queensland is such a large and diverse state, with regional economies having vastly different drivers of growth (e.g. tourism in Cairns, mining in Mackay), that it’s often hard to get a sense of how different parts of the state are … Continue reading

Posted in Cairns, Labour market, Mackay, Migration, Mining, Townsville, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

South Brisbane & South Townsville top Qld in building approvals so far in 2017-18

In my last post, I considered the Queensland construction industry outlook. In today’s post, I take advantage of new data on building approvals at the small area level (ABS SA2 regions) for 2017-18 so far released by the ABS yesterday. … Continue reading

Posted in Brisbane, Housing, Townsville, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Technological disruption & NQ business – JCU Townsville event on Thursday 26 October

On Thursday next week, I will travel up to Townsville to speak at a Business Professionals Networking Event at James Cook University, along with other professional association representatives, on the topic: The impact of technological disruption and how it will … Continue reading

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Townsville Bulletin report on funding feud: Brisbane economist “under fire”

Tony Moore’s recent Brisbane Times article featuring my chart on per capita State Government capital spending by region has prompted responses from the Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill and Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt. As reported in Domanii Cameron’s article Feud over … Continue reading

Posted in Townsville, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Adani no go would be bitter blow to Townsville

Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill is one of the strongest advocates for the Adani mega mine, and she must now be very worried that the mine will not proceed, and that Townsville will miss out on the mine HQ, FIFO jobs, … Continue reading

Posted in Mining, Townsville, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Townsville getting $250M Super Stadium, but running out of water

One definition of economics is that it is the study of the allocation of scarce resources to competing uses. It says each additional dollar should go to the use which provides the greatest additional benefit. As such, it looks very … Continue reading

Posted in Townsville, Uncategorized, Water | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Comments in Courier-Mail on Qld regional economies and structural change

Today, the Courier-Mail is re-launching its GoQld campaign, this time with a focus on regional economies. It has rightly identified the large divergence in employment growth between SEQ and the rest of Queensland, and it is reporting a loss of … Continue reading

Posted in Labour market, Macroeconomy, Mining, North Queensland, Townsville, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Why the Adani mega mine is welcome news in Townsville

It is welcome news to the local community that Adani will base its Carmichael coal mine headquarters in Townsville , which has struggled with job losses and high unemployment over the last couple of years. The Townsville Bulletin reports: “Townsville … Continue reading

Posted in Mining, North Queensland, Townsville, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

US recovery on track, while Australian economists wait anxiously for latest National Accounts

The latest US jobs data show an economy that is growing quite nicely, with 178,000 new jobs over the last month, and with unemployment falling to 4.6%, its lowest rate since the financial crisis (see chart below). However, the market … Continue reading

Posted in Agriculture, Macroeconomy, Mining, North Queensland, Townsville, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments