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Today’s Cairns Post carries an article which starts with “Building approvals are booming”. Unfortunately for the Post the article then goes on to quote from sources which clearly indicate that approvals are not in fact “booming”.
Consider the following quotes..
Rick Carr in the July’s HTW Cairns Watch (from which the article quotes);
“Building approvals appear to have picked up pace since the start of this
year….However that amount still only represents about half of the ‘normal’ long term
average housing requirement in Cairns.”
Adam Gowlett, Urban Development Institute of Australia, quoted in this Cairns Post article;
“the number of building approvals in Cairns was still “significantly short” of the city’s long-term average for the last 30 years.”
Rick Carr again, in the same Post article;
“We’re in slow economic recovery mode but it’s gradually picking up pace..”
Conus in our own commentary on the approvals data earlier this week:
“In the Far North things held up pretty well..it would appear that the slow recovery in Cairns continues to build..”
Mark Beath over at Loose Change earlier this week;
” For the now completed financial year that still leaves Cairns LGA languishing in last place for approvals relative to population compared to other large councils.”
Hardly “booming” you might think! We’re all for spinning a positive story on our local economy when it’s warranted (and things certainly ARE picking up in Cairns and the region) but if, every time there is a minor improvement in data, our local “newspaper” trumpets “booms” and the like they are doing no one any good. The article itself presents rational, calm assessments so why the nonsense about “booming”?
We are proud to have CBC Staff Selection as supporters of the Conus/CBC Staff Selection Trend Employment and Jobseeker data series