Updated regional population data. Cairns thumping Townsville

The ABS today revised their regional population data for 2016 and 2017, so we wanted to update our post from April (see original here) to reflect the revised data. At the SA4 level Cairns increased from 2016 to 2017 by 3,061 people (or 1.2%). We can dig deeper into the …read more

Control the Budget? Control employee costs

As we wait for the release of the 2018-19 Queensland Budget this afternoon (or at least the parts of it that haven’t already been announced) we wanted to focus attention on the employee costs component. Much attention will be given over to the infrastructure promises which will be made, and …read more

Population growth speeding up in the southern Cassowary Coast

After the impacts of TC Larry in 2006 and then TC Yasi in 2011 the Cassowary Coast has struggled to get its mojo back. Population growth was almost static, tourism took some years to recover and business confidence took a hit. However, more recently that appears to be shifting…at least …read more

Regional Population; Cairns growing at more than twice the pace of Townsville

Today saw the ABS release their regional population estimates for June 2017. When we consider the data at the SA4 level we see that Cairns grew by almost 3,000 people to just above 250,000 in the year from June 2016; that’s a 1.2% increase. Despite the fact that this is …read more

Cairns population growth beats Townsville in past decade; but both fall behind QLD

Data released today for Estimated Resident Populations in regional areas shows the population of the Cairns SA4 region climbed 18.1% in the decade to June 30th 2016 reaching 247,762. This was somewhat faster than estimated growth in Townsville SA4 which was +16% to 235,037. However, both regions fell behind growth …read more

Is North Queensland being dudded by Brisbane? Not according to the data.

A fascinating post from Gene Tunny at Adept Economics over the weekend which attempts to dispel the (widely held) view that the North of the state has received less than its “fair share” of capital expenditure from Brisbane. Is North Qld under-funded by the State Government relative to the South East? …read more

Pete talking to John MacKenzie on radio 4CA about jobs and the Census

John  MacKenzie from radio 4CA spoke to Pete this morning about last week’s regional jobs and industry data as well as yesterday’s Census release. You can hear the interview below.

The Census and Cairns…less religious than your average Aussie

Today’s release of the 2016 Census data needs to be looked at carefully when considering the Cairns region. The de-amalgamation of Cairns Regional and Douglas Shire Councils in Jan 2014 makes comparison with the previous 2011 Census problematic. In order to make the comparisons we have added the Douglas Shire …read more

Pete on radio 4CA this morning talking about our submission to the Productivity Commission’s Transitioning Regional Economies report

Pete was on radio 4CA this morning with John MacKenzie talking about his submission to the Productivity Commission’s Transitioning Regional Economies report (you can download the full submission from the PC website here). You can listen to the interview below.

New Conus Industry Trend data shows the problems Townsville faces

Each quarter the ABS produce data showing the levels of employment in each industry for the various labour force regions. Unfortunately this data is only provided on an unadjusted, 4-quarters average basis and as a result is a very lagged indicator. So, in the same way that we have been …read more

© Conus Business Consultancy Services 2026

Website created by RJ New Designs