Source: Ross Gittins, brisbanerimes.com.au If you learn nothing else about the economy, remember that it moves not in straight lines but in cycles of good times followed by bad times, and bad times followed by good. Nowhere is that truer than with our famed "two-speed economy". For most of the decade to 2012, the resources boom meant that the two main mining states Queensland and, especially, Western Australia were growing much faster than the rest of the economy, whi...

Source:  CoreLogic As commodity prices and mining investment has sunk, demand for housing in mining areas has also slowed. This week we take a look at the performance of some of the major mining towns. Mining towns and regions across the country have been hard hit as investment and commodity prices have slumped.  This week we're looking at how the housing market has performed in terms of the volume and median price of sales across these regions.  The results indicate t...

After many months of lobbying for the Queensland Government to withdraw their newly introduced transfer duty surcharge on foreign investment, the property industry has lost their battle. "As announced in the State Budget 2016-17, additional duty of 3% will apply to acquisitions of residential land by foreign persons (including companies and trusts) from 1 October 2016." - Queensland Government

What does this mean for foreign investors?
For an investment property wi...

Source:  Beef Central The world's first commercial use of beyond-line-of-sight drones has been achieved in inland Queensland to monitor natural gas wells and associated infrastructure on grazing properties. The partnership between Shell's Queensland Gas Company project and Boeing has seen well inspections successfully conducted by remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), replacing the need for inspections on the ground by four-wheel-drive. A QGC statement said the...

Source:  APPEA Statement from APPEA Chief Executive Dr Malcolm Roberts The CSG industry is not just an economic success, creating thousands of jobs and billions in exports.  It is also a successful example of developing a new industry alongside established rural industries. While sudden changes can create tensions and even conflict, the overwhelming fact is that the growth of the CSG industry has been achieved through co-operation and compromise between the industry, lan...