June quarter data from the Residential Tenancies Authority has indicated that unaffordable rental costs are still a harsh reality for Queenslanders in mining regions, despite massive scale backs in the regional sector.
It has been estimated that the Sunshine State shed nearly 9000 jobs in June, due in no small part to coal miners slashing hundreds of jobs.
During this period, Downer EDI announced it would cut its workforce at the BHP Billiton Mitusbishi Alliance Goonyella Riverside mine by 185, while Glencore Xstrata slashed 450 jobs from its Oaky North and Newlands mines.
However, mining regions in the state have remained the most expensive places to live, with Gladstone, Mount Isa and Roma sharing the most expensive rents for four-bedroom houses at $600 per week, $110 more than Brisbane.
Housing rights advocacy group Queensland Shelter said rental decreases in mining regions had been slight and unaffordability continued to play a huge part in Queenslanders’ inability to make ends meet.
“With inflated rental costs, crucial workers in these regions such as teachers, childcare workers and nurses are forced to move to more affordable areas and their roles in their communities are essential for economic productivity,” Queensland Shelter spokesman Adrian Pisarski said.
The report compounds anecdotal evidence that the boom-and-bust cycle familiar in small town Queensland may be becoming more difficult to accurately chart.
The drop in the Australian dollar is expected to lift Queensland tourism, with more Australians choosing domestic travel, while an increase in LNG construction could offset job losses in the state’s mining sector.
Commonwealth Bank economist Diana Mousina told the AAP that Queensland’s recent surge in the jobless rate to 6.4% was not a long-term economic shift.
“I don’t think it’s going to stay at that 6.4 level,” she said.
“It will probably stay around 6, 6.1, but I think it was just a volatile spike that occurred.
“It’s not to say that there haven’t been quite high-profile job losses in the state, especially within the mining sector, but I do think it was a one-off.”
