From the Age 21/01/06
Melbourne leads surge in growth
By Tim Colebatch, Canberra
January 21, 2006
MELBOURNE'S population is growing more than that of any other Australian city, and over the past five years, Victoria's economy has has had the biggest growth in output of any state.
But while Victoria has become the nation's engine in absolute terms, in percentage terms it is Queensland.
Brisbane's population is growing faster than any other capital city, and Queensland and Western Australia are enjoying the fastest growth in jobs and economic activity.
Sydney's role is shrinking as high house prices strangle its growth. In the past four years, the NSW economy has grown by just 6.7 per cent, less than half as fast as Victoria and barely a third as fast as the rest of Australia.
Australia is changing and the 2006 Year Book Australia, published yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, documents some of those changes.
Few places have changed as much as Melbourne. In the five years to 2004, the population grew by 220,000, or 6.5 per cent.
In the past two years, the rate of net international migration into Victoria has topped that of NSW or Queensland, lifting the state's population over 5 million, and its growth rate above the national average for the first time since the 1960s.
Economic output grew 17 per cent in the four years to 2004-05. In absolute terms, it pipped Queensland to record the biggest growth of any state.
One reason is the rise of Melbourne Airport, where Emirates, Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines have filled the gap left by Qantas focusing flights on Sydney.
The number of international passengers at the airport has doubled in a decade, reaching almost 4 million in 2004. Its share of international traffic has climbed from 16.5 per cent in the mid-1990s to about 20 per cent.
Most has been won from Sydney, whose share of international and domestic traffic has slumped to its lowest in more than a decade. That partly reflects the decline in Qantas' market share.
But in one area Sydney is getting better while Melbourne is getting worse. The number of new AIDS infections in Victoria is increasing rapidly, with an average of 202 new infections a year in the past five years, compared with 161 in the previous five. Victoria now accounts for one in four new AIDS cases in Australia, compared with one in five in the 1980s and 1990s.
Gays remain overwhelmingly the main victims: 80 per cent of those diagnosed are male homosexuals.
Overall, the year book figures show Australians are getting wealthier, although the wealth rests increasingly on a fragile base of growing foreign debt.
Households' real disposable income — the best measure of how well-off we are — grew by 21 per cent in the nine years to 2004.
Melbourne leads surge in growth
By Tim Colebatch, Canberra
January 21, 2006
MELBOURNE'S population is growing more than that of any other Australian city, and over the past five years, Victoria's economy has has had the biggest growth in output of any state.
But while Victoria has become the nation's engine in absolute terms, in percentage terms it is Queensland.
Brisbane's population is growing faster than any other capital city, and Queensland and Western Australia are enjoying the fastest growth in jobs and economic activity.
Sydney's role is shrinking as high house prices strangle its growth. In the past four years, the NSW economy has grown by just 6.7 per cent, less than half as fast as Victoria and barely a third as fast as the rest of Australia.
Australia is changing and the 2006 Year Book Australia, published yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, documents some of those changes.
Few places have changed as much as Melbourne. In the five years to 2004, the population grew by 220,000, or 6.5 per cent.
In the past two years, the rate of net international migration into Victoria has topped that of NSW or Queensland, lifting the state's population over 5 million, and its growth rate above the national average for the first time since the 1960s.
Economic output grew 17 per cent in the four years to 2004-05. In absolute terms, it pipped Queensland to record the biggest growth of any state.
One reason is the rise of Melbourne Airport, where Emirates, Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines have filled the gap left by Qantas focusing flights on Sydney.
The number of international passengers at the airport has doubled in a decade, reaching almost 4 million in 2004. Its share of international traffic has climbed from 16.5 per cent in the mid-1990s to about 20 per cent.
Most has been won from Sydney, whose share of international and domestic traffic has slumped to its lowest in more than a decade. That partly reflects the decline in Qantas' market share.
But in one area Sydney is getting better while Melbourne is getting worse. The number of new AIDS infections in Victoria is increasing rapidly, with an average of 202 new infections a year in the past five years, compared with 161 in the previous five. Victoria now accounts for one in four new AIDS cases in Australia, compared with one in five in the 1980s and 1990s.
Gays remain overwhelmingly the main victims: 80 per cent of those diagnosed are male homosexuals.
Overall, the year book figures show Australians are getting wealthier, although the wealth rests increasingly on a fragile base of growing foreign debt.
Households' real disposable income — the best measure of how well-off we are — grew by 21 per cent in the nine years to 2004.
