FOLLOWING an upwardly revised gain of 11.5 per cent in October, the number of new dwellings approved in November 2014 increased by 7.5 per cent, in seasonally adjusted terms, according to the latest figures released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
POPULATION growth due to overseas migration has slowed in Queensland, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory in the year to June 2014, according to new figures released last week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
"Compared with last year, population gains from migration were lower by almost 20,000 people for WA or a drop of close to 40 per cent," said ABS Director of Demography, Denise Carlton.
TWENTY-ONE square kilometres of Sydney has a population density greater than 8,000 people per square kilometre, according to the newly-released square kilometre population grid from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), which confirms Sydney as the nation's most densely populated area.
By contrast, there is only one square kilometre in Melbourne that has a population density greater than 8,000 and no other cities in Australia have a density of this scale. At the next level down, Sydney has 93 square kilometres with a population density of between 5,000 to 8,000 people per square kilometre, compared to Melbourne's 33 square kilometres and Brisbane's 3 square kilometres.
THE Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) is calling for all spheres of government to show leadership when it comes to dealing with the impacts of rising sea levels, saying that a range of recent decisions demonstrates politics taking precedent over globally-recognised science.
In a statement last week, PIA Chief Executive and Chair of the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council's Resilience Strategy Task Group, Kirsty Kelly, said that climate change is real, and planning has a crucial role to play in dealing with the anticipated impacts.
AUSTRALIAN Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss has welcomed 405 proposals from not-for-profit entities and local governments under the first round of the Australian Government's new $1 billion National Stronger Regions Fund.
"The Australian Government is pleased to have created this landmark programme which has attracted proposals from all the states and territories across the country," Mr Truss said in a statement last week.
AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister Tony Abbott last week announced that two more issues papers – on health and housing and homelessness – have been released to inform the White Paper on the Reform of the Federation.
In a statement, Mr Abbott said the issues papers will promote discussion ahead of the White Paper and were developed in consultation with the States and Territories and the Australian Local Government Association.
FOLLOWING a revised fall of 8.0 per cent in September, the number of new dwellings approved in October increased by 11.4 per cent, in seasonally adjusted terms, according to the latest figures released last week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
A total of 17,062 dwellings were approved in October, compared to seasonally adjusted totals of 15,321 in September and 17,258 in August. When compared to the same month in 2013, the number of dwellings approved in October 2014 was up by 2.5 per cent, in seasonally adjusted terms.
AUSTRALIAN Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss last week announced the appointment of John Ellice-Flint and Gabrielle Trainor to the Infrastructure Australia Board, with both members to commence their three-year terms immediately.
Mr Truss said Mr Ellice-Flint and Ms Trainor will enhance Infrastructure Australia's role identifying nationally significant infrastructure projects and the economic and procurement reforms needed to enable Australia's governments to fund these projects.
THE Australian Government last week said it is delivering on its commitment to fix Australia's infrastructure system by announcing its response to the Productivity Commission's recent inquiry into public infrastructure.
In a statement, Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Jamie Briggs said the Productivity Commission inquiry was a comprehensive investigation of the assessment, selection, finance and delivery of major economic infrastructure.
THE peak body representing Australia's development industry has outlined the actions it believes governments should take to resolve Australia's housing affordability and supply problems.
The Urban Development Institute of Australia's (UDIA) new National Policy Agenda identifies four key areas for reform – taxation, red tape, infrastructure, and planning – to help boost new home construction and ease housing affordability pressures.
PUBLIC transport accelerates economic and jobs growth and delivers higher levels of productivity, strengthening the case for federal government investment in urban public transport, according to a new report released last week by peak national industry body, Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF).
TTF Chief Executive Officer Margy Osmond said public transport is vital to Australia's future prosperity, adding that moving people and ensuring linkages between urban employment centres and labour markets is as vital today as building rail lines to transport agriculture to markets was 100 years ago.
THE 2014 National State of the Assets report has found that, on average, 11 percent of local roads need urgent upgrading, while more than 20 per cent of timber bridges are in a poor state of repair.
These are among the key findings of a report into the condition of local roads and bridges, which was prepared by Jeff Roorda and Associates for the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA).
A NATIONAL report on the current state of rail in Australia was last week launched by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss at the Australasian Railway Association's (ARA) annual conference in Perth.
Trainline 2 is a collaborative report between the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) and the ARA. The report provides an overview of freight, urban and non-urban passenger rail, including traffic levels, railway performance, infrastructure and rolling stock provision.
