This paper responds to the draft Queensland Plan, asking where economic growth will come from to lift incomes above the rest of Australia. All boom, no benefit? from the Centre for Policy Development argues Queensland must chart a new course toward reliable, sustainable and equitably distributed growth – or face a future of fewer jobs...

Too many ports in a storm provides a comprehensive overview of the perverse incentives and weaknesses in Queensland’s current approach to port development. As the mining investment boom turns to bust, Queensland’s port capacity has already shifted from a shortfall to a surplus. Coal ports are operating at 65 per cent capacity, well below the...

Recent debates around electricity prices and renewable energy policy have ignored the crucial factors of rapidly dropping solar technology costs, and the critical risks involved in continuing with 'business as usual'. Going solar is the first economic assessment of future electricity price shocks if fossil fuels continue to dominate. The report takes a close look...

In the context of rising global demand, resource scarcity, and environmental pressures, this report considers the future of Australian agriculture. Global populations are growing and food prices are skyrocketing. This creates new market opportunities for Australian agriculture. But Australia has fragile and vulnerable soils, which are being degraded at an unsustainable rate.

This report looks at the proven benefits of marine parks for fish stocks (and therefore for the fishing industry), and estimates the value of ecosystem services provided by areas to be covered by the new marine parks. It also puts the modest and short-term economic impacts of the new marine reserves on the fishing industry...