Hi jnb and mattsta

Below is the title of a thread Josh started. He provides a link  in it to his blog. An excellent summary of what's happening in Mackay is on his blog. I've been to Mackay twice now, and have purchased there myself. The area around the CBD is very low and flat. I bought on a hill near the water tower on the border of the suburbs of North Mackay and Mount Pleasant. Mackay gets torrential rain. Be careful of flood prone areas. North of Mackay there are some good elevated suburbs, but they are very spread out and distance and travel times to CBD increase. I wrote a short summary of my first trip to Mackay on another thread. Search "Mackay" and you should find it.

QLD mining regions (Bowen & Surat Basins & Gladstone): Willing to help anyone with questions

In regards to the suspension of the Alpha project, Tony Burke, Fed enviro minister, has stated that he wants more information pertaining to potential reef damage from runoff. While most of us obviously are not privy to the details of what information is available on the subject, or to how diligent the studies have been, the premise that comprehensive information should be submitted seems reasonable, The shame of the situation, it seems to me, is that once again the governments of this country have failed to communicate and work together in the joint interest of all involved. Before announcements of this scale, with the inherrent potential impacts are announced, surely all interested and involved parties should come to consensus. Instead we have one level of government make a grand announcement, only to have another nullify it, then the first make another related big announcement, and now we wait to see what damage the federal government will follow up with. We can obviously expect more insults and political threats to follow. No wonder business and investor confidence is low. What a pathetic circus.

Here's a link outlining some of the offsets which have been required to compensate for enviromental damage expected from the Gladstone LNG projects.
http://www.gladstoneobserver.com.au/story/2012/06/05/environmental-offsets-lng/

Hey Dubstep, that's a  Great article.  I love Terry's positive attitude. I think it was him that first came out with that saying "watch what the mining companies do, not what they say". And on the subject of making property investment decisions based on long term factors, I couldn't agree more. The daily wild gyrations and frequent dramatic reversals of international and local stockmarkets clearly demonstrate the degree by which the average "investor" allows himself to be influenced by the vaguest of news about the state of global and local economies. As Terry suggests, the best approach is to base decisions on individual appraisal of the longer term outlook, filter short term noise, hysteria, panic, and over-dramatised negativity, invest accordingly and stick to your strategy.  I'm glad I've invested in Queensland, including Emerald, Mackay and Gladstone. And I'll continue to do so. Here's an interesting link to an article in the Emerald newspaper related to the plans for rail in the Galilee Basin.
http://www.cqnews.com.au/story/2012/06/01/farmers-in-a-frenzy-over-mine/

NAB chief economist says the previous two rate cuts didn't help the housing market, so he's dubious about the prospects of further rate cuts having a positive impact (what a fool).  He neglected to mention that the banks didn't pass on the previous cuts in full, and subsequently raised their rates independently of the reserve, thus stomping on any prospect of positive sentiment improving as a result of lower rates. The banks should do themselves a favour and pass on the rate cuts in full, which would no doubt result in them seeing greater demand for their loans. Can they resist the greedy impulse to pocket some of the cut?

  "Coincidentally" the latest advertising campaign by the mines against excessive government taxes adding to the oppressive burden of costs associated with operating mines in Australia resulted in full page ads in The Australian one page away from articles about Norwich Park being closed.  BHP Strategy…. leave some coal in the ground temporarily at Norwich Park=money in the bank. Force some employees to transfer to other short-staffed company mines= break the spirit of the strikers. Park and transfer machinery to other sites where it's needed, shut the mine temporarily, initiate new advertising scare campaign= leverage against more taxes, supply Coalition with additional ammunition to use against Labor government, fool the populace into being more supportive of big miners, and further dampen the local over-heated housing market. None of this costs BHP much, and they stand to benefit from it in several ways.   
  The good thing about this from a property investor's viewpoint is that none of it really alters the fact that coal is booming, mining is booming, the Surat Basin is booming, and there is a shortage of accomadation there.

Hi Tiger14

It was not my intention to imply that I thought safety was an issue in the closure of the mine, merely that it is an issue in the strikes, which i understand are affecting the operation of 7 BMA mines in the region. The miners feel strongly about the safety issues involved in the negotiations, which increases their solidarity in opposition to BMA. It would be illegal to sack the striking miners, and of course counter productive, as the company needs them. There's nothing like job losses and the perceived threat of further losses to make employees toe the line. The cumulative impact of the strikes on profits at seven mines might give BHP cause to close Norwich Park. The explanation by the company that the mine has been loseing money for several months seems a bit thin under the circumstances.

Seems to me  your survey has too narrow a base to derive any conclusions from.

Up to 1400 jobs (presumable including contractors) affected, according to this article. And yes, there are many more mines in the area, but bad news none the less. A BHP spokesman is quoted as having said the mine "has been loseing money for several months." Seems to have been a pretty quick decision, given that the strikes and recent weather would have contributed to those losses.

http://www.cqnews.com.au/story/2012/04/11/bhp-closes-norwich-park-mine/

Me too simple, as I said I would on your bear thread. Settled on a 4 bed 3 bath house in Mackay about a month ago, signed a contract for an OTP unit in Emerald today, and plan to purchase again within 6 months. The boat is sailing.

mrs p wrote:

Interesting for sure but isn't it a mere question of supply and demand?  If the companies want the work done- their employees have to sleep somewhere-  Unless of course they can instantly create hundreds of new dwellings? Does it mean the companies know something we don't or is it just a case of construction phases of projects are nearing completion and the total number of workforce to maintain the projects will be significantly less?

 Hi Mrs P

You make a very good point that the mines will still require accomadation for their workers, Obviously the Mac camps accomadate a lot of them, but many employees would not be satisfied by this style of accomadation. It seems as though (understandably) the mines are attempting to reduce some of the short-term pressure that has forced rental and purchase prices skyrocketing in
Moranbah. It's obvious that supply is not keeping up with demand, so it seems as though BMA is doing it's best to hold back demand in the short term to reduce pressure.
  In answer to your question "is it just a case of construction phases of projects nearing completion?" I can tell you from personal experience and knowledge that the time and workforce required to complete projects on the scale of those currently under construction near Moranbah are no where near their peaks. And as all of us who follow these forum threads closely, or perform independent research, are well aware, there are many more projects still on the drawing boards that should ensure long term demand for accomadation in the area
  I personally would expect the rental demand to return to it's recent high levels in the near future, as there is no short term solution to the lack of supply in Mornabah, and I suspect that the combined efforts of the mines to hold back demand will have a limited impact in the near term. 
  However, it is obvious that investors who have recently purchased at elevated price levels, expecting high yields to cover their loan repayments, will be experienceing stress currently as they wait for demand to resume. 
  There are some obvious lessons for all of us here.