Media & Commentary
Media Items
Housing supply not matching population growth in some capital cities
New research from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) and the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), reveals that increases in housing stock in Sydney and Perth have failed to match population growth in these capitals. Housing supply responsiveness... Read article

Budget needs a sharper policy scalpel to help first home buyers
In its 2017 budget, the federal government repeatedly stated its preference for a “scalpel” rather than a “chainsaw” or “sledgehammer” approach to demand management in the housing market. The number of housing measures in the budget are more wide-ranging than... Read article

Government spending explained in 10 charts; from Howard to Turnbull
Alan Duncan, Curtin University and Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University Successive Australian governments are usually judged on how they balance the budget and spend taxpayers’ dollars. The stereotypes are that Liberal governments keep a tight hold on the purse strings, while... Read article

Governments are trapped in a vicious cycle of housing policies and prices
Whether house prices have been inflated by limited supply, or because of transfers to investors and homeowners, government policy is now trapped in a vicious cycle. The wealth accumulated in our houses has become a central part of the retirement... Read article

Senate Inquiry Submission: Gender segregation in the workplace and its impact on women’s economic equality
Researchers within the Centre have focussed a great deal of their academic work in examining social and economic issues affecting the economic equality and security of women. This submission brings together a new body of evidence based on recent research... Read article

Not everyone wins from the bank of mum and dad
The “bank of mum and dad” is helping young Australians with more than just their housing aspirations. New analysis of data on children receiving an inheritance or cash payment from their parents has found they are more likely to be... Read article

FactCheck: does Western Australia have the highest unemployment in the country?
Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University It is true the Liberals and Nationals have … created the highest unemployment in the country in Western Australia, higher than Tasmania, higher than South Australia… – West Australian Labor leader Mark McGowan, interviewed on Radio... Read article

Politics podcast: WA election – Mark McGowan accuses Turnbull of bluffing
Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra The end of the mining boom has hit many people in Western Australia hard, and this has flowed strongly into the election. Debt and deficit are besetting the state budget. In this final podcast from... Read article

Gender balance in leadership drives reduced gender pay gaps
Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), in collaboration with the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) today released a report revealing top tier female managers in Australian organisations earn on average $93,000, or 26.5 per cent, less per year compared to their... Read article

FactCheck: Has the job market got so bad that ‘people have stopped looking for work’?
Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University No wonder, when you have a participation rate that’s in free fall. Last month there was a fall by 0.2%, another 0.2%, it is now at 64.5%. What that indicates is that people have stopped looking... Read article

Huge gap still exists between the rich and poor post-WA resources boom
Despite the tailing off of the resources boom, there is still a huge gap between the rich and poor in Western Australia, according to findings in a new Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC) report. Back to the Future is the... Read article

Western Australia’s economic future remains uncertain after the mining boom: study
The mining industry will still be important to WA’s economy in the future and new growth is unlikely to come from other industries like tourism and agriculture, new research has found. A growing, and ageing, population is likely to drive... Read article
