Isaac (Moranbah, Dysart)

Analysis of changes during 2016 will be presented here in June 2017.  A recap of our 2015 analysis is presented here.  The town data booklets - downloadable via the links shown at the left - are also being updated.  They will be available here in June 2017.  

The Isaac region experienced significant effects during the CSG construction period of 2011.  However, those effects would be due to changes in the coal industry of the area rather than the much smaller CSG investment.

The towns of Moranbah and Dysart saw changes related to the composition of the local population, skills shortages, and housing affordability and availability. The towns experienced an influx of non-resident workers associated mainly with staffing for the coal mines, with less pronounced effects from CSG development.  In 2012 in Moranbah, the number of non-resident workers was equal to half the permanent population of the town. For the Isaac region, the number of non-resident workers is predicted to decrease steadily.  It is forecast to remain lower than at the peak during the Queensland resources boom.

In 2012, Moranbah and Dysart, saw their lowest local unemployment rates of 0.7% and 0.9%, respectively. Because unemployed people tend not to stay in such resource towns (where unemployment generally is lower than the state rate), low unemployment and high competition with the coal industry caused difficulties for local business to attract and retain workers.

Rents and house prices rose significantly in the Isaac region. In 2012, the median house prices in Dysart and Moranbah were at their peak; higher than the median house price in Brisbane. This level was reached after a decade of growth locally, where the sale prices had been consistently below the Brisbane median. Rent was similarly affected, but the increase started earlier. Moranbah’s median rent overtook the Queensland average in 2003.  It remained higher until the resource boom subsided, declining to parity with the Queensland average in 2014. At its peak in 2012, median rent for a three-bedroom house in Moranbah was around $1,500 per week.

The end of the Queensland mining booms is seeing indicators returning toward pre-boom levels. Housing costs are expected, by the key stakeholders interviewed, to be less affected by future resource developments in this region due to development of local housing stock to date. Interviewees also report efforts to rebuild the social fabric in the Isaac region following the peak of the Queensland mining boom.