That’s what happens when there’s no nightlife: Why Sydney is no longer Australia’s number one city
- Victoria has overtaken NSW in CommSec’s State of the States quarterly report
- That means Melbourne is Australia’s powerhouse economy instead of Sydney
- By coincidence, Sydney continued with lock-out laws while Melbourne hasn’t
Sydney is no longer Australia’s number one city, at least when it comes to being an economic powerhouse.
Victoria has overtaken New South Wales for the first time in almost a year in CommSec’s State of the States report.
In a tale of two cities, Sydney has slipped after continuing with controversial lockout laws while Melbourne has thrived by focusing on being a 24-hour entertainment city.
Sydney is no longer Australia’s number one city, at least when it comes to being an economic powerhouse (pictured is Kings Cross which is now a ghost town at night)
While the CommSec report didn’t focus on nightlife, it found Victoria had stronger retail spending, employment and population growth than NSW during the March quarter of 2019.
‘Victoria has maintained top spot on relative economic growth,’ it said.
‘For the first time in three quarterly surveys, Victoria is the best performing economy in its own right. NSW is now in second spot.’
During the reporting period, Deloitte Access Economics released a report in February which calculated the lock-out laws had cost the Sydney economy as much as $16billion a year.
Victoria’s economic activity during the March quarter was 26.6 per cent above its decade-average level of output, ahead of NSW, which had output that was 25.1 per cent above the ‘normal’ level.
Tasmania, which has Australia’s strongest-growing property market, has also overtaken the Australian Capital Territory for third place.
In a tale of two cities, Sydney has slipped after continuing with controversial lockout laws while Melbourne has thrived by focusing on being a 24-hour entertainment city (pictured is Melbourne by the banks of the Yarra River at night)
‘Tasmania is now solely in third spot on the performance rankings with strength in the building and purchase of homes,’ CommSec said.
‘The ACT is in fourth spot, losing ground to Tasmania on housing indicators.’
When it to Australia’s wooden spoon status, the Northern Territory was in last place, followed by Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland.
During the reporting period of the CommSec report, Deloitte Access Economics released a report in February which calculated the lock-out laws had cost the Sydney economy as much as $16billion a year.
The University of Sydney and Griffith University have also released research disputing the effectiveness of lockout laws in NSW and Queensland.
Five years ago, former NSW Liberal premier Barry O’Farrell introduced controversial lock-out laws banning city pubs and nightclubs from Kings Cross to Darling Harbour, from allowing anyone to enter after 1.30am.
It also banned the serving of drinks after 3am.
The NSW government laws followed a series of fatal coward punches, including one which killed Bowral teenager Thomas Kelly in 2012 as he was visiting Kings Cross with his girlfriend.
Victoria has overtaken New South Wales for the first time in almost a year in CommSec’s State of the States report. The Northern Territory had the wooden spoon