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Simon Kuestenmacher

Simon Kuestenmacher

The Australian

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The Stats Guy: It’s time to stop building for votes

Our resident Stats Guy asks whether we could improve development outcomes by minimising the role of politicians and empowering an independent body...

previous day 10

InDaily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Why we must put a halt to building for votes

Why we must put a halt to building for votes
18.09.2025 10

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

The Stats Guy: Why I love population pyramids, but never use them 

Our resident Stats Guy explores the myriad tales a population pyramid can tell, as well as its drawbacks. If you want to explore population data, if...

16.09.2025 10

InDaily

Simon Kuestenmacher

I love population pyramids, but never use them 

10.09.2025 10

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Why we should care about fertility in Kazakhstan

Why we should care about fertility in Kazakhstan
03.09.2025 10

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Gen Z: The most loyal workforce in Australia

27.08.2025 6

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Have I been wrong about gen X’s dirty fantasy?

21.08.2025 20

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

The rise and fall – and rise – of our middle class 

14.08.2025 30

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

The AI trap and falling in love with ourselves

AI is already shaping how we interpret the world, what we see, who we trust, and how we define truth, writes Simon Kuestenmacher.  Spoiler alert:...

07.08.2025 20

InDaily

Simon Kuestenmacher

The AI trap and falling in love with ourselves

06.08.2025 20

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Why high house prices might drive down divorces 

30.07.2025 10

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

The great cleanup – humanity's next big project

23.07.2025 10

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

How many international students is too many?

16.07.2025 10

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Are young falling behind — or in a different race?

09.07.2025 20

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Why Musk's war on 'woke mind virus' will fail

01.07.2025 30

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Australia has a lot of migrants. This is who they are

26.06.2025 20

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

The win-win-win of Baby Boomer 'right-sizing'

18.06.2025 80

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Rethink will fill gaps left by retiring Baby Boomers

11.06.2025 10

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Boomer business owners face final decade of work 

03.06.2025 20

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Why we need a smart national demographic plan 

28.05.2025 40

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Who should Australia compare itself with?

20.05.2025 30

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

The Stats Guy: Why migration tells the real story of human freedom

07.05.2025 30

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

The Stats Guy: Helicopter parenting is an epidemic

23.04.2025 4

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Look out millennials, they say life begins at 40

15.04.2025 10

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Meet those hit hardest by our mental health issue

08.04.2025 20

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Downsizing? Why reality differs from narrative

01.04.2025 10

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Australia’s economy since 1966 explained in one simple chart

Our resident Stats Guy takes a look at the national unemployment rate from the 1960s to now to see what the future holds. The squiggly line below...

01.04.2025 9

InDaily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Single chart explains our economy since 1966

25.03.2025 20

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

New housing needed but often not wanted

19.03.2025 10

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Our challenge? More health and education workers

12.03.2025 10

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Post-Covid workforce is caring but less productive

05.03.2025 9

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

We must plan as shortage of critical workers looms

26.02.2025 20

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Why our migrant intake skews to students, workers

19.02.2025 30

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

The power of NEAT and two-wheeled time-savers

12.02.2025 60

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Camping, then Noosa – closest thing to time travel

05.02.2025 6

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

The Stats Guy: Demographic forecasts for 2025

Last week I gave you some alarming forecasts for the coming year, this week there’s a little more good news thrown into the mix. For part two of my...

16.12.2024 5

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

The Stats Guy looks into demographic crystal ball

This is the time of the year to publish the most dangerous type of columns – predictions for the coming year. I shall not be holding back and only...

10.12.2024 30

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

The Stats Guy: Why the coming 10 years will be the decade of the car

Last week we explored what type of vehicles Australians are driving and learned that our cars have gotten bigger. It’s not just that we drive...

02.12.2024 4

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Autobeasity is a big problem on our roads

The Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE) publishes a sort of census of the road vehicles registered in Australia....

23.11.2024 4

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Why Australia will continue to rely on high migration

21.11.2024 4

The Australian

Simon Kuestenmacher

React or prevent? Politics must make this big shift

As a demographer, I think long term. Imagining what the world looks like a decade from now is standard, but thinking in generations is also normal...

21.11.2024 10

InDaily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Nation needs to make the most of Aussie workers

I made the argument in previous columns that Australia is running out of workers; that the current skills shortage will persist (even under a...

15.11.2024 4

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

This data might signal an end to the LNP and ALP

Our resident Stats Guy looks at the rise of voters picking independents over the two major parties at past federal elections. For decades now, the...

13.11.2024 6

InDaily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Most common jobs reveal pattern of care giving

At a recent event I was asked: What was the most common job in Australia? An easy question. Sales assistants are by far the most common job. The...

13.11.2024 5

InDaily

Simon Kuestenmacher

It pays in many ways to think in the long term

As a demographer, I think long term. Imagining what the world looks like a decade from now is standard, but thinking in generations is also normal...

11.11.2024 10

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Most common jobs show who does the caring

At a recent event I was asked: What was the most common job in Australia? An easy question. Sales assistants are by far the most common job. The...

02.11.2024 6

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

This data might spell the end of the ALP and LNP

For decades now, the Australian Election Study (AES) has interviewed voters after each federal election. Some survey questions have been asked...

26.10.2024 7

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

What could stop Australia’s baby drought?

The Australian birth rate has reached a historic low. OK, technically we are referring to the total fertility rate (TFR), but in the public...

20.10.2024 20

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Here’s the facts for Aussies to be optimists

As a public speaker and demographic consultant, I speak to dozens of people in Australia every week about the state of the economy and the general...

13.10.2024 40

The New Daily

Simon Kuestenmacher

Do more win than lose when house prices are up?

09.10.2024 4

The Australian

Simon Kuestenmacher