gdp and 35 per cent of our exports, so it is important. reflecting this, this is my third trip to, and public speech in, perth in the past year. this morning we heard that while the western australian economy is still feeling the effects of a decline in the level of mining investment, there are some positive signs. the level of mining investment has further to fall as some large liquefied natural gas projects are completed. but elsewhere in the resources sector things are looking brighter. sustaining capital expenditure, particularly in the iron ore sector, is picking up with positive spillover effects. higher prices for a number of minerals have also led to increased exploration activity, including for gold and lithium, and an expansion of some existing mines is taking place. for the first time in a number of years, we are hearing reports through our liaison program in western australia that it is difficult for firms to find workers with the right skills, including project engineers and related occupations. business conditions – as measured by surveys – have also risen significantly and are now above average. at our meeting, we also discussed the population dynamics here in western australia. at the peak of the resources boom, annual population growth reached almost 3½ per cent, which is very fast. people moved here from overseas and from the rest of australia to meet the needs of your rapidly growing economy. in contrast, over the past year, population growth has slowed sharply, to around ¾ per cent, which is almost the slowest of any state in the country. there is now a considerable net flow of people from western australia to the eastern states. this change in population dynamics has had a significant effect on housing markets in western 3 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches australia. the earlier strong growth in population contributed to a sharp rise in housing prices and rents, and then a bit later to a surge in housing construction. with the resources boom now in the past, some of the earlier increases in prices and rents have been reversed and residential construction activity has been low. western australia has seen this type of cycle before, and i expect it will see it again at some point in the future. our liaison, though, suggests that a stabilisation of conditions is in prospect. if so, this should help support consumer confidence and household spending and reinforce the recent more positive news from the resources sector. finally, as i mentioned earlier, we are currently upgrading australia's banknotes. i am pleased to be able to announce that the new $ 50 note will

24 / 7 basis using an easily remembered ‘ payid ’, such as a mobile number, to address the payment. bsbs and account numbers can still be used, but if you have not already done so, i encourage you to contact your bank to register a payid, which makes it easier to use the new system. the rba also regulates key parts of australia's financial market infrastructure, including the central counterparties at the asx. in addition, we have broad responsibilities to promote competition, efficiency and stability in australia's payments system. as a result of decisions of the bank's payments system board there have been significant changes to the atm and debit and credit card systems over recent times. the rba also operates in financial markets every day to ensure the system as a whole has adequate liquidity. we also have a broad responsibility for financial stability, including acting as the lender of last resort in a financial crisis to provide liquidity to solvent institutions. finally, we manage australia's foreign exchange reserves. these are all important functions that we carry out in the public interest. they are all critical to the 1 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches functioning of our successful modern economy and financial system. i can assure you, we take these responsibilities very seriously. this means that even when interest rates are being held steady, we have a lot of things on our plate. but it is interest rates that mainly keep us in the news. at its meeting this morning, the board's assessment was that the australian economy is moving in the right direction. over the past year, gdp increased by 3. 1 per cent and inflation was around 2 per cent. the unemployment rate is currently 5. 3 per cent, which is the lowest it has been in nearly six years. in the broad sweep of our history, these are a pretty positive set of numbers. we will get another reading on the pulse of the economy tomorrow with the release of the june quarter national accounts. we are expecting that this will confirm that over the first half of 2018, the economy expanded at a faster than trend pace, making inroads into spare capacity. our central scenario is that economic growth this year and next will be a bit above 3 per cent, which should see the unemployment rate come down further. so things are moving in the right direction. one of the factors helping us is that the global economy is expanding quite strongly. many of the advanced economies are growing quite strongly and unemployment rates in