From foreign conflicts to mortgage stress, 2026 has been a tumultuous year, but with low unemployment and new opportunities the economy keeps slogging away.
Advance Cairns and the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) is proud to present Turbulence and Tenacity: A 2026 Economic + Political Review.
Join us as AICD chief economist Mark Thirlwell and political and international relations expert Dr Anna Hayes take a deep dive into the past year.
Hear from Mark as he walks us through the economic ups and downs including:
- The RBA’s four cash rate hikes, recession-like consumer confidence and Middle East turmoil.
- Low unemployment rate, the new technologies driving investment and consumption and how AI is powering an investment, trade and financial market boom.
Mark’s presentation will be followed by Dr Hayes who will share her analysis of:
- Northern Australia’s position within the Indo-Pacific region and its strategic significance.
- The US-China geostrategic competition within the region, the ‘island chain’ strategy and the potential for regional conflict.
Our guest speakers will then take part in a panel discussion where we will unpick what all this means for the Far North, how it affects you and the year ahead.
Mark Thirlwell
Chief Economist,
Australian Institute of Company Directors
Mark Thirlwell has more than three decades of experience analysing the Australian and global economy, with a focus on the economic and geopolitical issues facing boards. He has held senior roles across government, financial services and policy institutions, including the Bank of England, JP Morgan and the Lowy Institute, and was previously Chief Economist at the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade). Mark holds economics degrees from Oxford and Cambridge universities and a postgraduate qualification in applied finance.
Dr Anna Hayes
Senior Lecturer Politics and International Relations,
James Cook University
Dr Anna Hayes is a senior lecturer in International Relations at James Cook University and an Honorary Research Fellow at the East Asia Security Centre. Anna specialises in traditional and non-traditional threats to security, with a particular focus on the People’s Republic of China. She recently co-edited Chinese International Relations Theory: As Emerging from Practice and Policy, Routledge (2025) with Associate Professor Jonathan Ping and Professor Brett McCormick, and The Chinese in Papua New Guinea: Past, Present and Future, ANU Press (2024), with Professor Rosita Henry and Dr Michael Wood.The US-China geostrategic competition within the region, the “island chain” strategy and the potential for regional conflict.