Monthly Archives: December 2010

Trainee teachers will benefit from Gillard schools plan

Posted on December 31, 2010 by Gene Tunny

Queensland’s teacher transfer system, which sees trainee teachers earning brownie points through hardship posts such as Mt Morgan and Mt Isa, is threatened by PM Julia Gillard’s school autonomy plan: School plan fails remote students This is a positive development. … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | 2 Comments

School autonomy plan a good start

Posted on December 30, 2010 by Gene Tunny

The Gillard Government’s plan to give state school principals the power to hire and fire teachers and full control over school budgets is a good start to much needed educational reform: Julia Gillard plan to liberate schools We’ll need to … Continue reading →

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Floods will be costly but won’t break us

Posted on December 29, 2010 by Gene Tunny

With an estimated damages bill in the order of $1 billion (see this morning’s Australian), the Queensland floods will have a significant impact on the Queensland Government budget (already in a $1.75 bn deficit).  Of course, a large part of … Continue reading →

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Queensland’s wacky weather

Posted on December 24, 2010 by Gene Tunny

Queensland newspapers are dominated this morning by news about the incredible run of wet weather, including stories about its economic impact on our building industry and cane-growers.  The Queensland Times (More rain forecast for Ipswich) nicely sums up the outlook, … Continue reading →

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Cross River Rail tops infrastructure wish list

Posted on December 23, 2010 by Gene Tunny

The area around the Botanic Gardens and QUT in Brisbane CBD is currently not well-served by public transport, and hence hundreds of QUT students have to take the long march from Central station to Gardens Point every day.  The lack … Continue reading →

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Queenslanders getting lazier

Posted on December 21, 2010 by Gene Tunny

It’s no wonder Queensland remains as the most obese State when our participation in sport and physical recreation is declining faster than participation in other States, as reported by the ABS today (Participation in Sport and Physical Recreation, 2009-10): While … Continue reading →

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Very weak return on investment in National Broadband Network

Posted on December 20, 2010 by Gene Tunny

The NBN Co Corporate Plan was released today, and the projected rate of return on investment is an underwhelming 7%.  The Government argues this is acceptable through a comparison with the long-term bond rate, with the media release noting: NBN … Continue reading →

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Government should learn lesson from ZeroGen

Posted on December 19, 2010 by Gene Tunny

The State Government will learn an important lesson – about the risks to governments in embarking on risky business ventures – as a result of the failure of the state-owned ZeroGen clean coal company.  The Courier-Mail reported this morning: State … Continue reading →

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Half of power price increase due to push for renewable energy

Posted on December 17, 2010 by Gene Tunny

Half of the expected 5.83% increase in Queensland electricity prices next year is the result of Federal Government policy changes to the Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme – changes which are designed to encourage investment in large-scale renewable energy generation … Continue reading →

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Gold Coast, Brisbane bayside and New Farm at risk from sea-level rise (in 2100)

Posted on December 16, 2010 by Gene Tunny

If you’re in the market for a property in South-East Queensland, you’d be advised to check out the latest Commonwealth Government-funded maps of the potential impacts of climate-change-induced sea-level rises on coastal communities: Visualising sea level rise – South-East Queensland … Continue reading →

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