The biggest issue in Queensland right now is our harsh border policy, which I discussed earlier today with my good friend and former Treasury colleague Joe Branigan of Tulipwood Economics. Joe is the co-author with Dr Henry Ergas of the Menzies Research Centre paper COVID19: Getting Australia Safely Back to Work. You can download the MP3 file here or listen via the audio player above (on the QEW website).

Among other observations, Joe noted:

A couple of weeks ago, I pointed out that the Premier basically handed over responsibility for running the state to the Chief Health Officer. And what she’s done is she’s given up on the fundamental advantages of democracy and of Cabinet government where people can get together and sit around a table and talk about the potential impacts, the potential costs and benefits of these decisions, and try and balance it so that we find a way through this. And I just think we’ve gotten to a very sad state of affairs. And I’ve said to you before that I just don’t think this will hold for another 60 days to the election. I don’t think the government can hold on to this crazy costly policy until the 31st of October.

Items mentioned in our conversation include:

The Triumvirate’s Stratagem cannot stand – guest post by Joe Branigan

Nick Behrens’s excellent briefing on the COVID-19 Fiscal and Economic Review