Monthly Archives: January 2021

Qld’s economy definitely fared better than Victoria’s which suffered badly from Stage 4 restrictions

Weirdly, CommSec’s latest State of the States report ranked Victoria in 3rd place and Queensland in 5th place, even though Queensland’s economy has definitely fared much better during the pandemic than Victoria’s. In my Thursday post I discussed how silly … Continue reading

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Qld Premier deserves some criticism, but she’s right to highlight needs of struggling tourism-dependent businesses

The NSW Premier, Sky Australia hosts, and other commentators have been quick to criticise Queensland Premier Palaszczuk over her call for the federal government to extend JobKeeper beyond the end of March for struggling tourism-dependent businesses, particularly those in Cairns … Continue reading

Posted in Cairns, North Queensland, Queensland Government, Tourism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Foreign investment and productivity – my latest Economics Explored podcast episode

The latest episode of my Economics Explored podcast is on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Productivity. In the episode, I speak with the authors of a recent study published in the Journal of International Business Studies: Foreign Influence, control, and indirect ownership: … Continue reading

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CommSec’s weird assessment of Victoria’s economic growth as leading the nation in State of the States

This afternoon, Australian Institute for Progress Executive Director Graham Young alerted me to his conversation with 612 ABC Brisbane host Steve Austin and McKell Institute Executive Chair Rachel Nolan yesterday on Steve’s Drive program (from around 2:26:30) regarding the CommSec … Continue reading

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Qld takeover of Norfolk Island an intriguing prospect

The Courier-Mail has reported the Queensland Government could take responsibility for service delivery on Norfolk Island after NSW has declined to continue doing so, and the state government is currently discussing a potential deal with the Commonwealth. This is an … Continue reading

Posted in Queensland Government | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Why Greg Chappell came to Qld in 1973

It was about time that cricketing legend Greg Chappell, arguably Australia’s most elegant batsman after Bradman, received an Australia Day Award. Chappell’s 2011 autobiography, Fierce Focus, is well worth reading, and Queensland readers would be particularly interested in chapter 14, … Continue reading

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Qld exports were $21bn lower in 2020 due largely to lower coal and LNG prices

At the launch of the Queensland Premier’s Export Awards in May 2019 at the Tower of Power, 1 William St, I spoke about how Queensland’s exports had soared to record levels over the previous few years, largely as a result … Continue reading

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Unpacking the increase in the unemployment rate since March 2020

In my post last Thursday, I discussed Why Qld’s unemployment rate is highest in nation despite better jobs recovery during pandemic than rest of Australia. I noted a large part of the story was “Queensland’s strong recovery (and over-shooting) in … Continue reading

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JobKeeper has been stimulating in multiple ways – evidence from Lush Marcoola

Well done to Matty Holdsworth from the Sunshine Coast Daily for some excellent reporting on the Lush Marcoola brothel which was re-printed in today’s print edition of the Courier-Mail on p. 47: YOUNG men cashed up on JobKeeper payments kept … Continue reading

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Industry wants changes to Qld CHO emergency powers extension bill

This afternoon, in a hearing of the Queensland Parliament’s Health and Environment Committee, Queensland Tourism Industry Council (QTIC) head Daniel Gschwind and CCIQ Policy and Advocacy GM Amanda Rohan both expressed major concerns about the Queensland Government’s bill to extend … Continue reading

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