Monthly Archives: February 2021

More work needed to show SEQ Olympics would stack up

The increasingly likely 2032 SEQ Olympics stimulated a lot of debate across Australia last week, and I expect scepticism of the Olympics will grow in the lead up to the Games. At the moment, regional Queenslanders such as Robbie Katter … Continue reading

Posted in Infrastructure | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How high agreeableness meant Aussies tolerated COVID restrictions – latest podcast episode with QUT’s Dr Stephen Whyte

It’s been remarkable how tolerant Australians have been of all the COVID-related restrictions, some of which, to me, appeared excessive and unjustifiable, such as some of the interstate border restrictions and the snap three-day Brisbane lockdown earlier this year. QUT’s … Continue reading

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Most host cities lose money on the Olympics – SEQ Olympics needs to be delivered cost-effectively

While it’s exciting news that SEQ is the lead candidate for the 2032 Olympics (check out the Brisbane Times report), the reality is that the Olympics probably won’t be an economic boon and it will end up costing Queensland taxpayers … Continue reading

Posted in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Infrastructure | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Interest rates and inflation with Michael Knox, Chief Economist of Morgans

Jonathan Shapiro has an interesting article in the Financial Review, Why the market has suddenly woken up to inflation, in which he writes: …the lower-for-longer [interest rates] doubters are re-emerging. They believe deliberately slow-to-act central banks in the US and … Continue reading

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ABC radio story on Hollywood blockbusters crowding out local productions featuring David Williamson and me

When an ABC journalist contacted me a couple of weeks ago about excessive federal and state government subsidies to international film productions such as Thor: Love and Thunder, I mentioned it wasn’t just hard-headed economists like me complaining. Cultural luminaries, … Continue reading

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‘Hollywood Australia’ supported by generous tax credits and other government subsidies

The Australian is reporting ‘Hollywood Australia’ a $1.5bn movie blockbuster extravaganza, covering the surge in international film productions such as Thor: Love and Thunder filming in Australia. This is partly related to Australia’s success in managing COVID and also to … Continue reading

Posted in Industry policy, Tax | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Post-JobKeeper viability a concern of many Qld businesses

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland (CCIQ) has released its CCIQ Pulse Survey of Business Conditions for December quarter 2020, and it shows a continuation of the recovery in the second half of 2020 in business conditions and confidence … Continue reading

Posted in Cairns, Macroeconomy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Qld frontline police per capita down nearly 4% since 2013-14, PC ROGS report reveals

The number of Police Service operational staff per capita has fallen nearly 4% since 2013-14, from 296 per 100,000 people in 2013-14 to 285 per 100,000 people in 2019-20 (see chart below). That’s according to the very useful and somewhat … Continue reading

Posted in Queensland Government | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Pick up in net internal migration to regional Qld

Yesterday’s post covered the surge in net interstate migration to Queensland during the pandemic. The surge reflects: a) departures from Queensland to other states falling a lot (by 16% in September quarter 2020 compared with September quarter 2019), which could … Continue reading

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A closer look at the surge in net interstate migration to Qld in September quarter 2020

Earlier this week, Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles was excited by the latest interstate migration data from the ABS, as reported by the Brisbane Times: Queensland’s acting Premier has pointed to migration data showing a surge in new residents as … Continue reading

Posted in Migration | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments