Author Archives: Gene Tunny

Qld has three of top five regional areas with most expensive residential lots

Posted on July 17, 2014 by Gene Tunny

The Housing Industry Association released a very interesting note today on median lot prices in capital cities and regional Australia (i.e. non-Capital City Australia): Land price pressures signal policy failure. The data should prompt a number of Queensland Councils to review their … Continue reading →

Posted in Gold Coast, Housing, Mackay | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Reality check for Townsville – no metropolis of 1 million before end of century

Posted on July 17, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Judging by recent articles in the Townsville Bulletin, Townsville appears obsessed with the idea it will grow to 1 million people from its current population of just under 200,000. The Townsville Bulletin reported yesterday (Townsville tipped to hit 1 million … Continue reading →

Posted in Townsville | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Wise words from the PC on capital/asset recycling

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Gene Tunny

I’ve been a strong supporter of the Queensland Government’s privatisation agenda, but have been unimpressed by the Strong Choices campaign promoting the agenda, which is uninformative and based on questionable logic. In its just-released Public Infrastructure Inquiry Report, the Productivity … Continue reading →

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

Carbon tax repeal good news for Qld economy

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Gene Tunny

I’m very pleased the Senate will allow the repeal of the carbon tax (Carbon tax to be abolished on third attempt), given that: Queensland would have been disproportionately affected due to our heavy reliance on coal-fired power generation; and it never made … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Tax | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Qld doing poorly at attracting interstate visitors (as well as international visitors)

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Gene Tunny

According to new National Visitor Survey data, Queensland is doing poorly at attracting interstate visitors, compounding the difficulties faced by our tourism sector, which isn’t seeing growth in international visitors (see my post from Monday, International visitor numbers increasing – but … Continue reading →

Posted in Tourism | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

International visitor numbers increasing – but Qld doing poorly in attracting them

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Pete Faulkner has a good post today on the new ABS overseas arrivals and departures data for May 2014: Arrivals hit new highs as China continues to grow. While arrivals to Australia hit new highs, Queensland doesn’t appear to be … Continue reading →

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

Brisbane to have a denser inner city, but urban sprawl as well

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Gene Tunny

I’ve written before about how residential building development is being concentrated in a few former commercial areas in the inner city and outer suburban areas such as North Lakes and Springfield (Where is residential development occurring in the Brisbane metro … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tax and Federation White Papers sound promising on GST and stamp duty

Posted on July 4, 2014 by Gene Tunny

I was very pleased to read in the Courier-Mail this morning that: Speculation is mounting the Abbott Government’s white papers on tax and federation reform, due by the end of next year, will include broadening the GST, and encouraging the … Continue reading →

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

Public benefits of BIFF and BAPFF questionable

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Gene Tunny

With pressing needs in health and education, it seems obvious to me that there is little public benefit from supporting film festivals, whether in the form of the former Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF) or its replacement, the Brisbane Asia … Continue reading →

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

Government right to worry about State credit rating, not that of generators

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Gene Tunny

I’m underwhelmed by a report in the Brisbane Times that the credit ratings of Queensland Government-owned power generators CS Energy and Stanwell will drop if they are privatised: Credit ratings agency Fitch has given the Electrical Trades Union its latest ammunition in … Continue reading →

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