Author Archives: Gene Tunny

Interstate migration to Qld remains low, probably reflecting sluggish labour market

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Gene Tunny

I remember it was once common in Australian TV shows to have characters move to Queensland when the actors wanted to leave the series or a character was no longer popular. The TV shows had obviously noticed the popularity of Queensland … Continue reading →

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

Trends in private school enrolments – big change in primary school enrolments

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Gene Tunny

A significant trend in education in recent decades has been the strong growth in private school enrolments as many parents have become convinced private schools offer a better and safer school environment. Queensland Treasury’s information brief on the new ABS Schools … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Lower taxes across Australia preferable to special treatment for NQ

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Gene Tunny

The Townsville Chamber of Commerce has called for a revamp of current tax arrangements for North Queensland. The Chamber is concerned the existing Zone Tax Offset has been eroded in value by inflation and is being claimed by fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers who … Continue reading →

Posted in North Queensland | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Qld unemployment hot spots – Ipswich, Cairns and Wide Bay

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Gene Tunny

I’ve prepared some maps of regional unemployment rates based on last week’s new regional labour force data from the ABS for February 2014 (see below). The figures I’ve used are taken from Queensland Treasury’s information brief, which presents 12-month moving … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Qld Treasury right that paying down State debt is a huge challenge

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Queensland Treasury’s new Economic and Fiscal Challenges report reiterates the huge challenge ahead in paying down debt and restoring Queensland’s AAA credit rating, which isn’t a likely prospect this decade. The projection that debt levels will stabilise at around $80 … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Multiple exemptions to evidence-based policy

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Gene Tunny

In recent years we’ve seen a number of colossal Government policy failures, including the National Broadband Network and the home insulation scheme, which is now being investigated by a Royal Commission. These failures have resulted from poor policy development processes … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Weekend reading – 15-16 March

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Gene Tunny

The Productivity Commission’s monster of a report on Public Infrastructure, which (rightly) recommends congestion pricing on roads, is worth reading, particularly because of the excellent Chapter 14 in Volume 2 on Social and Economic Regulation. On the costs to business … Continue reading →

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Something for the optimists in today’s labour force data

Posted on March 13, 2014 by Gene Tunny

My friend and former Treasury colleague Joe Branigan has found some good news for Queensland in today’s new labour force data. Earlier today, Joe tweeted an interesting chart (see below), showing Queensland has led Australia in the growth of hours … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Treasury projections suggest Qld Plan regional population target unachievable

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Gene Tunny

I’ve previously questioned whether the target in the draft Queensland Plan to have half the population living outside South East Queensland is achievable (see Regional infrastructure plan should be based on updated population projections). The latest official State population projections from Queensland … Continue reading →

Posted in Population, Queensland Government | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Large fare savings possible from taxi industry deregulation

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Gene Tunny

My friend and colleague Brad Rogers has a great post at his blog on Queensland Taxi Licenses and Drunken Violence. Brad argues: Queensland’s taxi regulations are costing the Brisbane public over $80 million per year and may be contributing to drunken … Continue reading →

Posted in Industry policy | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments