Author Archives: Gene Tunny

Gold Coast should worry less about its over-reliance on property, tourism and retail

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Gene Tunny

The Gold Coast Draft Economic Development Strategy 2013-2023 expresses concern over the Gold Coast’s reliance on its traditional sectors of property, tourism and retail (see chart above based on data from the Strategy), noting: The cyclical nature of these industries has left … Continue reading →

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Paid parking affecting work and play in Brisbane CBD

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Gene Tunny

I just noticed Katherine Feeney’s article from last week on the adverse impact the Council’s new paid parking policy is having on businesses in Brisbane CBD (Retailers keep up the fight against Brisbane’s paid parking charges). The extended paid parking … Continue reading →

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Trend data best guide to Qld labour market – seasonally adjusted figures too volatile

Posted on August 8, 2013 by Gene Tunny

There wasn’t much of great interest in the new ABS Labour Force data for Queensland today. While the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 6.3 per cent in June to 5.9 per cent in July, I suspect this was just … Continue reading →

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Good signs for building industry, but conditions will remain weak this quarter

Posted on August 8, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Yesterday’s new ABS data on housing loans were a good sign for the Queensland building industry, as they confirmed strong growth through the year (at 5.8%) in lending for the construction and purchase of new dwellings (also see the HIA media … Continue reading →

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Road trip to Roma

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Gene Tunny

I returned to Brisbane this morning, after a road trip to Roma, and I’m much less worried about the Queensland economy than I was at the end of last week when I saw the Federal Treasury’s revised national forecasts in … Continue reading →

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Strong growth in Gold Coast airport passenger numbers in 2012-13

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Queensland Airports Ltd, which operates the Gold Coast, Townsville, Mt Isa and Longreach airports, today reported good growth in airport passenger numbers over 2012-13, largely driven by strong growth at the Gold Coast airport (see chart above). The company’s media … Continue reading →

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Hong Kong billionaire backs Cairns – expect confidence boost in Far North tourism sector

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Gene Tunny

In fantastic news for Cairns, very recently reported by the Financial Review (Billionaire’s QLD casino plan gets speed-up): Hong Kong billionaire Tony Fung’s $4.2 billion international casino and resort project in Cairns has been gazetted by the Queensland government, essentially speeding … Continue reading →

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Benefits of higher urban population density – more cycling and walking to work

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Gene Tunny

I’ve commented before on the need to boost population density across Brisbane to reduce the large costs associated with transporting people long distances to the CBD for work.  The State of Australian Cities 2013 report released yesterday by the Commonwealth … Continue reading →

Posted in Brisbane, Transport | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Growth in cost of living highest for pensioners

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Pete Faulkner has a great post today (Cost of living pressures?) commenting on the new ABS Living Cost Indexes data, some of which I’ve charted above. Pete notes: Today’s release of the Living Cost Indexes by the ABS should hopefully end … Continue reading →

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Still waiting for building industry recovery

Posted on July 30, 2013 by Gene Tunny

The Queensland building industry will continue to experience lean times over coming months with building approvals remaining significantly lower than they were before the financial crisis (see chart below based on today’s latest ABS data). While seasonally adjusted building approvals … Continue reading →

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