Author Archives: Gene Tunny

Loans data confirm very slow recovery in housing – is regulation constraining the sector?

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Gene Tunny

The Housing Industry Association (HIA) gave an apt summary of today’s ABS housing finance data in the title of its media release Home lending up but not by enough. The Queensland data (see my chart below) are consistent with building … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Qld outback drought spreads – Mt Isa LGA now drought declared

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Fourteen Queensland Local Government Areas (LGAs) covering 36 per cent of the State are now drought declared (see map below), with Mt Isa the latest addition (see Queensland Country Life coverage: Qld drought spreads). These LGAs account for around 12% … Continue reading →

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International tourism continues to recover, particularly in TNQ, thanks largely to Chinese visitors

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) has released its latest International Tourism Snapshot, and it shows a solid recovery in international tourism in Queensland and nationally, particularly in Tropical North Queensland (TNQ), which includes Cairns and Cape York (see my chart … Continue reading →

Posted in Cairns, Macroeconomy, North Queensland, Tourism | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Senior public servants protected from job cuts

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Gene Tunny

During his interview of Treasurer Tim Nicholls on 7.30 Queensland tonight, Matt Wordsworth cited new Queensland public service data showing job cuts were borne by workers earning less than $100,000 per year, and the number of public servants earning more than … Continue reading →

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

Disasters have had huge budgetary impacts

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Gene Tunny

The Queensland State Budget is out and it contains a clear analysis of the huge budgetary impact of natural disasters, particularly: the large expenditure associated with disasters (e.g. around $2.5 billion to deal with ex-Tropical Cyclone Oswald’s impacts); and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Cyclones, Floods | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Qld budget surplus delay not a big deal, but reinforces need to consider Energex & Ergon sell off

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Gene Tunny

There won’t be much to report after the release of the Queensland Budget later today as it appears much of the big news has already been released, including a delay in achieving the Budget surplus, originally forecast for 2014-15 and … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Brisbane ABC radio interview from this morning – why is budget forecasting so difficult?

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Steve Austin of 612 ABC Brisbane asked me an interesting question this morning: why is budget forecasting so difficult for Treasury departments? You can listen to my answer at this link: The Upcoming Budget For further information on the challenges … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Tax | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Qld defies national trend in capital spending – Qld resources sector investment hasn’t peaked yet

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Consistent with yesterday’s data on construction activity (see my post from this morning), ABS data released today show private sector capital spending in Queensland has not yet fallen from a peak, as national capital spending has due to a drop … Continue reading →

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Resources sector investment hasn’t peaked yet in Qld – we now lead Australia in construction

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Unlike the rest of Australia, construction activity increased in Queensland in the March quarter. This was due to heavy, so-called engineering construction, no doubt resources sector-related, as residential and non-residential building activity (i.e. houses, flats, office buildings, shopping centres, etc) continues … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, Mining | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Did the financial crisis lead to an increase in Queensland’s crime rate?

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Under its open data policy, the Queensland Government yesterday released a very interesting data set on criminal offences on a monthly basis since July 1997. Recalling the work of Nobel laureate Gary Becker on the economic determinants of crime, I … Continue reading →

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