Author Archives: Gene Tunny

Top power regulator skeptical about “gold plating” allegation

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Gene Tunny

I attended an excellent function on electricity distribution pricing at Customs House, Brisbane last night which was organised by the UQ Energy Initiative. Panelists included John Pierce, Chair of the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC), Tony Bellas, who recently chaired … Continue reading →

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Major projects construction activity still strong, but appears to be peaking

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Gene Tunny

RBA Governor Glenn Stevens, who incidentally was re-appointed for another three years today, has recently observed that the mining construction boom would peak in the near future. The latest ABS data on engineering construction activity appear to confirm this view, … Continue reading →

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Is it worth paying $10K each for temporary film industry jobs?

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Gene Tunny

So Captain Nemo is coming to Australia, possibly to the Gold Coast, and the Australian Government will provide a $21 million subsidy, as reported earlier today in the Gold Coast Bulletin (Govt commits $21m for sci-fi film): THE Federal Government … Continue reading →

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

How were job losses shared across Qld Government agencies?

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Gene Tunny

An article in the Financial Review this morning (Government jobs growth masks softer employment market) prompted me to examine the Queensland public service data more closely. Given the significant Queensland public service (QPS) job cuts over the last nine months, … Continue reading →

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Public sector hiring freeze continues

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Job vacancies data released by the ABS yesterday point to continuing weakness in the labour market, with job vacancies of 26,000 in February 2013 compared with 36,100 in February 2012. Around one-third of the decline in job vacancies through the … Continue reading →

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Tourism had reasonable December quarter, but room for improvement

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Gene Tunny

The ABS released its December quarter 2012 Tourist Accommodation data today and they confirmed tourism has recovered significantly since the financial crisis but not to previous highs (see charts below).  

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Deputy Premier the most hospitable Minister

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Gene Tunny

It’s well known that Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney is a major force in the current Queensland Government, and he’s obviously taking on a big share of stakeholder management, based on Ministerial hospitality costs data released today (see chart below). The … Continue reading →

Posted in Queensland Government | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Buy locally campaign unnecessary, but harmless

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Gene Tunny

It seems obvious to me that buying from local businesses is good for the local economy and I suspect it’s obvious to most Queenslanders, too, but for some reason we need a Government information campaign to tell us this (Think … Continue reading →

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New Ipswich Coles shows regulation banning supermarket liquor sales is pointless

Posted on March 24, 2013 by Gene Tunny

The Queensland Government may as well remove the regulation banning supermarkets from selling liquor, as called for by Master Grocers Australia (see this AAP story) because with co-located bottle shops they are effectively already selling liquor. This was apparent when … Continue reading →

Posted in Ipswich, Retail trade | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Qld struck by Dutch Disease – manufacturing employment has plunged in last few years

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Gene Tunny

The so-called Dutch Disease of a booming resources sector and a contracting manufacturing sector has been very evident in Queensland over the last few years, as seen in the chart below based on the latest vintage of ABS quarterly labour … Continue reading →

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