Author Archives: Gene Tunny

Recommended reading on the car industry

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Gene Tunny

The new online newspaper the Global Mail, which is funded by Wotif founder Graeme Wood, published a great article today (Car makers: Beached as) by Bernard Lagan on government assistance to Australia’s car industry, which quotes extensively from my paper … Continue reading →

Posted in Industry policy | 3 Comments

Gold Coast over-supply of residential property persists

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Gene Tunny

The Gold Coast building industry is likely to be in for another tough year at least, based on December quarter 2011 rental housing vacancy rates reported in today’s information brief from OESR: Gold Coast tradies will log a lot more … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing | Leave a comment

RBA makes right decision for the national economy

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Gene Tunny

In leaving interest rates unchanged, the RBA has clearly demonstrated its focus is solely on the national economy – that is, it appears comfortable with the two-speed economy which this year will see Queensland and WA surging with NSW and … Continue reading →

Posted in Macroeconomy | Leave a comment

Qld only state to record growth in building approvals

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Gene Tunny

Today’s ABS data on building approvals (see the chart below I’ve pinched from this OESR brief) and Westpac’s gloomy assessment of the Australian economy (Westpac says cutting up to 400 jobs) have made me a bit concerned about the two-speed … Continue reading →

Posted in Macroeconomy | Leave a comment

Community sector pay rise will hit the Qld budget

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Gene Tunny

Judith Sloan has a fantastic column in the Australian today on yesterday’s Fair Work Australia decision to grant large pay rises to social and community services (SACS) workers, in which she notes the budgetary costs to State Governments: Another unsavoury … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Labour market | 1 Comment

Ipswich helps Brisbane to top economic growth ranking

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Gene Tunny

The Brisbane Times this morning reported on an interesting new report from Jones Lang LaSalle which places Brisbane as the top major city for projected economic growth. Here’s the chart showing Brisbane’s dominance: Of course, this must refer to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Brisbane, Ipswich, Population | Leave a comment

Business confidence starts to reflect economic reality

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Gene Tunny

I was very pleased to see this news yesterday in the Brisbane Times as it confirms my belief that the Queensland economy is strengthening due to the pipeline of resources sector investments (Queensland’s business confidence growth outpacing nation): Business confidence … Continue reading →

Posted in Macroeconomy | Leave a comment

Is Far North Qld recovering?

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Gene Tunny

Cairns-based blogger KS at Loose Change has a couple of recent posts on news that may suggest a (modest) economic recovery is underway in the Far North: Airline flights boost Unemployment falls According to the latest OESR regional unemployment brief … Continue reading →

Posted in Cairns, Labour market | Leave a comment

Hands off our mining royalties

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Gene Tunny

OESR’s latest Queensland Economic Review released today contains an informative piece on the Grants Commission’s treatment of mining royalties – i.e. effectively taking a big chunk of them away from us (and WA) by allocating us less of the GST … Continue reading →

Posted in Mining | Leave a comment

Gold Coast childcare magnate gives thanks to Peter Costello

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Gene Tunny

Australia’s fertility rate reached an historic low in 2001 of 1.73 babies per woman, but by the end of the decade it had risen to 1.90 babies per woman (see One for the Country: Recent Trends in Fertility) – an … Continue reading →

Posted in Population | Leave a comment