Author Archives: Gene Tunny

Best charts from the State Growth Outlook Study

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Whoever wins the State election next year will have a lot of money to play with thanks to the projected big increase in royalties associated with the resources boom, as charted in the Queensland Resources Council’s State Growth Outlook Study: … Continue reading →

Posted in Mining | Leave a comment

FIFO Coordinator will be very busy

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Last week Australia’s first FIFO (i.e. fly-in, fly-out) Coordinator was appointed in Cairns, with the task of matching locals to FIFO job opportunities in the resources sector (FIFO Coordinator based in Cairns). Based on the ongoing sluggishness in the Far … Continue reading →

Posted in Cairns, Mining, North Queensland | Leave a comment

Education Dept will need to build a lot of new classrooms

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Gene Tunny

If there is a new Campbell Newman-led Government in Queensland next year, as the polls are suggesting, it will need to assess the budgetary implications of a large increase in the number of school students, before it commits funds to … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Education, Infrastructure | Leave a comment

Talking sense about the Commonwealth Games

Posted on November 19, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Sunland chairman Soheil Abedian is absolutely right that the Gold Coast’s major problem is its inability to control drunks and criminals, and hence the Commonwealth Games won’t itself save the Coast’s economy (as reported in today’s Gold Coast Bulletin): At … Continue reading →

Posted in Gold Coast | Leave a comment

Queensland wages growth trailing other States

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Peter Martin has a solid column in the Fairfax papers this morning on the ABS’s new average weekly earnings data, highlighting the strong growth in mining sector earnings and the very strong growth in earnings in Western Australia (Boom times … Continue reading →

Posted in Cairns, Labour market, Macroeconomy, Mining | Leave a comment

Has Brisbane City Council been skimping on maintenance?

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Following today’s report on the crumbling Story Bridge, I’m worried that Brisbane City Council may not have proper plans for managing its assets and undertaking regular maintenance. I found this fact unsettling: It is the fifth large piece of Brisbane … Continue reading →

Posted in Brisbane, Infrastructure, Transport | Leave a comment

Sales of new motor vehicles continue to trend upwards

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Gene Tunny

The continuing upward trend in new motor vehicle sales (see chart below based on new ABS data) is indicative of the economy’s underlying strength and improving confidence of households. It’s probably unsurprising that the SUV share of new motor vehicle … Continue reading →

Posted in Macroeconomy | Leave a comment

Teacher performance pay

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Last night in Melbourne, where I’m based for the next few weeks, I attended a Grattan Institute event on the economics and politics of teacher merit (i.e. performance) pay, which featured former ANU economics professor, now federal MP Andrew Leigh … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Leave a comment

Economic benefits of Games usually over-stated

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Gene Tunny

There is no doubt the Commonwealth Games will provide an economic boost to the Gold Coast and support job creation in the region, but I’m skeptical about the estimated 30,000 jobs figure, given that the economic impacts and net benefits … Continue reading →

Posted in Gold Coast, Labour market | Leave a comment

Surge in residential lot development approvals in Townsville, small recovery in Cairns

Posted on November 12, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Back in the 1980s, there was concern in the Townsville community about how Cairns, then experiencing rapid growth, would over-take Townsville to become the so-called capital of North Queensland. Obviously, that is no longer a possibility as Townsville appears to … Continue reading →

Posted in Cairns, Housing, North Queensland, Townsville | 2 Comments