Author Archives: Gene Tunny

Government still expected to hit jobs target

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Gene Tunny

The Bligh Government remains likely to reach its 100,000 new jobs target, according to the latest ABS Labour Force data released yesterday, even though trend employment growth remains unspectacular (see the OESR brief): Employment in Queensland has risen by 90,000 … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market | Leave a comment

Treasury Secretary on FIFO

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Gene Tunny

In a speech today to the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia, Treasury Secretary Dr Martin Parkinson noted the role of fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) work arrangements in spreading the benefits of the resources boom across Australia: The increasing accessibility and … Continue reading →

Posted in Cairns, Mining | Leave a comment

Flow-on impacts of the resources boom

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Ross Gittins has an excellent column in the Age & SMH today on how the benefits of the resources boom flow through the economy: It’s boom time for everyone Gittins points out that NSW and Victoria benefit through the reallocation … Continue reading →

Posted in Mining, Tax | Leave a comment

Uni / college days the happiest in people’s lives

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Gene Tunny

That old folk wisdom about how your uni/college days are the best days of your life is confirmed by analysis of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY), as reported in a new briefing paper released today: The period between … Continue reading →

Posted in Population | Leave a comment

Carbon price creates risks to growth claims Business Council

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Gene Tunny

The passage of the Clean Energy Future (i.e. carbon price) legislation through the Commonwealth Parliament today is not the end of the debate, and the legislation will almost certainly need to be amended as its implementation bugs become apparent – … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change | Leave a comment

Google Trends for Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Gene Tunny

KS at Loose Change has a great post reporting on negative Google Trends results for “Cairns” and “Great Barrier Reef”, which probably reflect declining international interest in Far North Queensland as a tourism destination: Google trends & insights One hopes … Continue reading →

Posted in Cairns, Tourism | Leave a comment

Replacement public holiday rule will cost Qld consumers

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Gene Tunny

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland (CCIQ) and Queensland Hotels Association (QHA) have attacked the Queensland Government’s decision to grant an extra public holiday, on a weekday, when a public holiday in the Christmas-New Year’s period falls on a … Continue reading →

Posted in Retail trade, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Lots of room for new Queenslanders

Posted on November 6, 2011 by Gene Tunny

I’ve used the ABS’s new National Regional Profile tool to pull out the population densities of some of my favourite places in Queensland – places where I’ve either lived, worked on interesting projects, wasted too much time, or where I … Continue reading →

Posted in Population | Leave a comment

Cairns pins hopes on FIFO, Bundaberg on DIDO

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Gene Tunny

The resources boom is creating many employment opportunities in Queensland, but they’re not evenly distributed across the State. Hence, business and community leaders in Cairns and Bundaberg, which have endured high unemployment rates since the financial crisis, are looking to … Continue reading →

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

Retail recovery continues

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Gene Tunny

The ABS retail trade data released today confirm the economy is set to recover and has the Australian Retailers Association excited about the Christmas season (Christmas miracle for retailers). This chart from the OESR brief shows positive growth is locked … Continue reading →

Posted in Retail trade | Leave a comment