Author Archives: Gene Tunny

Let in those cheap second-hand Japanese cars

Posted on April 24, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Australia’s $12,000 tariff on used cars came into my mind the other day when I read a Monocle story on Vladivostok, which highlighted that in 2008 Russia had brought in huge tariffs on cars to protect its domestic automotive industry. … Continue reading →

Posted in Industry policy | Leave a comment

Townsville’s Flinders St to re-open for traffic by June

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Gene Tunny

In great news for businesses in Townsville’s city centre, the sorry tale of the Flinders St Mall will be over by June, when Flinders St re-opens for traffic for the first time in 30 years. City traders are hoping that … Continue reading →

Posted in Townsville | Leave a comment

Queensland’s retail trading hours are perplexing

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Ex-Productivity Commissioner Judith Sloan has a great post over at Catallaxy Files in which she criticises Queensland’s antiquated regulations around retail trading hours (Beautiful one day, closed the next). She also notices a perverse outcome of the simplification of awards … Continue reading →

Posted in IR, Retail trade | 1 Comment

Is Queensland’s uranium mining ban under threat?

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Gene Tunny

According to a report in today’s Cairns Post, it appears at least one mining company is expecting an end to Queensland’s ban on uranium mining: IT might be half a world away but a uranium mine in western Russia is … Continue reading →

Posted in Mining | Leave a comment

Does the Gold Coast need to compete with Vegas and Macau?

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Gene Tunny

At the risk of upsetting a large conservative chunk of his electorate, Gold Coast-based federal MP Steve Ciobo has suggested that the Gold Coast needs to turn on the razzle dazzle so it can compete with Las Vegas and Macau … Continue reading →

Posted in Gold Coast | 3 Comments

Dr Doom forecasts China crash

Posted on April 17, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Nouriel Roubini, the New York economics professor who predicted the financial crisis –  and who is also known as Dr Doom – is forecasting a sharp slowdown in China in a few years’ time, because it is currently over-investing in … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Industry policy, Macroeconomy | Leave a comment

Rocky NRL stadium would be waste of taxpayers’ money

Posted on April 16, 2011 by Gene Tunny

It’s disappointing that Queensland taxpayers will likely have to pay for a stadium in Rockhampton to host a new Central Queensland NRL team: Rocky to get footy stadium: Newman It’s disappointing because I doubt that the Queensland Government body Stadiums … Continue reading →

Posted in Queensland Government, Rockhampton | Leave a comment

Rates to rise $60 p.a. due to infrastructure charges cap

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Gene Tunny

As reported in today’s Townsville Bulletin (State subsidy threat): The Local Government Association said the Government had handed developers a concession and rates would likely rise by $60 a year because councils would have to borrow more money to cover … Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure | Leave a comment

Infrastructure charges reform good for developers, bad for ratepayers

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Gene Tunny

The Queensland Government will set maximum standard charges (e.g. $28,000 for a 3+ bedroom house) that Councils can levy on developers for the provision of infrastructure to new developments. This is good for developers and new homebuyers, but potentially bad … Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure | Leave a comment

In case you didn’t appreciate how much rain we had…

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Gene Tunny

…check out this chart from page 16 of the National Water Commission’s interesting new report on Future Directions for Urban Water: The dark blue shading stands for “highest on record”. There are other very interesting charts in the report (e.g. … Continue reading →

Posted in Water | Leave a comment