Category Archives: Budget

Strong Choices was never persuasive – similarities with Fightback

Posted on February 1, 2015 by Gene Tunny

After yesterday’s extraordinary swing against the Queensland Government, which will likely deliver the Opposition to power, it’s now clear that the Government’s privatisation plan was too ambitious and, as Sir Humphrey would have said, courageous. Strong Choices will join John … Continue reading →

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Black hole election – speech notes and slides

Posted on January 31, 2015 by Gene Tunny

For the record, I’m posting the speech notes I prepared for the presentation I gave Wednesday night at the Ship Inn Function Centre in South Brisbane on economic policy issues in the 2015 Queensland election. My slides are available via … Continue reading →

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4BC Drive interview on election costings – problems with economic plans from both major parties

Posted on January 31, 2015 by Gene Tunny

I had a nice chat with Ben Davis from 4BC’s Drive program yesterday afternoon on the economic plans the major parties are taking to today’s Queensland election. You can find the audio for the interview if you scroll down on … Continue reading →

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Consultancies are an easy target, but more cost-effective than maintaining bloated public service

Posted on January 30, 2015 by Gene Tunny

In its election costings, the Opposition has identified that it would cut expenditure on consultancies as part of a cost-cutting drive to pay for its election commitments (see Qld Labor reveals election costings). As a consultant I’m obviously biased, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Queensland Government | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Media commentary on Qld Government election costings

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Gene Tunny

I spoke with Steve Austin on 612 ABC Brisbane yesterday morning regarding the Queensland Government’s election costings, after Steve first spoke with Treasurer Tim Nicholls (3 days until the election – Treasurer Tim Nicholls). The main point I made was … Continue reading →

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Neither party gets a high distinction in fiscal policy

Posted on January 17, 2015 by Gene Tunny

In their proposed fiscal strategies, neither the Government nor the Opposition gets a high distinction. The Government gets marked down because it is not allocating all asset lease proceeds to reducing debt and (thus) interest payments, which means there is … Continue reading →

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Economic Policy Issues in the 2015 Qld Election – Griffith-ESA Qld event on 28 January

Posted on January 17, 2015 by Gene Tunny

I’m looking forward to participating in an upcoming panel discussion on Economic Policy Issues in the 2015 Queensland Election, to be held on Wednesday, 28 January at 6.30pm at Griffith University’s Southbank campus. I’m certain Professors Fabrizio Carmignani and Tony … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Macroeconomy, Queensland Government | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Better off allocating all lease proceeds to debt reduction

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Gene Tunny

John Quiggin’s interesting new paper on the budgetary impact of asset leases, reported in the Brisbane Times today (Strong Choices will have ‘adverse impact’), correctly points out the adverse budgetary impact of the Queensland Government allocating around one-third of asset … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Infrastructure, Queensland Government | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Good set of policy principles (mostly) from new Queensland think tank AiP

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Gene Tunny

New Queensland think tank the Australian Institute for Progress (AiP) has released a set of high-level policies for the Queensland election, which are mostly consistent with sound public finance and the promotion of free markets (see Our priorities for Queensland … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Industry policy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Earlier election better for the Queensland economy

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Gene Tunny

It’s good news for the Queensland economy that the Premier is expected to announce a late January or early February election today. The CCIQ September quarter Pulse Survey report notes that uncertainty around the upcoming election has affected business expectations, … Continue reading →

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