Category Archives: Budget

Government should just sell Energex, Ergon & Powerlink

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Gene Tunny

The Government’s interesting proposition for private sector participation in Energex, Ergon and Powerlink, which raises the bulk of the $30-35 billion under the Strong Choices plan, should be attractive to investors because the businesses have reasonably reliable revenue streams they … Continue reading →

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Overall a good Budget, but earmarking sales proceeds for infrastructure funds undesirable

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Gene Tunny

The Queensland Budget released yesterday is a sound plan to reduce Queensland’s large State debt and to set us on a path to eventually reclaiming our AAA credit rating. My old friend and former Treasury colleague Joe Branigan has a … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Queensland Government | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Queensland Treasurer will deliver necessary though unpopular Budget

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Today the Queensland Treasurer will deliver a State Budget that is necessary, but which is likely to be unpopular. It is necessary because getting State debt under control and restoring our AAA credit rating needs to be done now, to reduce … Continue reading →

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Comment on Nine News about desirability of asset sales in Qld Budget

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Gene Tunny

I was pleased to run into Katherine Feeney from Nine News on Boundary St, West End this afternoon. She was gauging community views on the upcoming Queensland Budget and I made a comment to her on the desirability of asset sales: … Continue reading →

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7.30 Qld interview on asset sales

Posted on June 1, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Last week, Maria Hatzakis interviewed me for the Queensland edition of the 7.30 Report, which aired on Friday night: Privatisation push as power prices surge again In understanding why the sale of electricity assets is desirable, the Productivity Commission’s Electricity … Continue reading →

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Qld Budget needs to reflect challenging conditions – asset sales good option to cut debt

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Gene Tunny

The March quarter private capital spending figures released today by the ABS confirm that Treasury was right to make conservative, sub-par growth forecasts in developing the Federal Budget. Queensland Treasury will have to do the same in the Queensland Budget, … Continue reading →

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PwC Breakfast on the Blackadder Budget – a cunning plan is afoot

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Gene Tunny

At the PwC Federal Budget breakfast this morning at the Brisbane RNA Showgrounds convention centre, popular finance commentator Peter Switzer gave an entertaining and informative address on last night’s Federal Budget, which he labelled the Blackadder Budget, because a cunning … Continue reading →

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Good Budget strategy, but a mix of good and bad policy measures

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Gene Tunny

I told Ben Davis on 4BC’s Drive program this afternoon that this would be the Federal Budget we needed to have – while we’re not facing an emergency/crisis, if we don’t repair the Budget now, we probably never will. The … Continue reading →

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Failure of Strong Choices now obvious – missed chance to persuade on asset sales

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Gene Tunny

The Queensland Government should have directly made the case for asset sales, rather than hoping people would conclude they’re necessary after playing the choose-your-own-budget game on the Strong Choices website, a point I’ve made a few times over the last few weeks (see … Continue reading →

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Grattan report shows need for permanent budget measures, not temporary debt levy

Posted on May 5, 2014 by Gene Tunny

The highly regarded think tank the Grattan Institute yesterday released the 2014 update of its excellent Budget pressures on Australian Governments report. The report makes it clear that Governments need to take permanent measures to repair budgets, not short-term fixes … Continue reading →

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