Category Archives: Infrastructure

More work needed to show SEQ Olympics would stack up

Posted on February 28, 2021 by Gene Tunny

The increasingly likely 2032 SEQ Olympics stimulated a lot of debate across Australia last week, and I expect scepticism of the Olympics will grow in the lead up to the Games. At the moment, regional Queenslanders such as Robbie Katter … Continue reading →

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Most host cities lose money on the Olympics – SEQ Olympics needs to be delivered cost-effectively

Posted on February 25, 2021 by Gene Tunny

While it’s exciting news that SEQ is the lead candidate for the 2032 Olympics (check out the Brisbane Times report), the reality is that the Olympics probably won’t be an economic boon and it will end up costing Queensland taxpayers … Continue reading →

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Brisbane Inner City still the biggest beneficiary of Qld Gov’t CAPEX

Posted on December 22, 2020 by Gene Tunny

Following last year’s state budget, I posted on how Brisbane’s inner city was the big winner regarding state government capital spending. That continues in 2020-21 with the continuation of the huge Cross River Rail project (see chart below). Out of … Continue reading →

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Transcript of Megaprojects chat with Marion Terrill of Grattan

Posted on November 27, 2020 by Gene Tunny

A couple of weeks ago I spoke with Marion Terrill of the Grattan Institute regarding her new report on The Rise of Megaprojects (check out Megaprojects chat with Marion Terrill from Grattan). Marion made so many excellent points in the discussion … Continue reading →

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Chat with Joe Branigan on LNP’s New Bradfield Scheme and 5% jobless target and Labor’s $600M Council cash splash

Posted on October 21, 2020 by Gene Tunny

Yesterday afternoon I caught up with my good friend and former Treasury colleague Joe Branigan to chat about the upcoming Queensland election, and you can listen to our wide-ranging conversation via the player/link below. Among other issues, we chatted about … Continue reading →

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Second GC motorway should have been built decades ago – BODBTN extract

Posted on September 21, 2020 by Gene Tunny

It was good to see in a media statement yesterday the state government’s commitment to a second M1: The Palaszczuk Government’s economic recovery plan will be significantly boosted with a $755 million commitment to build the 16-kilometre stage one of … Continue reading →

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State gov’t economic responses to COVID-19 podcast episode

Posted on July 16, 2020 by Gene Tunny

In my latest podcast episode, I elaborate on my opening remarks to the Queensland Parliamentary Inquiry on the state government’s economic response to COVID-19 on Monday. Among other things, I mention Joe Branigan and Henry Ergas’s new Menzies Research Centre … Continue reading →

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Unfreezing discount rates with Marion Terrill from Grattan – latest podcast episode

Posted on July 2, 2020 by Gene Tunny

Building Queensland and Infrastructure Australia require the use of a 7% discount rate in cost-benefit analyses of public infrastructure projects, but is a 7% discount rate applied to the future benefits of public infrastructure projects too high? Marion Terrill of … Continue reading →

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US infrastructure: lessons from Australia, with Darren Brady Nelson – Economics Explained EP36

Posted on May 21, 2020 by Gene Tunny

I recently spoke with Darren Brady Nelson about his new Heartland Institute Policy Brief How to fix America’s crumbling infrastructure: lessons from Australia. You can now listen to our conversation which I’ve published as Economics Explained EP36. Darren is an … Continue reading →

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City Infrastructure with Craig Lawrence – Economics Explained ep.26

Posted on March 12, 2020 by Gene Tunny

At this stage, the official line is that Queensland’s local government elections will still go ahead on Saturday 28 March despite the coronavirus threat, although the Queensland Electoral Commissioner has told ABC Radio “Things could change…” (see this ABC News … Continue reading →

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