Category Archives: Infrastructure

Be careful what you wish for on infrastructure spending

Posted on August 30, 2016 by Gene Tunny

The Brisbane Times this morning draws attention to the relatively low level of heavy or engineering construction activity (e.g. on roads, bridges, dams, etc) being undertaken for the public sector in Queensland at the moment, based on analysis by RPS’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Driverless cars and congestion charging up for discussion at IAQ Qld Infrastructure Summit 2016

Posted on August 15, 2016 by Gene Tunny

The well-known fatal crash involving a self-driving Tesla car and a lorry suggests a completely driverless future is some time away, but nonetheless regulators and businesses need to start preparing for it. Hence it is great to see driverless cars … Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Transparency and good governance essential for successful infrastructure projects

Posted on May 19, 2016 by Gene Tunny

After my recent post on mega-projects, I came across this excellent presentation, by a Jacobs consultant and an Adelaide University academic, which was delivered to a conference in Adelaide last year: Jacobs presentation on infrastructure risks and mega projects The … Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Cross River Rail equals mega-project equals mega-risk

Posted on May 17, 2016 by Gene Tunny

Shadow Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh is a very good economist, so I hope he is encouraging his colleagues to wait for and fully scrutinise the Cross River Rail business case being delivered in June, before the Federal Opposition commits to … Continue reading →

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Targeting infrastructure spending as a % of GSP won’t work – Guest post by Joe Branigan

Posted on May 12, 2016 by Gene Tunny

Again, I am delighted to publish a guest post from my good friend and former Treasury colleague Joe Branigan. The usual disclaimer applies, that the views expressed in this article are Joe’s and should not necessarily be attributed to me. … Continue reading →

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Exciting week for economy watchers: State of the States, a possible rate cut, and the Budget

Posted on May 2, 2016 by Gene Tunny

CommSec’s latest State of the States Report is out today, and, while I think its placement of Queensland in around the middle of Australia’s States and Territories (5th out of 8) is reasonable, I have some sympathy for Queensland Treasurer … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Housing, Infrastructure, Macroeconomy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Guest post from Joe Branigan: A quick refresher course in how to create jobs

Posted on April 26, 2016 by Gene Tunny

I am delighted to publish this guest post from my friend and former Treasury colleague Joe Branigan, who is also attending today’s Jobs Growth Summit at Parliament House, Brisbane (see my previous post Jobs Growth Summit a great opportunity to … Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure, IR, Labour market, Macroeconomy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Long-run benefits of privatisation are undeniable

Posted on April 17, 2016 by Gene Tunny

Last Friday, in an opinion piece in the Courier-Mail (see image above) that was consistent with its current “Go Queensland” campaign, I re-entered the debate on privatisation: Privatisation, legalising Uber and deregulating trading hours are first steps towards boosting the … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Infrastructure, Productivity, Queensland Government, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Value capture can be desirable, but won’t make bad projects stack up

Posted on April 12, 2016 by Gene Tunny

There was an odd statement about value capture on the front page of Monday’s Australian, in the story about the PM’s grand plan for high speed rail. The statement was that value capture, by which a private consortium would get … Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Extra GST revenue welcome, but Qld still faces big fiscal challenges

Posted on April 10, 2016 by Gene Tunny

The Queensland Government must be pleased the Commonwealth Grants Commission (CGC) has recommended it receive an additional $520 million above what it might have expected from the GST revenue carve up for 2016-17 (see 2016 Update Report). The gain to … Continue reading →

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