Category Archives: Mining

Nice introduction to business opportunities in China and elsewhere

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Gene Tunny

The Australia-China free trade agreement is great news for the Queensland economy, with scheduled reductions in Chinese tariffs on coal and agricultural products from Australia. It will also provide opportunities for people in professional and financial services (see Max Mason’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, China, Mining, Trade | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Economic weakness hits Qld retailers

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Gene Tunny

2014 has been a challenging year for Queensland retailers, with retail turnover not growing, and actually declining by around 1% from levels seen earlier in the year (see chart below). I suspect a large part of this is due to … Continue reading →

Posted in Macroeconomy, Mining, Retail trade, Tax | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Coal contraction continues

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Gene Tunny

The big economic news for Queensland today was the announcement from BHP Billiton of a reduction in coal mining jobs of 700 in its Central Queensland operations, as the viability of some operations have been challenged by lower coal prices … Continue reading →

Posted in Mining | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

New ABS figures show two of the four pillars are crumbling – agriculture & mining

Posted on September 18, 2014 by Gene Tunny

New quarterly employment by industry data confirm falling employment levels in two of the so-called four pillars of the Queensland economy: agriculture and mining (see chart below). Regarding the other two pillars, construction employment appears flat and the ABS does … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Mining | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

If you want to understand the East Coast gas market, come to this presentation

Posted on September 14, 2014 by Gene Tunny

With the first LNG exports from Curtis Island off Gladstone expected later this year, it is timely to consider what the linkage of our domestic gas market to the international market will mean for gas prices in Australia. A Grattan … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Gladstone, Mining | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mining investment decline has driven recent economic weakness

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Gene Tunny

New data from the ABS show that although residential and commercial building activity is picking up nicely, the pick up is in no way large enough to offset the decline in heavy/engineering construction, which has largely occurred in the resources … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, Macroeconomy, Mining | Leave a comment

Speech to University of the Third Age Redlands on the Australian Economy

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Gene Tunny

This morning I addressed the University of the Third Age Redlands at the Donald Simpson Centre, Cleveland on the topic of The Australian Economy: Where we’ve come from, where we’re going. My prepared remarks are reproduced below. I varied the … Continue reading →

Posted in Industry policy, IR, Labour market, Macroeconomy, Migration, Mining, Population, Tax, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

What is the Four Pillars’ share of the Queensland economy?

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Last week I noted how Nick Behrens of CCIQ made the good point on Steve Austin’s ABC radio show that the Queensland economy is much more than the so-called four pillars of agriculture, construction, resources (i.e. mining) and tourism. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Mining, Tourism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Qld Govt recognises importance of coal to economy and budget

Posted on June 15, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Reading the Courier-Mail story today about how the Government looks set to favour coal miners over farmers in Central Queensland,  I recalled a chart my friend and colleague Brad Rogers once showed me of the contributions made by different commodities … Continue reading →

Posted in Mining | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

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 →

Posted in Budget, Macroeconomy, Mining | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment