Category Archives: Retail trade

Treasury reports pessimism around Qld residential construction

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Commonwealth Treasury has produced a nice write-up of current economic conditions across the two-speed economy in its latest business liaison report. It contains sobering news for people in the retail sector and Queensland’s residential building industry: Retail sector contacts report … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, Macroeconomy, Retail trade | Leave a comment

Paid parking and trading hours deregulation would solve carpark woes

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Gene Tunny

If you want to see aggressive competition and scenes of triumph and despair, the Indooroopilly Shoppingtown carpark on a Saturday afternoon is the place for you. After driving around the carpark for twenty minutes last Saturday afternoon, I was luckily … Continue reading →

Posted in Retail trade | 1 Comment

Replacement public holiday rule will cost Qld consumers

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Gene Tunny

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland (CCIQ) and Queensland Hotels Association (QHA) have attacked the Queensland Government’s decision to grant an extra public holiday, on a weekday, when a public holiday in the Christmas-New Year’s period falls on a … Continue reading →

Posted in Retail trade, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Retail recovery continues

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Gene Tunny

The ABS retail trade data released today confirm the economy is set to recover and has the Australian Retailers Association excited about the Christmas season (Christmas miracle for retailers). This chart from the OESR brief shows positive growth is locked … Continue reading →

Posted in Retail trade | Leave a comment

How can Brisbane get into the top 25 liveable cities?

Posted on August 28, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Monocle’s 2011 list of top 25 liveable cities includes Melbourne at number 5 and Sydney at number 7, but does not include Brisbane. At the very least, if we want a chance of getting on to this list, we need … Continue reading →

Posted in Brisbane, Retail trade | 1 Comment

Retail trade has held up better in Qld than in rest of Australia

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Retail turnover has held up better in Queensland than in the rest of Australia (excluding WA) according to this chart in OESR’s latest Queensland Economic Review: Again, while the resources boom is delivering Queensland much good fortune, WA still leads … Continue reading →

Posted in Mining, Retail trade | Leave a comment

Push for national plastic bag ban

Posted on August 21, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Banning plastic bags wouldn’t be sensible policy (see my earlier post Should Queensland ban plastic shopping bags?), and the Federal Government appears to realise this, but still environmental groups persist in pushing for a ban. As reported in today’s Sydney … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Retail trade | Leave a comment

Retail trading hours restrictions holding back retailers

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Gene Tunny

The Productivity Commission’s report on online retailing, released today, finds the $1,000 GST threshold is only a minor issue and the bigger issues are over-regulation in industrial relations and retail trading hours. The Commission identifies Queensland, SA and WA as … Continue reading →

Posted in Retail trade, Tax | 3 Comments

Increasing links with India great news for Qld economy

Posted on July 8, 2011 by Gene Tunny

India is expected to overtake China in population by around 2025 (What the world will look like in 2050), so it’s great news that Queensland is expanding its links with the country, as reported in today’s Brisbane Times: A massive … Continue reading →

Posted in India, Retail trade | Leave a comment

Mall activation – T minus 10 and counting

Posted on June 10, 2011 by Gene Tunny

The economic development chapter of the latest Brisbane City Council budget has left me wondering whether there is someone sitting in the Council building, with one hand hovering over a red button, counting down to “mall activation”: Service 7.4.2.2 Queen Street … Continue reading →

Posted in Brisbane, Retail trade | 1 Comment