Category Archives: Townsville

No mass relocation of public servants to NQ

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Gene Tunny

North Queensland community and business leaders were disappointed yesterday when the Treasurer Andrew Fraser and Deputy Premier Paul Lucas both shattered expectations of a mass migration of public servants to the region: Push to relocate services stymied Queensland State Government … Continue reading →

Posted in Cairns, North Queensland, Queensland Government, Townsville | Leave a comment

Cairns pushing for expanded naval base

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Gene Tunny

With the Cairns economy sluggish at the moment due to a slowdown in tourism and the construction sector, Cairns community leaders are lobbying hard for an expansion of the HMAS Cairns naval base, as reported in yesterday’s Cairns Post. An expansion … Continue reading →

Posted in Cairns, Tourism, Townsville | Leave a comment

Queensland full of bolters

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Queensland is leading the country in the number of bolting regions – including SEQ, Hervey Bay, Townsville and Cairns – with only Mt Isa and Longreach lagging behind. Check out this table in the excellent new Grattan Institute report Investing … Continue reading →

Posted in Brisbane, Cairns, Retail trade, Townsville | Leave a comment

Copper refinery closure is bad news, but Townsville’s economic prospects are good

Posted on May 19, 2011 by Gene Tunny

One of my most vivid memories from my time at Kirwan High in Townsville is of the visit my grade 8 manual arts class made to the copper refinery. Proud refinery staff tried to explain in simple terms the science … Continue reading →

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Good times ahead for Queen City of the North

Posted on May 3, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Long-time Townsville residents sometimes fondly refer to their hometown as the “Queen City of the North”, which it is, in a way, being the most populous Australian city north of the Tropic of Capricorn, with around 170,000 residents compared with … Continue reading →

Posted in Mining, Population, Townsville | 1 Comment

Townsville’s Flinders St to re-open for traffic by June

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Gene Tunny

In great news for businesses in Townsville’s city centre, the sorry tale of the Flinders St Mall will be over by June, when Flinders St re-opens for traffic for the first time in 30 years. City traders are hoping that … Continue reading →

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Government right to push back on Townsville Convention Centre

Posted on March 26, 2011 by Gene Tunny

A new convention centre in Townsville would not likely attract any new conferences to Queensland, and it would simply serve as a competitor to the major convention centres in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, taking conference business away from these … Continue reading →

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We’re living the worst case scenario

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Gene Tunny

Cyclone Yasi is truly frightening and is certain to claim lives and inflict several more billions of dollars of damage to the already battered Queensland economy. Clearly it will disrupt the tourism sector, which is so vital to North Queensland’s economy, … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Cairns, Townsville | Leave a comment

Can this Summer get any crueller?

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Gene Tunny

It certainly could. The Townsville Bulletin reports: City on alert for tidal flooding and cyclone The “beer ship” to Townsville, replenishing XXXX supplies, may arrive just in time to fortify Townsville residents for potentially challenging times ahead: Beer ship to … Continue reading →

Posted in Floods, Townsville | Leave a comment

Record July for Port of Townsville

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Gene Tunny

With all the bad economic news coming out of the US, and concerns about sluggish business investment in Australia, it’s pleasing to read good news coming out of Townsville: THE Port of Townsville has had a record start to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Exports, Townsville | 1 Comment