Tag Archives: australia

New Treasury modelling supports change in tax mix towards GST

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Gene Tunny

In the latest Commonwealth Treasury Economic Roundup, there is an excellent paper on the economic impacts of company tax. The paper could be viewed as supporting a cut in company tax and replacing the lost revenue with greater GST revenue, either … Continue reading →

Posted in Tax, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Growing Chinese visitor numbers great news for Qld tourism

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Mission Beach blogger Pete Faulkner has been closely following Chinese visitor numbers, given that many tourism operators, especially in the Far North, are hopeful that Chinese tourism will revive their industry. Regarding yesterday’s new overseas arrivals and departures data from … Continue reading →

Posted in Cairns, North Queensland, Tourism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Dr Parkinson right that the GST should be broadened

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Gene Tunny

I was pleased to see the Treasury Secretary, Dr Martin Parkinson, suggest today that the GST should be broadened to cover currently excluded items – i.e. health, education and fresh food (see Fiscal sustainability and living standards – the decade … Continue reading →

Posted in Tax | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Challenging labour market conditions for young Australians

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Professor Jeff Borland has recently published an informative labour market snapshot on What is happening to jobs for the young? As Professor Borland notes, employment opportunities for young people have declined significantly over the last few years as employers have become … Continue reading →

Posted in IR, Labour market | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Catholic schools still benefiting from very favourable funding deal from Howard Govt days

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Gene Tunny

I’ve received several interesting comments on my post Large savings for Qld Govt from shift to private schooling, including the comment below from a representative of independent schools (i.e. non-Catholic private schools such as BBC, Somerville House and the grammar schools): … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Large savings for Qld Govt from shift to private schooling

Posted on March 30, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Last week I posted on trends in private school enrolments, and my colleague and friend Brad Rogers commented to me that the shift to private schooling is bringing significant savings to the State Government. While State Schools receive the bulk … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Reduce youth unemployment through improved regulation – e.g. of penalty rates, taxis

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Gene Tunny

With overall unemployment creeping up to 6%, unemployment among 15 to 24 year olds, which tends to be naturally higher anyway and ends up even higher when the economy slows, has increased to over 15% and has re-emerged as a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Fiscal restraint impacting Queensland economy

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Gene Tunny

While containing reasonably good news for the national economy, today’s new National Accounts data from the ABS suggest the December quarter of last year was a lacklustre one for the Queensland economy, with the (albeit imperfect) measure of State Final … Continue reading →

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

Residential building approvals have recovered nicely – but some weakness still in regions

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Gene Tunny

It appears Master Builders Queensland was right to report last month that Queensland builders are optimistic (see my post on the report), with today’s new residential building approvals from the ABS showing a strong upward trend nationally and in Queensland … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, Macroeconomy | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

FIFO & DIDO workers in Qld gas fields nearly doubled in 2013

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Gene Tunny

The new data from Queensland Treasury on non-resident – i.e. fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) or drive-in, drive-out (DIDO) – workers in the Surat Basin illustrate the boom we’re seeing in the gas-field communities out west of Toowoomba on the Darling Downs, … Continue reading →

Posted in Macroeconomy, Mining | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments