Tag Archives: australia

Townsville beats Brisbane on economic fundamentals, says new RAI Insight database

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill will be pleased the Regional Australia Institute has ranked Townsville very highly on economic fundamentals in its new Insight database, as it supports the Council’s case for investing in the region that will be expressed in its … Continue reading →

Posted in Brisbane, Townsville | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Qld records respectable population growth in 2012 – still waiting for interstate migration rebound

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Gene Tunny

In 2012, Queensland’s population grew 2.0% to 4.61 million people, a respectable growth rate but only slightly above the Australian population growth rate of 1.8% and much lower than WA’s growth rate of 3.5% (see Queensland Treasury’s nice briefing on … Continue reading →

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Drum opinion piece – Taxpayer money wasted chasing film productions

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Gene Tunny

The ABC’s The Drum has published an opinion piece of mine: Taxpayer money wasted chasing film productions I see very little merit in Government assistance to the film industry, apart from supporting the creation of genuine Australian content that helps … Continue reading →

Posted in Industry policy | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Odd that Treasury is proposing barrier to entry for financial advisers

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Gene Tunny

My former colleagues at the Commonwealth Treasury can generally be relied upon to defend the free market, but occasionally they fail to do so, as appears to be the case with new legislation relating to financial planners reported on by … Continue reading →

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

Public service cuts had only temporary impact on unemployment rate

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Gene Tunny

It’s now clear that Queensland public service cuts have had only a temporary impact on the unemployment rate, as I expected and have previously posted on (see Temporary surge in unemployment due to public service cuts and spending restraint). While the unemployment … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market, Macroeconomy | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Loans data confirm very slow recovery in housing – is regulation constraining the sector?

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Gene Tunny

The Housing Industry Association (HIA) gave an apt summary of today’s ABS housing finance data in the title of its media release Home lending up but not by enough. The Queensland data (see my chart below) are consistent with building … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Brisbane ABC radio interview from this morning – why is budget forecasting so difficult?

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Steve Austin of 612 ABC Brisbane asked me an interesting question this morning: why is budget forecasting so difficult for Treasury departments? You can listen to my answer at this link: The Upcoming Budget For further information on the challenges … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Tax | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Qld defies national trend in capital spending – Qld resources sector investment hasn’t peaked yet

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Consistent with yesterday’s data on construction activity (see my post from this morning), ABS data released today show private sector capital spending in Queensland has not yet fallen from a peak, as national capital spending has due to a drop … Continue reading →

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

Resources sector investment hasn’t peaked yet in Qld – we now lead Australia in construction

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Unlike the rest of Australia, construction activity increased in Queensland in the March quarter. This was due to heavy, so-called engineering construction, no doubt resources sector-related, as residential and non-residential building activity (i.e. houses, flats, office buildings, shopping centres, etc) continues … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, Mining | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Could Victorian manufacturing job losses lead to an increase in interstate migration to Qld?

Posted on May 26, 2013 by Gene Tunny

In a post last Thursday in response to the announced Ford plant closures, Mark Beath at Loose Change (Car crash!) wondered whether job losses in Victoria could lead to a revival of interstate migration to Queensland from Victoria, which is … Continue reading →

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