Tag Archives: australia

Federal quarantine facilities in remote areas should be considered after repeated failures of state-run inner city hotel quarantine

Posted on February 1, 2021 by Gene Tunny

Now that COVID has escaped from inner-city hotels in four cities, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth, our governments should finally realise we need to do things differently. Otherwise our economic recovery will be jeopardised by repeated “short, sharp” lockdowns that … Continue reading →

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Qld’s economy definitely fared better than Victoria’s which suffered badly from Stage 4 restrictions

Posted on January 31, 2021 by Gene Tunny

Weirdly, CommSec’s latest State of the States report ranked Victoria in 3rd place and Queensland in 5th place, even though Queensland’s economy has definitely fared much better during the pandemic than Victoria’s. In my Thursday post I discussed how silly … Continue reading →

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Unpacking the increase in the unemployment rate since March 2020

Posted on January 24, 2021 by Gene Tunny

In my post last Thursday, I discussed Why Qld’s unemployment rate is highest in nation despite better jobs recovery during pandemic than rest of Australia. I noted a large part of the story was “Queensland’s strong recovery (and over-shooting) in … Continue reading →

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Why Qld’s unemployment rate is highest in nation despite better jobs recovery during pandemic than rest of Australia

Posted on January 21, 2021 by Gene Tunny

When I spoke with Scott Emerson on his 4BC Drive program on Monday (see my Monday QEW post), he asked me how it was that Queensland could possibly have a higher unemployment rate than Victoria given the harsh restrictions they … Continue reading →

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Qld Premier right to call for review of national hotel quarantine arrangements

Posted on January 13, 2021 by Gene Tunny

The Grand Chancellor Hotel in Spring Hill is around the corner and up the hill, around a 300m walk, from my office at the Johnson Hotel on Boundary St. I never imagined it would end up being the place from … Continue reading →

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COVID compared with wartime economic impacts – my latest podcast episode

Posted on January 3, 2021 by Gene Tunny

The latest episode of my Economics Explored podcast features a conversation on whether COVID can be compared to wartime. The episode considers the different scales and scopes of the shocks, and what it all means for prospects for economic recovery. In … Continue reading →

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Proposed COVID Royal Commission – great ABC radio interview from Scott Prasser

Posted on December 30, 2020 by Gene Tunny

Dr Scott Prasser, Senior Fellow at the CIS, gave a great ABC radio interview this morning on the proposal from former state Premiers Peter Beattie and Jeff Kennett for a Royal Commission into Australia’s COVID response. For background, check out … Continue reading →

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How many Australians coped with COVID stress: alcohol

Posted on December 29, 2020 by Gene Tunny

Watching Catherine McGregor chatting with psychologist Dr Tanveer Ahmed on Sky Australia (People will have to ‘rethink’ New Year goals as a result of COVID-19 uncertainty), I remembered that many of my friends have been coping with COVID-related stress by … Continue reading →

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Regulating Big Tech – my latest podcast episode

Posted on December 26, 2020 by Gene Tunny

It’s been a challenging year 2020, but one positive development is that regulators in the US and Australia have started challenging the Big Tech companies Google and Facebook over alleged misuses of market power. The US Department of Justice is … Continue reading →

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Pick up in thermal coal prices over last month

Posted on December 23, 2020 by Gene Tunny

Unlike in WA where iron ore is the major commodity, in Queensland it’s coal that’s the big deal, and we should be thankful the Chinese ban on Aussie thermal coal doesn’t appear to have been that effective, as evidenced by … Continue reading →

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