Tag Archives: debt

Big Budget Challenge for New Qld Treasurer

Posted on April 1, 2025 by Gene Tunny

Today’s Courier-Mail article reporting that Townsville University Hospital can’t afford to fix its elevators reminded me of something a former state Under-Treasurer told me when I researched my 2018 book Beautiful One Day, Broke the Next. He told me governments … Continue reading →

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How the Palaszczuk Gov’t Failed to Abide By Its Own Fiscal Principles | What it Means for the Miles Gov’t

Posted on February 3, 2024 by Gene Tunny

The Palaszczuk Government breached its own self-imposed fiscal principles and had to introduce new weaker principles in 2021. The Queensland Government, now headed by Premier Miles but with the same Treasurer, is at risk of breaching two of its revised … Continue reading →

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What’s the best measure of the Qld Gov’t budget balance? Net Operating Balance vs Fiscal Balance

Posted on June 22, 2023 by Gene Tunny

On Tuesday night I was on a panel discussing the Queensland state budget at an Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance (ATA) event held at the Paddington Tavern. One of the points discussed was the spin regarding the biggest-ever surplus for Queensland of … Continue reading →

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Over half of Qld Budget’s $60bn of revenue upgrades used for additional spending over FY21 to FY24

Posted on June 19, 2023 by Gene Tunny

Queensland general government revenues are $60 billion higher than once expected over 2020-21 to 2023-24, but debt is only $23 billion lower, with total spending revised up by around $32 billion. Some of this is understandable due to higher inflation … Continue reading →

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Qld state budget: thanks for the billions coal miners, now pay us even more

Posted on June 21, 2022 by Gene Tunny

As I’ve been forecasting for months now, the Queensland state budget is in much better shape than the state Treasury forecast back in December. Higher royalties, stamp duty, and other taxes helped deliver a $1.9 billion operating surplus in 2021-22 … Continue reading →

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Fake privatisation of Titles Registry helping Qld Gov’t pretend it has debt management plan

Posted on January 17, 2022 by Gene Tunny

This post is an early draft of an article I’m preparing for a public finance or public policy journal about the Queensland Government’s accounting trickery regarding the Titles Registry last year. The state government has violated some well-established principles for … Continue reading →

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Coal the dirty secret behind Qld budget improvement

Posted on December 13, 2021 by Gene Tunny

The super high coal price is the main reason Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick will report a much improved state budget balance this week. However, yesterday the Brisbane Times reported: Mr Dick said the silver lining of the pandemic was an … Continue reading →

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RBA would be right to taper its Quantitative Easing program

Posted on July 5, 2021 by Gene Tunny

There’s a nice article by William McInnes in today’s Financial Review, Economists expect RBA to ease stimulus, which begins:  Economists expect Tuesday’s Reserve Bank board meeting to acknowledge the economy’s surprisingly strong recovery and to signal some tapering of its … Continue reading →

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Qld Treasurer gives a master class in budget shenanigans

Posted on June 15, 2021 by Gene Tunny

Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick has soared to previously unattained heights of state budget creative accounting, and I must admit I’m rather impressed by the cleverness of it all, while at the same time being appalled the Treasury would let him … Continue reading →

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Interview with 4BC’s Scott Emerson on the federal budget

Posted on May 12, 2021 by Gene Tunny

This afternoon, on his 4BC Drive program, former Queensland Government Transport Minister Scott Emerson and I shared our astonishment regarding the Morrison Government’s Go for Growth, Keynesian federal budget which Treasurer Josh Frydenberg handed down last night. You can listen … Continue reading →

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