Tag Archives: deficit

Coal the dirty secret behind Qld budget improvement

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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PM puts China’s Aussie thermal coal ban in perspective, but $100M+ annual loss to Qld state budget possible

Prime Minister Scott Morrison did a good job yesterday at putting China’s reported ban on Australian thermal coal into perspective, pointing out Japan is our largest customer for thermal coal, and it takes twice the amount of thermal coal as … Continue reading

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ABC radio interview on Qld state debt & deficits update

At the Parliamentary Inquiry into the Queensland Government’s economic response to COVID-19 on Monday last week, I called for the Government to publish its internal-use estimates of the state budget position and debt, so we don’t have to wait until … Continue reading

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A Fiscal Vaccine for COVID-19 with Tony Makin – new podcast episode

In my latest podcast episode, I speak with Professor Tony Makin of Griffith University about his new CIS Policy Paper A Fiscal Vaccine for COVID-19. In Tony’s words: “the paper considers the resurgence of crude Keynesianism before highlighting risks of … Continue reading

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Ten years since Queensland lost its AAA credit rating

Ten years ago, on 20 February 2009, then Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser released the Economic and Fiscal Update which forecast lower revenues, large deficits and burgeoning debt. S&P promptly downgraded the state of Queensland from a AAA credit rating to AA+ … Continue reading

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Lessons from the GFC symposium at Griffith’s Ship Inn Function Centre on 7 March

In this final week of January ten years ago, the fifth floor of the Treasury Building in Canberra was a hive of activity. Hard-working Treasury officials, including me, were putting together the 2009 Updated Economic and Fiscal Outlook in which … Continue reading

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Interview with ABC Radio’s Steve Austin on “The time Australia’s Treasury almost ran out of money”

I had a nice chat with 612 ABC Brisbane’s Steve Austin last Friday morning regarding my time in the Australian Treasury, particularly during the financial crisis in 2008-09, and focusing on what he described as: The time Australia’s Treasury almost … Continue reading

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“Responsible economic management & fiscal restraint”-really?

The 2016-17 Budget is very disappointing, but economists and former Treasury officials were always going to be disappointed in an election year. It is also a Budget that is particularly disappointing to the Queensland Government, due to a lack of … Continue reading

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Why is budget repair so difficult?

One of my favourite movie scenes is from Jaws, when Roy Scheider’s character Martin Brody, after seeing the shark for the first time, tells the captain “You’re going to need a bigger boat.” That scene came into my mind in … Continue reading

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Merger savings good if they occur, but debt shuffle dubious

I am very flattered the Courier-Mail has a story about me this morning with the title on its website of The man who could clear Qld’s deficit: THE forecast deficit of $1.5 billion could be overcome by courageous decisions made … Continue reading

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