Tag Archives: electricityprices

RBA Deputy Governor Guy Debelle’s Low Inflation address to ESA Qld at the Brisbane Hilton

Last Wednesday, RBA Deputy Governor Guy Debelle addressed the ESA (Qld) business lunch at the Brisbane Hilton on the topic of low inflation.* The Deputy Governor took the audience through the different components of the consumer price index (CPI) and … Continue reading

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

ACCC Chairman critical of market share of Qld State-owned power generators

Yesterday morning, in one of the best interviews of a public official I have ever heard, ACCC Chairman Rod Sims gave frank and informative replies to ABC Brisbane’s Steve Austin on the state of the electricity sector and the inquiry … Continue reading

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

Risk to Qld Budget of lower dividends from Govt-owned businesses

In addition to royalties revenue being lower than previously forecast, a major risk to the Queensland State Budget in coming years is lower than expected dividends from government-owned businesses. Currently government-owned businesses contribute over $2 billion to the Budget or … Continue reading

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Black hole election – speech notes and slides

For the record, I’m posting the speech notes I prepared for the presentation I gave Wednesday night at the Ship Inn Function Centre in South Brisbane on economic policy issues in the 2015 Queensland election. My slides are available via … Continue reading

Posted in Budget | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

4BC Drive interview on election costings – problems with economic plans from both major parties

I had a nice chat with Ben Davis from 4BC’s Drive program yesterday afternoon on the economic plans the major parties are taking to today’s Queensland election. You can find the audio for the interview if you scroll down on … Continue reading

Posted in Budget | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Reforming solar cross-subsidy is good policy, but unclear why $3.4 billion should be locked up in Cost of Living Fund

The Government’s apparent plan to end the cross-subsidy from households without solar cells to those with solar cells, and to fund the feed-in tariff through an explicit subsidy, is a sound one (see Brisbane Times coverage Power bills to come … Continue reading

Posted in Budget, Queensland Government | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

QCA review of Qld Govt industry assistance is great news

The Queensland Competition Authority has announced that the Government has commissioned it to review State Government industry assistance (see Review of Queensland Government Industry Assistance), which the Productivity Commission has previously estimated at over $800 million per annum (See Scope to cut … Continue reading

Posted in Industry policy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Recent studies show potentially large savings in power bills

Prime Minister Julia Gillard is right to draw attention to rising electricity prices and ask whether we can improve the regulation of our electricity networks, with a view to promoting cheaper ways of guaranteeing reliable power supplies. The Queensland Independent … Continue reading

Posted in Infrastructure | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment