Tag Archives: mining

Cafe culture prevents employment slump

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Gene Tunny

I recall Alan Kohler observing a while ago that everyone is eating out for breakfast on the weekends nowadays. It’s a good thing that people are, from an employment perspective, given that employment growth in cafes, restaurants and hotels has … Continue reading →

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Upcoming event on drivers of Qld economy – presentation by James Keating from QCA

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Gene Tunny

The French-Australian Chamber of Commerce has organised an interesting event for Wednesday evening, 1 April in Brisbane CBD, featuring a presentation by James Keating from the Queensland Competition Authority: Which industries are currently driving the Queensland economy? I’m very interested … Continue reading →

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Qld economy hit by declines in both private and public sector capital spending

Posted on March 4, 2015 by Gene Tunny

It was unsurprising that the National Accounts data released by the ABS today showed the Australian economy continuing to grow at a sub-trend rate (2.5% through-the-year), and that Queensland was enduring a large shock from a decline in resources sector … Continue reading →

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Qld receiving huge economic shock from resources sector capital spending decline

Posted on February 25, 2015 by Gene Tunny

The scale of the negative economic shock Queensland is currently experiencing from the decline in resources sector investment is extraordinary, as revealed by new ABS data on construction work done released today (see chart above, noting “Engineering” covers the heavy … Continue reading →

Posted in Macroeconomy, Mining | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

2014 wrap up – Qld Govt excelled on budget management, but Adani & Tatts deals questionable

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Gene Tunny

The Queensland Government’s major economic policy achievements in 2014 included: strong budget management, particularly through expenditure restraint, with the Mid Year Fiscal and Economic Review reporting that expenses in 2014-15 are expected to now be $720 million lower than budget … Continue reading →

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Qld Government likely to go into election campaign with weak economy

Posted on November 26, 2014 by Gene Tunny

New ABS data released today show a large drop in engineering construction activity – i.e. the heavy construction activity that has been largely associated with the resources sector in recent years. At the same time as this drop is occurring, … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, Macroeconomy, Mining | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Productivity push from Qld Govt needed after living standards growth stalls

Posted on November 23, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Queensland Treasury econocrats should start investigating measures to improve our productivity performance, after ABS State Accounts data released on Friday confirmed a big slowdown in living standards growth over the last decade or so – measured, roughly I admit, by … Continue reading →

Posted in Macroeconomy, Productivity | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Nice introduction to business opportunities in China and elsewhere

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Gene Tunny

The Australia-China free trade agreement is great news for the Queensland economy, with scheduled reductions in Chinese tariffs on coal and agricultural products from Australia. It will also provide opportunities for people in professional and financial services (see Max Mason’s … Continue reading →

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Economic weakness hits Qld retailers

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Gene Tunny

2014 has been a challenging year for Queensland retailers, with retail turnover not growing, and actually declining by around 1% from levels seen earlier in the year (see chart below). I suspect a large part of this is due to … Continue reading →

Posted in Macroeconomy, Mining, Retail trade, Tax | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Coal contraction continues

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Gene Tunny

The big economic news for Queensland today was the announcement from BHP Billiton of a reduction in coal mining jobs of 700 in its Central Queensland operations, as the viability of some operations have been challenged by lower coal prices … Continue reading →

Posted in Mining | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments