Tag Archives: nq

Should Townsville port long-term lease earnings be earmarked for NQ?

Posted on May 6, 2014 by Gene Tunny

It would be poor public policy to earmark the earnings from the long-term leasing out of the Port of Townsville for investment in North Queensland, as desired by Townsville community leaders. The Townsville Bulletin reports today: A LONG-TERM lease on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Townsville, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Growing Chinese visitor numbers great news for Qld tourism

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Mission Beach blogger Pete Faulkner has been closely following Chinese visitor numbers, given that many tourism operators, especially in the Far North, are hopeful that Chinese tourism will revive their industry. Regarding yesterday’s new overseas arrivals and departures data from … Continue reading →

Posted in Cairns, North Queensland, Tourism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Lower taxes across Australia preferable to special treatment for NQ

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Gene Tunny

The Townsville Chamber of Commerce has called for a revamp of current tax arrangements for North Queensland. The Chamber is concerned the existing Zone Tax Offset has been eroded in value by inflation and is being claimed by fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers who … Continue reading →

Posted in North Queensland | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Qld unemployment hot spots – Ipswich, Cairns and Wide Bay

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Gene Tunny

I’ve prepared some maps of regional unemployment rates based on last week’s new regional labour force data from the ABS for February 2014 (see below). The figures I’ve used are taken from Queensland Treasury’s information brief, which presents 12-month moving … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

NQ and Mackay region builders the least optimistic

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Gene Tunny

I just noticed Master Builders Queensland released its latest survey of industry conditions last week. While it shows a positive outlook on average across all regions, the outlook is only just positive in the North Queensland and Mackay regions (see … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, Mining, North Queensland, Townsville | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

NQ worried about NT plan

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill is rightly critical of the Prime Minister’s proposed special economic zone in the Northern Territory, in which a lower rate of company tax would apply. As reported in the Townsville Bulletin this morning (Economic zone plan … Continue reading →

Posted in North Queensland, Tax, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

How much cheaper is it to fly from Cairns to Brisbane today than in the mid-Thirties?

Posted on May 4, 2013 by Gene Tunny

While in Cairns yesterday for a meeting, I found a little bit of time to pop into the Cairns Museum, in the grand old School of Arts Building in the centre of town, where I found this very interesting poster … Continue reading →

Posted in Cairns | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

ABS should review administration of Labour Force Survey in North Qld

Posted on April 21, 2013 by Gene Tunny

I remember one of the old hands in the Queensland Government Statistician’s Office telling me back around 2000 that they once queried the ABS about the reliability of labour force data for Queensland, and were told the main point of … Continue reading →

Posted in Cairns, North Queensland, Townsville | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Whole world struggling to manage disaster risk

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Gene Tunny

I was pleased to learn that the World Bank and Government of Japan are hosting the Sendai Dialogue tomorrow and Wednesday this week to discuss how the world better manages disaster risk. This is a critical issue because, assuming no … Continue reading →

Posted in Cairns, Cyclones, Floods, Housing, North Queensland | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments