Tag Archives: qldgovernment

Christmas Eve post-6pm public holiday should have been repealed in this year of COVID

Posted on December 28, 2020 by Gene Tunny

A prominent Brisbane man about town and long-time QEW reader has reminded me that last year I posted on the ridiculous Christmas Eve half-day public holiday, and he said that it was particularly costly in this year of COVID. Here’s … Continue reading →

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Brisbane Inner City still the biggest beneficiary of Qld Gov’t CAPEX

Posted on December 22, 2020 by Gene Tunny

Following last year’s state budget, I posted on how Brisbane’s inner city was the big winner regarding state government capital spending. That continues in 2020-21 with the continuation of the huge Cross River Rail project (see chart below). Out of … Continue reading →

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South Bank theatre with $25M cost blow out shouldn’t have been funded by Qld Gov’t in first place

Posted on December 21, 2020 by Gene Tunny

Yesterday, the Brisbane Times reported COVID-19, airconditioning blamed for South Bank theatre cost blowout. The new $150 million state-government-provided theatre attached to QPAC at South Bank will cost an extra $25 million. And the project is less than one quarter … Continue reading →

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Surely just a matter of time before decriminalisation of cannabis and other drugs

Posted on December 6, 2020 by Gene Tunny

Last Friday, the US House of Representatives passed a law decriminalising cannabis at the federal level. Unfortunately, as noted in this CNN report, the law has very little chance of being upheld by the US Senate, but it was good … Continue reading →

Posted in Health | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Qld Assistant Min. McCallum given huge challenges – 50% renewable energy by 2030 and hydrogen economy

Posted on November 13, 2020 by Gene Tunny

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has given one of her government’s rising stars, Lance McCallum, MP for Bundamba, the huge and arguably near impossible task of overseeing the achievement of the 50% renewable energy target by 2030. Yesterday, McCallum was appointed as … Continue reading →

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RBA Governor Lowe does Treasurer Dick a favour in lead up to 1 December Qld Budget

Posted on November 4, 2020 by Gene Tunny

Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick is facing a tough challenge developing the COVID-recession-ravaged state budget, but the Reserve Bank of Australia will make his task a little bit easier with its new round of Quantitative Easing, by which it purchases Australian … Continue reading →

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Qld’s surging public service – clarification of Australian article comments

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Gene Tunny

I’m quoted in today’s Australian article Polls back Labor’s jobs push, and I need to clarify this reported comment: Economist Gene Tunny said that Queensland’s public sector had been stable through the pandemic and that had steadied the state’s job … Continue reading →

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Election campaign debate needed on border and other restrictions

Posted on October 13, 2020 by Gene Tunny

The family of a well-known Brisbane businessman has cancelled a Halloween/election night party because there is still a limit on gatherings to 30 people in private residences (see the healthdirect website). Is it still necessary to have this restriction in … Continue reading →

Posted in Macroeconomy | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Regulations rushed through in Qld, as revealed by QPC Annual Report 2019-20

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Gene Tunny

The Queensland Productivity Commission’s 2019-20 Annual Report has revealed a huge increase in the number of state government regulatory changes which have been excluded from the rigour of the normal regulatory assessment process (see chart below, which is based on … Continue reading →

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Auditor-General exposes deep flaws in Queensland’s governance

Posted on September 24, 2020 by Gene Tunny

Queensland’s Auditor-General is having a big week, with the publication of hard-hitting reports into the latest Queensland Health IT bungle (see today’s Courier-Mail) and the Government’s economic response to COVID-19. The report on the economic response revealed a lack of … Continue reading →

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