Tag Archives: queensland

Qld has three of top five regional areas with most expensive residential lots

Posted on July 17, 2014 by Gene Tunny

The Housing Industry Association released a very interesting note today on median lot prices in capital cities and regional Australia (i.e. non-Capital City Australia): Land price pressures signal policy failure. The data should prompt a number of Queensland Councils to review their … Continue reading →

Posted in Gold Coast, Housing, Mackay | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Wise words from the PC on capital/asset recycling

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Gene Tunny

I’ve been a strong supporter of the Queensland Government’s privatisation agenda, but have been unimpressed by the Strong Choices campaign promoting the agenda, which is uninformative and based on questionable logic. In its just-released Public Infrastructure Inquiry Report, the Productivity … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Queensland Government | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Carbon tax repeal good news for Qld economy

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Gene Tunny

I’m very pleased the Senate will allow the repeal of the carbon tax (Carbon tax to be abolished on third attempt), given that: Queensland would have been disproportionately affected due to our heavy reliance on coal-fired power generation; and it never made … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Tax | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Qld doing poorly at attracting interstate visitors (as well as international visitors)

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Gene Tunny

According to new National Visitor Survey data, Queensland is doing poorly at attracting interstate visitors, compounding the difficulties faced by our tourism sector, which isn’t seeing growth in international visitors (see my post from Monday, International visitor numbers increasing – but … Continue reading →

Posted in Tourism | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

International visitor numbers increasing – but Qld doing poorly in attracting them

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Pete Faulkner has a good post today on the new ABS overseas arrivals and departures data for May 2014: Arrivals hit new highs as China continues to grow. While arrivals to Australia hit new highs, Queensland doesn’t appear to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Tourism | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Public benefits of BIFF and BAPFF questionable

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Gene Tunny

With pressing needs in health and education, it seems obvious to me that there is little public benefit from supporting film festivals, whether in the form of the former Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF) or its replacement, the Brisbane Asia … Continue reading →

Posted in Industry policy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Government right to worry about State credit rating, not that of generators

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Gene Tunny

I’m underwhelmed by a report in the Brisbane Times that the credit ratings of Queensland Government-owned power generators CS Energy and Stanwell will drop if they are privatised: Credit ratings agency Fitch has given the Electrical Trades Union its latest ammunition in … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Queensland Government | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Government should wait for QCA Report before committing to new industry assistance

Posted on June 29, 2014 by Gene Tunny

It’s unfortunate the Queensland Government has entered into a thirty year deal with the Tatts Group while the QCA review of industry assistance is underway, a review which might be informative on the relative costs and benefits of supporting the … Continue reading →

Posted in Industry policy | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Lacklustre labour market gives added urgency to regulatory reforms

Posted on June 27, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Job vacancies data released by the ABS yesterday suggest the Queensland labour market will remain relatively weak over the next few months at least (see chart above). The data are also consistent with Queensland Treasury’s forecast in the Budget that … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market, Macroeconomy, Retail trade | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Privatisation debate continues

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Gene Tunny

It’s unsurprising that former Queensland Treasury supremo Sir Leo Hielscher supports asset sales (as reported in the Brisbane Times today), given that as one-time head of the Treasury Corporation he was very concerned with actually finding the cash to pay the bills … Continue reading →

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