Tag Archives: regions

Regional economic divergence – podcast chat w/ Rob Sobyra, Construction Skills Qld

Posted on October 11, 2022 by Gene Tunny

I’ve reported on how the economic recovery has seen large falls in unemployment rates across Queensland, including in most regions (see Remarkable turnarounds for Townsville, Mackay, and Cairns). But I need to acknowledge that employment growth is still overwhelmingly in … Continue reading →

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

Gutsy submission from Joe Branigan to regional decentralisation inquiry questioning inquiry’s rationale

Posted on October 16, 2017 by Gene Tunny

The Australian Parliament is currently undertaking an inquiry into regional development and decentralisation, but the inquiry’s rationale has been brought into question by a brilliant submission from SMART Infrastructure Facility Senior Research Fellow (and occasional QEW contributor) Joe Branigan titled: … Continue reading →

Posted in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Labour market, Productivity, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

My comments in Brisbane Times on Qld Government regional CAPEX

Posted on September 8, 2017 by Gene Tunny

Brisbane Times journalist Tony Moore has written an interesting piece based on a QEW post of mine from June on the regional distribution of Queensland Government capital spending in the 2017-18 Queensland State Budget: Analysis shows booming south-east is losing … Continue reading →

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

Regional rescue packages have a poor record

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Gene Tunny

The Sunday Mail reported this morning that Queensland Federal Government MPs are “at odds over federal relief funding for Queensland” in response to the economic downturn in much of the State outside SEQ (e.g. note the large job losses in … Continue reading →

Posted in Labour market, Mackay, Macroeconomy, Queensland Government, Townsville, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Government should throw out Queensland Plan – it was a poor guide to future policy

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Gene Tunny

I noticed that Mike Kaiser, labelled by the Courier-Mail as a “Queensland Labor stalwart,” has urged the new Queensland Government to retain the Queensland Plan that was developed by the previous Government. I disagree with Mr Kaiser that the Queensland … Continue reading →

Posted in Population | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Huge disparity in qualification levels across regions, even in SEQ – e.g. Bris West vs Ipswich & Logan

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Gene Tunny

A new ABS publication, Perspectives on Regional Australia:  Changes in Regional Educational Attainment, reveals huge differences in the percentage of people aged 20-64 with post-school qualifications (Certificate III and above) across Australian regions (see map below based on 2011 Census … Continue reading →

Posted in Brisbane, Education | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Regional infrastructure plan should be based on updated population projections

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Gene Tunny

Having spent the first fifteen years of my life in Townsville, I’m a great supporter of regional Queensland, but as an economist I think the Government needs to do some further analysis before it commits large amounts of money to … Continue reading →

Posted in Population, Queensland Government, Townsville | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments