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• Government Spending

Governments spend taxpayers’ money on a wide range of programmes from education to defence and from welfare to infrastructure. Yet there can be too much of a good thing, and some government spending is just wasteful. How can we ensure that taxpayers are getting value for money?

Beyond the Current Pessimism
Ray BallAugust 5, 1987OP18

Professor Ray Ball gives a personal interpretation of the historical roots of Australia’s economic malaise....

The Economics of Bureacracy and Statutory Authorities
Gordon TullockJanuary 1, 1983PF1
Lessons from the Ord
B.R. DavidsonJanuary 1, 1982PM2

Readers will draw their own various conclusions from these two modest but compelling essays. It...

The Rhetoric and Reality of Income Redistribution
Gordon TullockSeptember 25, 1981OP5

Income distribution is an overwhelming part of the program of all governments. Too often, however,...

Riches from Royalties: How Australia’s states and territories depend on mining
Gene TunnyMay 15, 2025PP61
Royalty payments by mining companies for extracting resources, including large volumes of fossil fuels, are...
Gorillas In The Mist. How government obscures its spending
Gene TunnyNovember 21, 2024PP59

Executive Summary Government overreach: The federal government’s planned $78 billion of off-budget measures over the...

scales
Government spending and inflation
Robert CarlingSeptember 4, 2024PP58
That government expenditure in Australia has grown apace in recent years is well-known. The growth...
Business Means Business. Why Corporates Should Avoid Social Activism
Simon Cowan, Emilie DyeJuly 18, 2024AP72
Senior management should be concerned they are putting their companies at risk of reputational harm...
scales
Budget Fails Important Policy Tests
Robert Carling, Gene TunnyMay 28, 2024IA150
The deficit budgeted for 2024-25, amounting to over $28 billion ($28,000 million), translates to a...
closing the gap
From Measuring to Merely Meeting: Productivity Commission misses mark on Closing the Gap
Nyunggai Warren Mundine AOMay 16, 2024PP57
Why, despite decades of expenditure on Aboriginal affairs, do solutions to ‘Closing the Gap’ in...
Resuscitate near-flatline economy
Jeff Bennett, Tony Makin, Michael PotterJuly 10, 2020Ideas@theCentre

The performance of the economy was weak before Covid-19, and now it is perilously close...

Call time on emergency measures
Glenn FaheyJuly 3, 2020Ideas@theCentre

There’s a time and place for emergency income support through the pandemic. But the usefulness...

JobKeeper – or RecoveryPreventer?
Glenn FaheyJuly 1, 2020Spectator

Emergency income support has a time and place in buoying Australians through the pandemic. But...

Sport grants always political
Simon CowanJanuary 24, 2020Ideas@TheCentre

The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) has revealed that the federal government handed out tens...

Is anyone really shocked by Sports Rorts 2.0?
Simon CowanJanuary 18, 2020Canberra Times

The Australian National Audit Office has revealed that the federal government handed out tens of...

It’s time to storm the gates on age pension reform
Simon CowanNovember 9, 2019CANBERRA TIMES

There’s always been something of an irony in the invocation of the phrase “an Englishman’s...

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Submission to the Independent Review of the Australian Public Service
Simon Cowan, Eugenie JosephAugust 1, 2018
Submission to the National Commission of Audit
Alexander Philipatos, Jennifer Buckingham OAM, Jeremy Sammut, Robert Carling, Simon Cowan, Stephen Kirchner, Trisha JhaApril 1, 2014T30.08

The federal government’s Commission of Audit (CoA) was established in 2013 to review the performance...

Submission to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012
Andrew BakerJanuary 25, 2013

Submission to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill...

Submission to the COAG Select Council on Disability Reform on NDIS ‘eligibility and reasonable and necessary support’ criteria
Andrew BakerSeptember 10, 2012

Submission to the COAG Select Council on Disability Reform on NDIS ‘eligibility and reasonable and...

Submission to Native Title Leading Practice Agreements Discussion Paper 2010
Helen Hughes, Mark Hughes, Sara HudsonNovember 30, 2010

The Native Title process is only one of the processes returning land to traditional owners....

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