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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?

Australia’s Welfare Habit and How to Kick It
Peter SaundersOctober 1, 2004SP07

Forty years ago only 3% of working age Australians depended on welfare payments as their...

Only 18%? Why ACOSS is Wrong to be Complacent about Welfare Dependency
Peter SaundersSeptember 2, 2004IA51

A new report from the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) recognises that welfare dependency...

A workable way out of the welfare trap
Lawrence MeadAugust 18, 2004The Australian

IN the past decade, the US reduced its welfare rolls by more than 60 per...

Sweet and Sour Pork Barrelling: The Case of Queensland Sugar
Alex RobsonMarch 25, 2004IA45

The Queensland sugar industry is once again pleading for government assistance. Cane farmers claim they...

A Self-Reliant Australia. Welfare Policy for the 21st century
Peter SaundersMarch 16, 2003OP86

In this paper Peter Saunders suggests that the time has come to turn back the...

The Unchained University
Andrew NortonNovember 19, 2002PM56

Australia’s universities are not preparing students adequately for their futures. Report author and higher education...

Welfare reform beyond decades of dependence, ‘dole bludgers’ and ‘double dipping’
Simon CowanMay 31, 2017OP156

Recent attempts to reform welfare have focused on the wrong elements of the system. In...

Fiscal Fiction: The Real Medicare Levy
Jeremy SammutMay 7, 2017RR27

The Medicare Levy is, and always has been, a fiscal fiction. The revenue raised by...

Reforming Social Housing: financing and tenant autonomy
Michael PotterApril 27, 2017RR25

Around 400,000 Australians live in social housing, which includes public and community housing. This sector...

Real Choice for Ageing Australians: Achieving the Benefits of the Consumer-Directed Aged Care Reforms in the New Economy
Jeremy SammutApril 9, 2017RR24

The consumer-directed aged care (CDC) reforms are an important opportunity to showcase the benefits of...

Report Card on State Finances
Robert CarlingFebruary 19, 2017RR23

The Commonwealth government’s perilous financial position is well known, but the finances of state government...

Politically-Feasible Health Reform: Whatever Will It Take?
Jeremy Sammut, Peta Seaton, Gerald Thomas, Terry BarnesDecember 7, 2016OP153

Despite the ever-escalating cost of health posing severe fiscal sustainability challenges, health reform has been...

Pump the brakes, Hastie. Let me explain how wrong you’ve gotten it
Simon CowanOctober 3, 2025CANBERRA TIMES
In reality, it was taxpayers and consumers who were being held hostage: by government who...
The end of cash for diagnosis? Now that would be a good thing
Steven SchwartzAugust 28, 2025THE AUSTRALIAN
The Albanese government’s plan to divert children with mild developmental delays out of the NDIS...
Productivity roundtable’s uncertain impact. What was the point?
Simon CowanAugust 23, 2025CANBERRA TIMES
Surely it was not the 10 supposed reform directions, some of which contradict the others...
degrowth
Summit must end national complacency about Australia’s prosperity
Michael StutchburyAugust 18, 2025AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW
The Economic Reform Roundtable should commit to making Australia an aspirational and enterprise-driven, high-growth nation...
At this rate, the only outcome from this summit will be making us poorer
Simon CowanAugust 9, 2025CANBERRA TIMES

As we approach the productivity summit to end all summits, the various players have begun...

Government’s spending surge a threat to productivity
Simon Cowan, Robert CarlingJuly 26, 2025CANBERRA TIMES
As we get closer to the productivity roundtable that the government hopes will solve all...
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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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