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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?

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...
NSW Parliament coat of arms budget
Nothing pretty about a post-pandemic budget
Robert CarlingJune 21, 2024SPECTATOR FLAT WHITE

The New South Wales Budget tabled this week completes the series of 2024-25 budgets from...

A blatant and cynical vote-buying budget
Robert CarlingJune 12, 2024AFR

Vote-buying measures before difficult elections are hardly without precedent, but the Queensland state government’s drip-feed...

The problem is whether the legitimate economic concerns of the public can - or should - manifest in monetary policy.
The RBA has to dole out pain. Not everyone can be a winner here
Simon CowanJune 1, 2024CANBERRA TIMES

This week’s news that inflation had risen for April was no doubt an unwelcome, and...

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...
CPI
‘Too clever by half’ Treasurer tries to hack the CPI
Gene TunnyMay 18, 2024CANBERRA TIMES

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has delivered a budget shaped by the upcoming election and his leadership...

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...

Labor’s path to joining the worst welfare states
Robert CarlingJuly 23, 2025AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW
Jim Chalmers’ economic reform roundtable must confront Australia’s entitlement mindset – which governments have fostered....
We’ve been here before. This time it’s serious
Greg LindsayJuly 16, 2025SPECTATOR

With the current Treasurer jumping on the tax reform bandwagon, assuring the public that reform...

Deficit a worry and right-wing governments aren’t going to fix it
Simon CowanJuly 12, 2025CANBERRA TIMES
The CIS has been warning about the risks of debt and deficits for some time....
productivity office work staff
Productivity stakes couldn’t be higher at roundtable
Gene TunnyJuly 4, 2025THE AUSTRALIAN
Productivity must trump politics in Labor’s second term...
NSW budget must be adult in the room on sensible spending
Gene TunnyJune 24, 2025AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW
The state’s debt levels remain high, with net debt currently around $110 billion and projected...
Old pastime of redistribution, regulation, reckless spending returns
Tom SwitzerMarch 31, 2025AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW
If you’re wondering why this election campaign does not have a clear frontrunner, the lack...
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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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