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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?

Debt weight over Australia
Australia is out of denial on debt, but has no will to act
Robert CarlingFebruary 9, 2022Financial Review
Fiscal discipline — not at its best even before the pandemic — has gone completely...
Where is Australia headed?
Nicholas Moore, Robert Forsyth, Anjali Nadaradjane, Tom SwitzerFebruary 7, 2022
There are good reasons to be distressed about the state of today’s world and Australia’s...
Prime Minister and Treasurer
We are all socialists now, but weren’t we always?
Scott PrasserFebruary 1, 2022Spectator
Before the 2007 federal election I posited that ‘Australians are all conservatives now’ (The Australian,...
Yolngu students
Indigenous Voice in Parliament plan sounds by-the-numbers
Nyunggai Warren Mundine AODecember 20, 2021Daily Telegraph
The Commonwealth Coalition government last week announced the new structure of the Indigenous Voice to...
Senator Andrew Bragg at CIS
Simon Cowan, Andrew BraggAugust 19, 2021

NSW Senator Andrew Bragg is worried about your super. The outspoken Senator has worked on...

The State of our Economy
Tom SwitzerJune 19, 2021

Will Canberra’s historic spending blowout lead to an inflation surge, prompting higher interest rates? Where...

Keeping Budgets on the Rails: Rules for Fiscal Responsibility
Robert CarlingNovember 13, 2025AP94

Executive Summary Fiscal rules are numerical limits to one or more of government spending, revenue,...

An economic walk on the supply side
Michael StutchburyOctober 16, 2025OP208

This is an edited version of Michael Stutchbury’s keynote address to the 2025 Freedom to...

Addressing Australia’s Productivity Problem. CORE Blueprint to Unshackle Productivity
Jim CoxAugust 14, 2025AP86

Introduction There is no one action that will lift Australia’s dwindling productivity growth; it is...

The Productivity Problem. Australia’s Growth Slump Is Undermining Prosperity
Jim CoxAugust 7, 2025AP85

Executive summary Concern over Australia’s slow rate of productivity growth is justified as it is...

Leviathan on the Rampage: Government spending growth a threat to Australia’s economic future
Robert CarlingJuly 23, 2025AP84

Executive summary The rising trend of government expenditure in Australia has long been present but...

hurdles
Economic challenges ahead for the government
Robert Carling, Gene Tunny, Peter TulipJune 19, 2025IA153

The re-elected federal government faces a long list of economic challenges, some of them created...

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...

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...

Jim Chalmers
Holes appear as Treasurer tries to convince with verbal flourishes
Simon CowanMay 4, 2024CANBERRA TIMES

The more detail we get on the government’s Future Made in Australia plans, the more...

Back to the future: Labor revives failed policies of the past
Simon CowanApril 22, 2024CANBERRA TIMES

The federal government’s planned Future Made in Australia Act is just the latest example of...

Australian money
Labor’s $250m paid parental leave plan is not so super
Simon CowanMarch 9, 2024CANBERRA TIMES

The government has committed more than $250 million to expanding paid parental level. This is...

Jim Chalmers. treasurer, economics, tax, stage three tax cuts
Chalmers is doing a fantastic job … at ignoring the dire outlook
Tom SwitzerFebruary 13, 2024SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

Chalmers is doing a fantastic job … at ignoring the dire outlook. We are only...

No Videos Available
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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