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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?

Light bulbs and set top boxes
Oliver Marc HartwichMay 13, 2011

We have all heard many versions of the famous light bulb joke. Like this one:...

Spending pledges need to be backed with hard evidence
Adam CreightonMay 12, 2011Crikey

Given the salubrious set of economic circumstances the government faces, this was a shamefully loose...

Welfare reforms are worthwhile, but not an easy budget fix
May 12, 2011Online Opinion

Earlier this year, with Queensland devastated by natural disasters, I was asked about a possible...

Budget cuts can be popular
Adam CreightonMay 10, 2011The Australian Financial Review

Alexis De Tocqueville worried that democracy would only last until politicians realised they could bribe...

Playground stimulus
Oliver Marc HartwichApril 29, 2011

My wife and I spent the long weekend in the NSW Central West. The air...

Why Does Government Grow?
Stephen KirchnerApril 13, 2011PM117

This paper examines some of the stylised facts in relation to the growth of government...

Make every drop count, and count every drop: Vanishing groundwater needs proper monitoring and management
Grahame CampbellApril 22, 2021PP39

Aquifer groundwater is a crucial and valuable resource for Australia, but is poorly managed and...

AP19
Implications of the Retirement Income Review: Public advocacy of private profligacy?
Terrence O’BrienMarch 17, 2021AP19

The recent Retirement Income Review implies policies that would reduce after-tax returns to super saving,...

The Looming Iceberg: Australia’s post-pandemic debt risk
Robert CarlingJanuary 28, 2021PP35

After many years with low public debt, Australia is seeing a much higher debt burden...

Victims of failure – how the COVID-19 policy response let down Australians
Monica WilkieDecember 9, 2020AP18

The government response to COVID-19 has imposed restrictions on Australians unseen in peacetime. As Australians...

A Fiscal Vaccine for COVID-19
Tony MakinJune 10, 2020PP30

The fiscal response to the Covid-19 crisis ensures that the federal and state governments will...

State Finances after the Pandemic
Robert CarlingMay 28, 2020PP29

The strength of Australia’s government finances is an important dimension of economic performance as it...

Alarm bells ringing on more interest rate pain
Michael StutchburyMarch 18, 2026DAILY TELEGRAPH
Australians were losing faith that the combination of Labor’s economic policies and the RBA monetary...
Blame diagnostic inflation for the NDIS’ $10b Autism bill
Steven SchwartzMarch 5, 2026AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW

As recently reported in The Australian Financial Review, autism costs the National Disability Insurance Scheme...

The RBA had no choice but to tighten the screws
Robert Carling, Michael StutchburyFebruary 6, 2026THE CANBERRA TIMES
The government has been rightly blamed for fuelling the inflation flames with too rapid growth...
The only things going up now are the prices
Robert CarlingFebruary 3, 2026DAILY TELEGRAPH
The decisions that made higher rates unavoidable were taken in Canberra. If inflation is the...
Economic exceptionalism is dead – and rate cuts died with it
Michael StutchburyJanuary 31, 2026AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW
Jim Chalmers doesn’t have a central bank governor to blame for his forward misguidance or...
Tip from a friend: Australia’s economy is in a slow race to ruin
Michael StutchburyNovember 29, 2025THE AUSTRALIAN
Sometimes it takes outsiders to say the obvious but unwelcome things: high spending, low growth...
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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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