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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?

Inflated expectations
Michael PotterMay 12, 2017Ideas@TheCentre

The Budget measures relating to housing are a case study in how to fail in...

The true Mediscare is how much we really pay
Jeremy SammutMay 11, 2017Daily Telegraph

Scott Morrison has launched a new raid on the wallets of taxpayers who in reality...

Bank levy is just a populist revenue grab
Robert CarlingMay 10, 2017The Spectator - Flat White

So much can be said about the 2017-18 federal budget — little of it complimentary...

CIS wrap: Budget 2017
Simon Cowan, Robert Carling, Michael Potter, Blaise Joseph, Jeremy Sammut, Sara Hudson, Charles JacobsMay 10, 2017

Budget 2017 entrenches big government Simon Cowan In this budget the government has surrendered to...

Budget 2017: Medicare Levy hike is a ‘tax and spend’ Budget betrayal
Jeremy SammutMay 9, 2017

The decision to raise the Medicare Levy to pour even more taxpayer’s money into health...

Budget 2017: Social housing problems won’t be fixed by government-backed bank
Michael PotterMay 9, 2017

The 2017–18 Budget proposal for a National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation has potential, but...

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...

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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