Australians and New Zealanders have a healthy rivalry about who follows who. Both countries claim as their own Pavlova, Crowded House and Phar Lap. To this list might soon be added compulsory superannuation…
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In the lead up to the budget, the story of crisis has been hammered home, but there’s more to a country than its structural deficit. So how is Australia doing overall? In this special series, ten writers…
The upcoming IPO of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is likely to be the biggest the US market has seen. At an expected US$20 to $25 billion, it would be one and a half times bigger than Facebook’s IPO…
The Victorian government has decided to reduce payroll tax by 0.05%, from 4.9% to 4.85%. The decision comes as the Commonwealth government contemplates an increase in income tax via a deficit levy. But…
Thomas Piketty’s recent book on the long-term patterns in wealth inequality, Capital in the 21st Century, has ignited a passionate debate both within academia and, perhaps more interestingly, the wider…
Last week’s Commission of Audit advocated a “commonsense approach to handling risks in society,” targeting drought assistance for its role in “discouraging drought preparedness and self-reliance”. The…
The corporate regulator’s ongoing battle with the major supermarket chains took an interesting twist on Monday when it alleged that Coles had engaged in unconscionable conduct against various small suppliers…
There was nothing in the Commission of Audit’s terms of reference inviting it to make recommendations on the minimum wage. The Commission was asked to produce a report on “government expenditure”. Yet…
As the 2014-15 budget nears, Australians are hearing that the government must mount an urgent repair job to address the looming structural crisis that will see the budget in deficit for decades to come…
The provision of new infrastructure is a high priority for the Abbott government. It is a worthy cause. New infrastructure will ensure we remain competitive in the international market. Reducing logistics…
Latest economic news shows some promising signs for the Australian economy. However, the new government’s first budget next Tuesday is a big unknown. The unemployment rate fell to 5.8% in March while full…
As the 2014-15 budget nears, Australians are hearing that the government must mount an urgent repair job to address the looming structural crisis that will see the budget in deficit for decades to come…
Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey has confirmed the pension age will rise to 70 by 2035, meaning all Australians currently aged under 50 will be affected. It follows a recommendation from the Commission…
There are some good ideas in the Commission of Audit report. Unfortunately they’re buried in so much else that it’s hard to find them. For a report focused on the costs and benefits of government, it shows…
Some of the Commission of Audit’s 86 recommendations could potentially re-shape Australia. How do they stack up against the Coalition’s promises?
The National Commission of Audit recommends a number of changes to the age pension that boil down to smaller increases over time, older eligibility and tighter means-testing. It’s all based on the claim…
The National Commission of Audit has made 86 recommendations with a focus on the federal government’s 15 biggest and fastest-growing areas of spending. The result is proposals for sweeping spending cuts…
In the lead-up to the federal budget on May 13 there have been the usual test balloons floated by the government. Raise the aged-pension eligibility age? A $6 co-pay for GP visits? Cuts to the ABC? And…
This week the Productivity Commission released its second Productivity Update. The Productivity Report reviews Australia’s “productivity performance” over the last year. It disaggregates the statistics…
When Woolworths delivered its half-year results in February, the numbers for its Masters hardware chain were sobering. On sales of A$393 million, Masters, a joint venture between Woolworths and US company…
By Thursday evening the rabbit will be out of the hat. The highly anticipated report of the National Commission of Audit will have been released. The Audit was set in motion soon after the Abbott government…
The American reviews of Yukari Iwatani Kane’s book Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs have not been kind. Having covered Apple for three years as a journalist at the Wall Street Journal, Kane would…
As the search for the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines MH370 moves into a different phase, a new, delicate issue arises: who will pay? On Monday, Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott acknowledged that “thus…
The fuss about corporate welfare, deemed “unsustainable” by Treasurer Joe Hockey, appears almost diversionary considering the relative size of industry assistance in overall government spending. Industry…
The Coalition government is currently rehearsing a well-honed rhetoric on “everyone having to do the heavy lifting” to justify Treasurer Joe Hockey’s slash and burn budget on social services and pension…