Robert Menzies may be a Liberal hero for John Howard and his successors in the current government, but his budgets fit their definition of ‘disaster’.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Robert Menzies left Australia in far worse financial shape than he found it, at least according to current treasurer Joe Hockey’s favourite debt and deficit benchmark. Having inherited budget surpluses…
This morning the government revealed the details of the higher education reform package it is taking to parliament. As anticipated, the legislation closely mirrors the announcement on budget night. There…
Every treasurer should be aware of the ultimate cost of government spending to taxpayers.
Alan Porritt/AAP
Many highly distinguished economists such as my friend Geoff Harcourt come from what is commonly known as the Post-Keynesian school. This means they believe the theory of economics and fiscal policy applied…
Recently, talking to DLP senator John Madigan, Joe Hockey described himself as one of the most disliked people in the country. For an “end-the-age-of-entitlement” guy, that could even have been a badge…
Tony Abbott has the support of business leaders, but will it last?
Nikki Short/AAP
In his victory speech on election night last September, prime minister Tony Abbott declared Australia was “under new management and … once more open for business”. There were, of course, specific promises…
A new report from the Parliamentary Budget Office could help Joe Hockey sell his budget.
Nikki Short/AAP
Growth in government spending on big-ticket items including Medicare, public hospitals and the aged pension is expected to be less than real GDP growth over the next decade, according to the latest report…
When faced with an economic policy agenda, the public must be persuaded on two fronts: that it is justified both by evidence and morally.
AAP/Paul Miller
Maxine Montaigne, London School of Economics and Political Science
It is now more than three months since the Abbott government released its first budget. Amid the subsequent wrangling over controversial measures such as the A$7 GP co-payment and re-indexing the fuel…
The government’s panicky budget message seems to have panicked even the government. Now it is trying to put a new perspective on the battle with the Senate. For weeks we were regaled with crisis talk…
What future for the Parkes radio telescope amid the CSIRO cutbacks?
CSIRO/Wayne England
The future looks very bright for Australian radio astronomy but it was somewhat clouded earlier this year when CSIRO’s radio astronomy program took a dramatic hit in the Australian federal budget. CSIRO…
It has been predicted middle-tier universities will “wither on the vine” in the wake of fee deregulation, but they have a unique opportunity to bloom and thrive if they go about it the right way.
Flickr/Austin DeArmond
The “future of universities” has been the subject of much speculation in recent years. Online learning, declining government support, global competition between universities and the rise of universities…
Regional universities need to be able to compete on more than just price.
Flickr/Sumanjay
At one level, it is heartening that there is so much attention placed on regional universities in all the heat of debate surrounding the deregulation of higher education. We have ministerial assurances…
Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey is facing the prospect of a budget blowout, thanks largely to a hostile Senate.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Charis Palmer, The Conversation and Emil Jeyaratnam, The Conversation
The Conversation has undertaken a stocktake of the major budget savings measures opposed, at risk, or yet to be legislated. According to our analysis, which has been verified by Grattan Institute chief…
Referring long-term issues to ‘depoliticised’ processes such as commissions of audit does not solve the challenges of political management for governments.
AAP/Lukas Coch
The 2014 federal budget was informed by the need to think long term and was accompanied by austerity rhetoric. Regardless of where you stand on the merit of austerity policy in affecting economic recovery…
The government’s attempt to introduce a $7 compulsory co-payment for visits to the doctor and pathology services has drawn widespread criticism.
AAP Image/NEWZULU/PETER BOYLE
Arguments against health co-payments proposed in May’s federal budget will come to the fore again shortly as the Senate considers whether it will pass the necessary legislation. The government’s attempt…
US president Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Medicare Bill into law in 1965, one of a suite of policies aimed at ending poverty in America.
LBJ Library
2014 marks the 50th anniversary of president Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty” in the United States. Whatever people might think of Johnson’s actions in southeast Asia, it’s worth pausing to remember his…
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has been anxious to maximise his profile on border protection.
AAP/David Crosling
What is offensive about this government is not that it is pursuing tough policies, but that it is trashing accountability and is so lacking in empathy. The boats did need to be stopped; the budget does…
In the 27 years since the Hawke government came up with a public service efficiency dividend, the evidence has mounted against it.
National Archives of Australia
Every now and again in public policy debates a consensus emerges on some particular point among policymakers, stakeholders and commentators. These moments are distressingly rare. It is even more distressing…
A formal, transparent and public assessment of infrastructure benefits and costs is the only way to ensure the right decision are made.
Dan Peled/AAP
One of the many challenges facing the Australian economy over the next decade or two concerns investment in transport, electricity, water, communications, health and education, and other infrastructure…
Christopher Pyne and Joe Hockey say taxpayers are paying to send kids to uni who will go on to earn more than them. Is this the case?
AAP
With notable exceptions, higher education leaders seem ready to accept the latest funding cuts. But the Group of Eight’s Michael Gallagher has gone further, strongly endorsing the reforms as “logical…
The uncertainties of young Australians’ lives already present many challenges. Any harm done by making things tougher cannot easily be undone.
Flickr/Bernard Oh
The federal government’s proposed budget measures are particularly harsh on young people, particularly the most vulnerable. A raft of measures, if introduced, will reduce young people’s access to income…
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne