Ian McAuley
Ian McAuley is a retired lecturer in public finance at the University of Canberra. He can be contacted at “ian" at the domain “ianmcauley.com” .
Ian's articles (437 total)
Less job mobility, lower productivity: the cost of cosy capitalism
Australians are changing jobs far less often than they did 50 years ago. Financial insecurity, debt and workplace barriers may be trapping workers in jobs – and helping entrench a low-productivity form of “cosy capitalism”.
Australia’s EV boom has caught policymakers napping
The rapid shift from petrol cars to electric vehicles is eroding fuel excise faster than governments expected. A replacement road user charge is inevitable, but a rushed or fragmented scheme could create new problems of fairness, privacy and administration.
The poll numbers tell a deeper story than One Nation’s rise
A poll on attitudes to public policy confirms that the economy remains people’s dominant concern, but there is resistance to reforms that would make for a fairer distribution of income and wealth.
The smouldering wreckage on Capital Hill – part 2
The Liberal Party faces a structural dilemma – it cannot govern without the Nationals, yet governing with them pushes it further from the voters it needs. As support for the major parties erodes, Australia is edging towards a more fragmented political future.
The smouldering wreckage on Capital Hill – part 1
The Coalition’s implosion after the Bondi sitting was not a sudden accident. It exposed long-running tensions between the Liberals and Nationals, intensified by polling anxiety, One Nation’s rise and the limits of Australia’s Westminster conventions.
Best of 2025 - Rising electricity prices have nothing to do with renewables
Electricity prices are elevated, but anyone who claims renewable energy has driven the rise is either uninformed or is deliberately lying.
Migration myths
Migrants aren’t to blame for expensive houses or stress on infrastructure: in fact they’re making more contribution to our shared assets than Australians.
Rising electricity prices have nothing to do with renewables
Electricity prices are elevated, but anyone who claims renewable energy has driven the rise is either uninformed or is deliberately lying.
Our lopsided and unfair tax system
There is something weird and unfair in a tax system that requires young and productive workers to subsidise the lifestyle of the old and idle.
How the Coalition’s right read the opinion polls
A superficial reading of the polls suggests the Liberal Party should move to the Trumpian right. This is a stupid and dangerous idea.
Electricity prices – government and Coalition policies compared
It’s not much wonder that the public is confused about electricity pricing when journalists and politicians use the terms “prices” and “bills” interchangeably, and when Opposition spokespeople deliberately lie about the reasons electricity prices are high and make up ridiculous claims about how electricity prices and bills would tumble if they were elected. Peter Dutton’s speech in reply to the budget added to that confusion.
Voters starting to turn away from Dutton as the election nears
There are signs that voters are turning towards Albanese and Labor and away from Dutton and the Coalition.
Federal-state politics: Western Australia’s election – why we need proportional representation
Because what is bad for the Coalition is usually good for Australia, Labor’s thumping win in Western Australia must be seen as a good outcome, but it points to a problem in our system of representative democracy. Democracies shouldn’t produce winner-take-all outcomes.
Sad day for the US as it fails an ally
I don’t intend to move these round-ups into international relations. There are excellent Australian sources with a foreign policy orientation – Pearls and Irritations, the Lowy Institute and Australian Foreign Affairs. But events around Trump’s betrayal of Ukraine should have repercussions not only for our foreign policy, but also for our domestic policy, particularly in the way we may be led or misled by the strongman “leader”.
What happens if no party achieves a parliamentary majority?
This article is taken from Ian McAuley’s regular Saturday round-ups of links to writings, interviews and podcasts of Australian political and economic issues.
Ken Henry: Is Australia an extractive or a productive economy?
Is our dependence on mining a sign of economic weakness? Is Australia suffering from the “resource curse”? This idea is a strong theme in Ken Henry’s address to the Royal Society of New South Wales: Inequality in Australia.
Restoring universal health care in Australia
Listen to Australian Community Futures Planning (ACFP) Founder, Bronwyn Kelly, interview Ian McAuley about the prospects for restoration of universality in Australia’s health care system.
It’s not a “cost-of-living crisis”; it’s a failure to tax the rich - Weekly Roundup
If the well-off paid their fair share of tax no one would be talking about a cost of living crisis; Dutton weeps as his beloved Home Affairs Department, modelled on the Soviet KGB, is dismantled; how the gambling lobby has become Australia’s equivalent to America’s National Rifle Association. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Coalition to fast-track nuclear power, North Korean style - Weekly Roundup
Coalition plans to join hands with North Korea and fast-track nuclear power, how Melbourne is stretching to the South Australian border, a bipartisan board of censors to purge dirty books from public libraries. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
CFMEU just one part of a dysfunctional, high-cost industry - Weekly Roundup
Is the CFMEU just one small part of a dysfunctional and high-cost industry, is Australia immune from populist demagogues, can the Reserve Bank read the market signals, can ABC journalists stop talking about “a cost-of-living crisis”? Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Malcolm Turnbull on resisting populist demagogues - Weekly Roundup
Europeans cast a vote for sanity, the Liberal Party attacks Labor from the left, Malcolm Turnbull shares his ideas on protecting democracy from authoritarian demagogues. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
RBA thinks unemployment queues are still too short - Weekly Roundup
Economists call for a cut in interest rates, but the RBA thinks the unemployment queues are still too short; the Greens and the ABC help launch a far-right political movement and land a blow on secularism; the case for disenfranchising men. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Coalition woos Teal voters with rooftop nuclear initiative - Weekly Roundup
Details of Coalition’s rooftop nuclear initiative revealed, Australia to close borders to all immigrants other than brickies and nuclear scientists, ACCC considering a Coles-Woolworths merger application. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Nuclear fantasy a “dangerous and expensive farce” - Weekly Roundup
Malcolm Turnbull calls Dutton’s nuclear fantasy a “dangerous and expensive farce”, how the far right won ground in the European elections while the left won ground in Poland, public policy ideas from Pope Francis and Lucy Turnbull. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Dutton re-ignites climate war and weaponises immigration policy - Weekly Roundup
Dutton re-ignites the climate war and weaponises immigration policy, the economy shows early signs of recovery from decades of the Coalition’s low-wage-low-productivity policy, the struggle between authoritarian populism and democracy heats up. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Budget politics and a warning from Slovakia - Weekly Roundup
An unnecessarily conservative budget from the government and a pathetic response from the opposition, how we are so generous to Western Australia, the Coalition and nukes, the disgrace of McBride’s jail sentence. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Students in rapturous joy over HECS changes - Weekly Roundup
A peek into the Reserve Bank’s fantasy world, a Labor-lite budget on its way, how the Liberal Party has moved to the left of Labor, students in rapturous joy over HECS changes. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Australia adapts to a worldwide collapse of neoliberalism - Weekly Roundup
Sorry, economists, people like A Future Made in Australia, the long-term story of violence against women, the case for liberal education, why Jack Welch would have been the ideal RBA governor. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Weekly Roundup Saturday 27 April
The so-called “cost of living” crisis is a low-wage problem of the Coalition’s making, the dangerously simplified world of central bankers, spooks and cops on the threat from social media, democracy becomes collateral damage from fear campaigns. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Morrison’s gone, but the stench of corruption hangs over the Liberal Party - Weekly Roundup
An industry policy in development, baby steps towards a carbon price, lessons for independent MPs who want to start a party, the virtue of working less. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Australia's destructive housing inequality - Weekly Roundup
Housing inequality has put Australia on a destructive trajectory, how the Coalition blocks economic reform, Australia’s changing politics played out in Tasmania. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Labor is slipping in the polls - Weekly Roundup
What a flat white coffee reveals about our economy, $27 billion on the table for state governments, nothing about the Bruce Lehrmann defamation case, and Labor is slipping in the polls. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Coalition decides to re-name itself the Queensland Party - Weekly Roundup
Tasmanians show what they think of the old parties and the Coalition retreats to the deep north, inflation tumbles but the media hasn’t noticed, getting the climate change message across. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
How the American left is becoming more stupid - Weekly Roundup
The ideas of Peter Dutton and Jürgen Habermas, the government shifts ground on intergenerational politics, a fact check on law’n’order fearmongers, and How the American left is becoming more stupid. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
How to fix capitalism in Australia - Weekly Roundup
With fuel emission standards Toyota Land Cruisers to cost more than Lamborghinis, economic advice from a wise lady for Treasurer Chalmers, consumer advice from a Minnesota Lutheran. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Government grovels to the gambling lobby: Weekly Roundup
How scare campaigns work; the government grovels to the gambling lobby; what the media missed in the Dunkley by-election; hedgehogs, foxes and national accounts. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
The bucolic stupidity of nuclear energy - Weekly Roundup
The bucolic stupidity of nuclear energy, repairing the damage after the Coalition’s war on learning, why Dutton would be a lousy baby-sitter. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Taylor Swift exposed as an agent of the Deep State - Weekly Roundup
Prospects for real tax reform – if only the Coalition would behave like grownups, early signs of real wage growth, no more visas for rich spivs, the case for nationalising the insurance industry, and Taylor Swift exposed as an agent of the Deep State. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Negative Gearing: bad policy, fastened by a wedge - Weekly Roundup
Fuel standards weaponised, to imagine a Dutton government look at the way he ran Home Affairs, if you're struggling financially and have private health insurance drop it, re-imagining Australia, and the case for withdrawing negative gearing. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Dutton’s vision of a zero-government Australia: Weekly Roundup
How our cost of living can be eased with a Woolworths-AGL-Qantas merger, government promises political donation reform before 2045 election, Dutton’s vision of a zero-government Australia. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
The case for an Australian king - Weekly Roundup
How the government’s tax changes plan will affect Lamborghini sales. What the CPI really means. Everything economists don’t know about productivity. The case for an Australian king. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Australia developing an impoverished, disconnected immigrant underclass - Weekly Roundup
Slow progress in cleaning up the mess after decades of Coalition neglect and economic mismanagement in immigration, labour relations, school education and economic structure, opinion polls reveal a restive electorate. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
ABC gives selected politicians licence to spread fear - Weekly Roundup
Why the RBA Board should enjoy the break on a houseboat ride, the ABC gives selected politicians licence to spread fear, bullshit, lies and division just because they are called “the opposition”, sex and the cost of living, immigrants’ kids do better at school than Australian-born kids, cleaning up the mess of another failed privatisation. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Australians disappointed because they thought they elected a Labor government - Weekly Roundup
The grand housing cartel, a couple from Point Piper resurrect Gough Whitlam’s ideas on urban development, CPI data confirms that the RBA can declare itself redundant, Australians disappointed because they thought they elected a Labor government. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Adolf Eichmann would have been acquitted if tried under Australian law: Weekly Roundup
Something's happening in renewable energy, the government embraces the National Party’s established approach to infrastructure funding, if you can’t find a rental on land take a cabin on a cruise, the Albanese government is slow to act because it has to clear all significant policy through Dutton, and why Adolf Eichmann would have been acquitted if he had been tried under Australian law. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
The RBA fails to convince anyone why it increased interest rates: Weekly Roundup
Labor is too naïve in dealing with Dutton; how Canberra smooths the path for well-heeled lobbyists; how the “cost of living” obsession obscures serious social and economic fault lines; the RBA graded by an aged academic, and how to identify a conservative. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Optus, Reserve Bank compete to slow Australia's economy: Weekly Roundup
Green shoots in renewable energy; Optus and the Reserve Bank in a contest to slow the Australian economy; and the Trumpisation of Australian politics. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Taxes: Our civilization deficit - Weekly Roundup
A look at deficits in democracy and our common wealth; Why we're working too hard; What women find in Australia; Gramsci and the right; The politics of Ben Ean Moselle, and the case for higher taxes. Read on for the weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Public policy won't stand a chance under Dutton's politics - Weekly Roundup
If Dutton does to the next election what he did to the Voice referendum, public policy won’t stand a chance; the “Home Affairs” experiment has failed; and what the French do in their spare time. Read on for the Weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.
Liberal Party falls into the dark world of far-right populism: Weekly Roundup
The Voice vote — a setback for reconciliation and for Australian democracy. Businesses behaving badly. Stan Grant and John Coltrane. Read on for the Weekly roundup of links to articles, podcasts, reports and other media on current economic and political issues.