Economy
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Andrew Kaldor. Are We Paying Too Much To Stop The Boats?
One of the claims that some commentators like to make about Australia’s asylum seeker policy is that it saves money. It’s got to be cheaper to stop the boats than to have people coming to our shores that way to seek refuge. Right? Wrong. It is not easy to find the actual total costs of Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Why health reform is so hard. It’s about power.
You may be interested in this repost. John Menadue. I have been actively involved in health policy for over twenty years. Throughout that period Medicare has been the shining light that has well and truly stood the test of time. But necessary health reforms are hard. They are deferred or avoided. Without ministerial leadership Continue reading »
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John Menadue. What does Labor stand for? Part 5
Democratic Renewal At the same time as addressing overarching ‘Labor’ principles that could guide Labor policies and programs, there are two immediate issues which must be given high priority. The first is democratic renewal in our public institutions, including the ALP Our democratic systems, almost everywhere, are under great challenge. We are increasingly alienated from Continue reading »
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John Menadue. What does Labor stand for? Part 4
Ethical responsibility Those in prominent office should promote those qualities which draw on the best of our traditions and the noblest of our instincts. The duty of those with public influence is to encourage hope and redemption rather than despair and condemnation, confidence rather than fear. It is to promote the common good – to Continue reading »
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John Menadue. What does Labor stand for Part 3
Citizenship We are more than individuals linked by market transactions. Our life in the public sphere is no less necessary than our private lives. As citizens we enjoy and contribute to the public good. It is where we show and learn respect for others, particularly people who are different. It is where we abide by Continue reading »
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John Menadue. What does Labor stand for. Part 2
From values to principles The purpose and role of a Labor Government could be to give expression to the values set out below – to achieve as far as possible the ‘common good’. Values such as fairness, freedom, citizenship, stewardship and ethical responsibility would be generally accepted by most people. As the values are translated Continue reading »
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John Menadue. The Great Complacency
Professor Ross Garnaut has spoken many times about our great complacency and our unwillingness to undertake the types of economic and social reform that we saw in the Hawke/Keating periods and in the early days of the Howard Government – think, GST. Have the golden days of reform gone forever? The former head of Treasury Continue reading »
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Rod Tucker. Broadband projects fail reality test.
In an article in The Conversation on 8 September 2014, Rod Tucker points out that the broadband projections will fail a reality test. He said ‘If they [the Vertigan report] had used realistic data for growth in demand, their cost benefit analysis may well have shown that a FTTP network will provide Australia with the Continue reading »
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Michael Keating. The mining tax debacle
Tony Abbott has finally achieved another “triumph” with the end of the mining tax. Of course mining royalties continue, and have even been increased recently, and oil and gas are subject to a similar sort of resource rent tax that Abbott decried when it was applied to mining. No doubt the mining industry, their largely Continue reading »
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Ian McAuley. A Year Of Tony Abbott.
The Abbott Government was elected one year and one day ago. Ian McAuley celebrates the countless successes that have slipped under the radar. A year into the Abbott Government’s term we can reflect on its impressive economic achievements. The highlight is the repeal of the carbon tax. It’s easy to stand up against tree huggers Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Who owns Medibank Private (continued)
In my blog of August 14 I examined the question of who owns Medibank Private (MBP) particularly in light of the Abbott Government proposal to privatise the business. This is not an idle question or an academic issue only. MBP has 3.5 million members and the government has estimated its sale value at $4 billion. Continue reading »
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Michael Keating. Budget Choices
Faced with the rejection of a significant part of its Budget, the Government is reportedly looking around at alternative compromises. Essentially the Government wants to ensure that the Budget is balanced by 2017-18. Consequently if some of the present savings are rejected the Government wants to insist that alternative expenditure cuts are adopted or there Continue reading »
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Michael Keating. Government Concedes and Declares Victory
For months the government and its various spokesmen in the Australian have been warning us that the nation faces a catastrophe if the Budget does not pass the Parliament intact. Essentially we were told that there was ‘no alternative’ if economic progress and certainty were to be maintained. Indeed Paul Kelly, to the considerable delight Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Who owns Medibank Private?
The government has announced that it hopes to raise $4 billion from the sale of Medibank Private. But like many of its budget ‘savings’ it might find that it has to rely in this case on the High Court rather than the Senate to decide if the $4 billion ‘saving’ can be realised. The case Continue reading »
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Peter Sivey. Health budget: GP care isn’t the problem, costly specialist care is.
The opening of eight new medical schools in Australia in the past decade has seen a massive increase in the number of new doctors entering the workforce. The number of new junior doctors graduating in Australia doubled between 2004 and 2011. But while fears of an overall shortage of doctors seem assuaged, we don’t have the right mix Continue reading »
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Michael Keating. Australia’s productivity performance.
For most of our history too much of Australian business was focussed on rent seeking, rather than the creation of wealth. Manipulating government to obtain protection, or other forms of favoured treatment by way of regulation or taxation, was far too often pursued as the easiest way to increase profitability. While the economic reforms of Continue reading »
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Wiryono Sastrohandoyo. The new Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
Joko Widodo is an upright, decent and honourable person. It is the general feeling in Indonesia that his election is a victory for the Indonesian people and the generally peaceful election process. This is a sign of the growing maturity of Indonesia’s young democracy. Jokowi was great during his two terms as mayor of Solo, Continue reading »
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John Menadue–King Coal to be dethroned.
On May 1 last year I posted “A canary in the coal mine”. It focussed on the growing and wide concern about the damage to the climate caused by coal fired electricity generation. It also drew attention to the action of Jonathon Moylan who sent a hoax email concerning Whitehaven Coal to the ANZ Bank Continue reading »
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John Menadue–A lot of nonsense about productivity.
A lot of nonsense about productivity For years the Business Council of Australia and News Corp have been warning us about our poor productivity record and the need to change our industrial relations laws to bring trade unions to heel. A part of this campaign against unions is now being played out in the Royal Continue reading »
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Michael Keating. An alternative budget strategy – part 3
Part 3. An Alternative Budget Strategy The previous comment in this series showed that there are alternatives to the Government’s particular strategy for restoring a Budget surplus over the next four years. In particular, it was shown that action to protect the revenue could raise around $42 billion in 2017-18. That is about 2¼ per Continue reading »
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Michael Keating. An alternative budget strategy – Part 2
Part 2. An Alternative Budget Strategy In the previous part of this comment, I suggested that the Budget did need to return to surplus over much the same time path as intended by the Government. There is nothing new in that, and as previously noted, Labor also had the same intention when it was in Continue reading »
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John Menadue–Power prices – we ain’t seen nothing yet!
We have seen wild exaggeration about the effects of the carbon tax on prices and the economy. It has all turned out to be quite a fizzer. The price increases we have seen have little to do with the carbon tax and the economy continues to grow steadily. Whyalla has survived. But we have a Continue reading »
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Michael Keating. An alternative budget strategy – Part 1
In May this year I posted five articles by Dr Michael Keating on the economic and social consequences of the recent Hockey budget. Over the next three days I will be posting three follow-up articles by Michael Keating on an alternative budget strategy. Dr Michael Keating was formerly Secretary of the Department of Finance and Continue reading »
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Bugger the planet, ignore our children and trash our reputation.
The repeal of the carbon tax is a political victory for Tony Abbott but it is hard to imagine a worse combination of poor reasoning and bad policy making. It shows little appreciation of economics. It will increase the budget deficit. It shows a mistrust of the market. Tony Abbott’s political legacy will be defined Continue reading »
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An Alternative Budget Strategy by Michael Keating
In this blog in May this year I posted a five-part series by Michael Keating on the government’s May budget and the economic and social consequences. There has been a great deal of discussion and confusion, particularly in the senate, over this budget. This has caused Joe Hockey only a few days ago to warn Continue reading »
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How does Australia’s health system compare.
The Treasurer, the Minister for Health and the Commission of Audit have warned us in one way or another that the Australian health service is unsustainable, particularly with an ageing population. The Treasurer tells us that the age of entitlement has to end in health as elsewhere. We need to keep modernising Medicare but by Continue reading »
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Turning the federation clock back to 1901.
The Commission of Audit has made many unhelpful suggestions about budgetary and economic issues. It seems to have been driven more by ideology than fact. See my blog of May 1 2014 “The Commission of Audit and facing the wrong way”. One of its most unhelpful suggestions is that Australia returns to the 1901 intentions Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Free Trade Agreement with Japan – ‘turbo charging’ our trade or mainly hype?
Next Tuesday Prime Minister Abe will visit Australia. I expect the Free Trade Agreement with Japan or its new name the Economic Partnership Agreement with Japan will feature prominently. I repost below what I said on March 29 about the limited value of these bilateral agreements. Only last week, the Productivity Commission expressed similar reservations. Continue reading »
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Financial Planning explained by an Irishman.
Paddy bought a donkey from a farmer for £100. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day. In the morning he drove up and said, ‘Sorry son, but I have some bad news. The donkey’s died.’ Paddy replied, ‘Well just give me my money back then.’ The farmer said, ‘Can’t do that. Continue reading »
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Bruce Duncan. The Coalition: how to lose friends and alienate people
Mr Abbott in his 2013 book, Battlelines, wrote that in government he would balance social values with pragmatic policy for the common good of the country. Yet one could be forgiven for thinking government policy is being driven by neoliberal ideologues, with a very heavy stress on policies of privatisation of public assets, further deregulation Continue reading »
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