Public Policy
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LIONEL ORCHARD. Housing Policy: a social democratic response
The missing element in current debates about Australian housing policy is consideration of the social democratic case for building a genuine mixed economy in the housing system respecting the different purposes of the sectors involved – public, private and household. Given the demand and supply problems currently making effective housing access very difficult, the case Continue reading »
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CHRIS BONNOR and BERNIE SHEPHERD. Gonski’s second coming will need a miracle or three
Anyone remotely committed to excellence with equity in our schools will feel the urge to break out the champagne this week. After six years a conservative prime minister is not only using the language of Gonski, he had the man standing next to him while he re-booted the Gonski Review. Politics was swept aside: this Continue reading »
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Making Housing Affordable Series. HAL PAWSON. Can Institutional Funding be Channelled into Rental Housing?
Channelling institutional finance into affordable rental housing has long been a ‘holy grail’ urban policy aspiration. Recent developments suggest that this may be edging towards reality. Continue reading »
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Making Housing Affordable Series. ROB KOCZKAR. How institutional investment could help housing affordability
Competition between first home buyers and investors is dominating the discussion about housing affordability, but it’s what’s happening a few rungs down the property ladder that is perhaps the greatest cause for concern – the challenges for people trying to rent in major cities and low-income earners waiting for social housing. Paradoxically, greater institutional investment Continue reading »
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Making Housing Affordable Series. JACK DE GROOT. Homelessness – the potential to implement a widespread housing first policy
Having a roof over one’s head, a place to call home, is a fundamental right for every individual. Until all levels of government collaborate with institutional investors and the not-for-profit sector to provide more affordable housing and accessible services, housing stress and homelessness will remain a blight on Australian society. Continue reading »
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Making Housing Affordable Series. MICHAEL PERUSCO. Revitalising social and affordable housing
The discussion and commentary about housing affordability in Australia has reached a crescendo in recent months. But an important piece of the housing puzzle cannot be overlooked in the debate: the role of social housing. It is time for governments across the country to recognise that a well-functioning social housing sector is critical to balancing Continue reading »
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Making Housing Affordable Series. SAUL ESLAKE. The causes and effects of the housing affordability crisis, and what can and should be done about it.
Treasurer Scott Morrison is right in saying that “there are no single or easy solutions” – even though he (and others on his side of politics) tend to ignore this advice in emphasising ‘supply-side solutions’ and decrying any suggestion of policy measures which are intended to dampen demand, especially from investors. Continue reading »
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Making Housing Affordable Series. PETER PHIBBS. The politics of property and the role of urban planning
The narrative provided by the property industry and by some politicians is that the planning system creates large bottlenecks to more supply. Yet the reality is that we have been generating record levels of supply in Australia in recent years. While supply is undoubtedly important, it is not the key moderator of price that it Continue reading »
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Making Housing Affordable Series. NED CUTCHER. Running the private rental market at a loss, for profit
Understanding how unaffordable housing affects renters is increasingly important, since more Australians can expect to rent for longer. How do negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount affect affordability, amenity and security for renters? Encouraging “mums and dads” to invest in the private rental market is not all it’s cracked up to be, and Continue reading »
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Making Housing Affordable Series. DAMIEN WEBB. An institutional scale solution for the social and affordable housing challenge – from a super fund’s perspective
Many well-intentioned solutions have been proposed to address Australia’s housing affordability problem, yet fail to gain traction because the challenges faced by key stakeholder groups aren’t being addressed simultaneously. We believe success on a material scale will be more likely when this occurs. We propose a model that potentially meets the needs of government, capital Continue reading »
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Making Housing Affordable Series. MARCUS SPILLER. The planning system, politics and housing affordability
Forever expanding supply on the urban fringe is unlikely to provide a solution to retreating affordability of home ownership. Housing needs to be expanded in those places where good jobs, services and infrastructure are. The inner and middle suburbs – where the good jobs and opportunities are – represent the major battle ground for NIMBY-ism. Continue reading »
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Making Housing Affordable Series. JOHN DALEY, BRENDAN COATES AND TRENT WILTSHIRE (1). Why should we care about housing affordability?
Housing affordability includes a grab-bag of concerns: less money to spend on goods and services other than housing; falling home ownership rates; worsening access to jobs; increasing wealth inequality between and among generations; and increasing risks of a housing-led economic downturn. Responding to these concerns requires careful analysis of the underlying drivers and of the Continue reading »
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Making Housing Affordable Series. JOHN DALEY, BRENDAN COATES and TRENT WILTSHIRE (2). Sorting reality from the appearance of action on housing affordability.
Governments have raised expectations among voters anxious to see action on housing. There is no shortage of proposed policy solutions. But how do we sort the good from the bad? Many policy ideas sound good, but won’t do much in practice. Some will make housing affordability worse, drag on economic growth, or subtract from budget Continue reading »
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Making Housing Affordable Series. TIM WILLIAMS. Housing affordability is not just a supply problem
The housing affordability debate is being wrongly understood as just a supply problem. The real cause of house price inflation is excess liquidity and debt, combined with overly generous tax incentives. Continue reading »
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IAN McAULEY. Doing without private health insurance
Every year the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission reports on competition and consumer issues in private health insurance (PHI), and recent reports show increasing consumer dissatisfaction with PHI. Most complaints relate to unexpected charges when claims are made and confusion over terms and conditions. Continue reading »
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JOHN MENADUE. A rigged gas market and market failure.
Yesterday, the government announced that it would impose an Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism on gas exports from July this year. This will give the government authority to limit companies’ gas exports if they are emptying Australian gas reserves to meet overseas export contracts. Two years ago – I drew attention to the market failure Continue reading »
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JOHN TULLOH. Trump’s first 100 days – so what?
The media have been besides themselves in anticipation of Donald Trump’s first 100 days in the White House this weekend. It’s as if this is some magic marker by which to judge his next 1359 days in the Oval Office. It is meaningless. Continue reading »
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SAMANTHA PAGE. In defence of public investment in childcare
When childcare issues have hit the news lately, it’s either been about the Federal Government’s new $1.6 billion package to help make childcare more affordable, or about massive fraud cases where rogue Family Day Care operators have pocketed millions of tax payer dollars. Continue reading »
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VIVIENNE MILLIGAN and HAL PAWSON. Ready for growth? Has Australia’s affordable housing industry got what it takes?
Australia lacks any enumerated and resourced plan for expanding affordable housing. Recent growth opportunities in this industry have largely been small-scale, fragmented and ad hoc. As a result, providers have been highly constrained in their ability to predict and plan for growth. This has disrupted capacity-building and undermined capacity-retention. Continue reading »
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ALLAN PATIENCE. How much lower are we going to go?
The current Australian values and new immigration visa debates, blusteringly initiated by Malcolm Turnbull and his would-be successor Peter Dutton, represent one of the lowest points in recent Australian political history. Are these panicking populists capable of dragging the country any lower? Very likely they will try, because the politics they have now so fully Continue reading »
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PAUL BUDDE. The role of the NBN in the development of 5G
From a network efficiency point of view fibre-based infrastructure will always win over wireless. … Don’t expect a rapid development of 5G services for the mass market. 5G will most likely be installed in pockets where there is a clear business case (for a premium service) and where there is plenty of fibre available to Continue reading »
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ROD TIFFEN. The Australian’s Wind Farm Reporting
The National Wind Farm Commissioner, Andrew Dyer, delivered his first annual report on March 31, covering the first 14 months of the agency’s operation since being set up by the Abbott government, with the support of conservative cross-bench senators. The agency has an annual budget of around $650, 000 a year, while Dyer is paid Continue reading »
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KERRY BREEN and M.TAFFY JONES. Why mandatory reporting of the ill-health of doctors is not in anyone’s best interests
“Sick doctors will delay seeking help because of fear of stigmatisation and a threat to their professional status and livelihood through premature and unjustified reporting by treating doctors who themselves are made to feel insecure by the legislation. The distress and harm resulting from an inappropriate mandatory notification cannot be underestimated.” Continue reading »
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PETER HUGHES. Citizenship Test Mark II – How much juice can you squeeze out of an orange?
It seems that Coalition governments have developed a habit of squeezing the citizenship “orange” for political advantage when there are some community concerns about migrants. Last week’s announcement by the Turnbull Coalition government, at a time of poor government performance in opinion polls, of a “toughening” of the Australian citizenship test for migrants has a Continue reading »
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JUDITH CRISPIN. Indigenous Elders to Tackle Youth Suicide Using Mobile Technology
A groundbreaking collaboration between Walpiri Elders, cultural historians, technologists and a clinical psychologist aims to tackle youth suicide using traditional knowledge and mobile technology. Continue reading »
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TIM COLEBATCH. Yes, there is such a thing as too much immigration
Adjusting the intake in response to shifts in employment makes long-term sense. Between 2008 and 2016, in net terms, the Australian labour market expanded by 474,000 full-time jobs. But only 74,000 of them went to people born in Australia. That’s fewer than one in six. Continue reading »
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It’s time for Labor to think big about policy – a people’s bank!
Tony Abbott is not the only one anticipating a change of government at the next election. Voters across the board are increasingly fed up with the Coalition and there are even signs that some of its most devoted cheer leaders in the media are beginning to give up on it. Dear old Alan Jones has Continue reading »
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DAVID JAMES. Deconstructing the privatisation scam
It is increasingly evident how pernicious the privatisation myth is. Two recent examples have underlined it: the failings in Australia’s privatised energy grid and the usurious pricing in airport car parks. Both examples demonstrated that it is folly to expect a public benefit to inevitably emerge from private profit seeking. Continue reading »
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How has education come to this?
For a country that prides itself on the egalitarian ethos of a ‘fair go’ for all, the latest results from the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) are a distressing reminder that many are not getting a fair go in education. The egalitarian label is a self-indulgent delusion as far as education is concerned. Continue reading »
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PETER BROOKS. Specialists gaps and anaesthetists.
The article from David Scott and Peter Seal (‘Medical specialists – maintaining a high standard and duty of care‘) is not an unexpected response from the organisation they represent – the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists. However one is minded of those words of Adam Smith who said of ‘craft ‘ groups Continue reading »