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Archived news for January 2011 | Recent news
Be careful what you wish for in Egypt
"Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive," wrote William Wordsworth of the fall of the Bastille, "But to be young was very heaven!" For many...
Drowning in Gillard's flood levy spin
The Prime Minister first raised the prospect of a flood levy 10 days ago. Her government wants taxpayers to believe the levy is an unavoidable...
A tax by any other name
Because politicians know voters don't like tax increases, Julia Gillard won't be imposing a flood tax. Instead, as she announced yesterday, there...
Energy sector wilts under government's solar stress
Shortly before Christmas, federal Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson announced seven proposals were being assessed for two spots in the...
Micromanagement in the regulatory state
Another year, another 6,369 pages of law. Spread over 150 acts, that was the Commonwealth's total new legislation in 2010. Not a bad effort...
Myth of economic rent tax
Proposals to tax "economic rents" should be viewed with the utmost suspicion - the tax system is complicated enough with easy-to-understand tax...
US strikes the right balance on US-China human rights
As US President Barack Obama's meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Washington serve to remind us, the issue of human rights continues to...
The truth about Australia's floods
If the news from Tucson has been grim this month, the news from Australia has been no better. For years, we Aussies have been fighting drought...
Why greedy Gerry and his mates will win in the end
Gerry Harvey is not Australia's most popular man right now. It would have taken a hell of a campaign to convince Australians that imposing GST on...
Who's afraid of the big bad GM?
Unlike their American and Asian competitors, Australian farmers face major barriers if they want to grow genetically modified (GM) foods. GM uses...