27 March 2020

Far too many people have spent their leisure time watching post-apocalyptic television shows. At the first sign of trouble they all immediately went shopping. I always imagined that having a stock of ammunition and Krugerrands would be essential for the end of days. But no. Toilet paper. Without wanting to downplay the seriousness of the medical crisis facing the world

11 April 2019

Spare a thought for Chris Bowen. It turns out a number he has been quoting for some time is bogus. To be fair there is no reason to doubt that he relied on that number in good faith. Yet he has a history of relying on numbers and analysis that turn out to be problematic. In 2008 Bowen relied on

30 January 2019

Australia’s dividend taxation regime is a complex solution to a simple problem. It is well known and understood that double taxation of corporate income gives rise to economic distortions. The simple solution to that problem would be to make corporate income tax-free in the hands of shareholders. But no. So a somewhat complicated system was introduced that taxed dividend income

22 August 2018

Politics in a stable democracy should be boring, even relaxed and comfortable. Yet since the fall of the Howard government in 2007 Australian politics has been exciting– almost a blood sport. The population is certainly not relaxed nor comfortable. Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister appeared well on his way to changing all that. Re-election looked possible, even likely. The shenanigans in Canberra

3 July 2018

Since 2007-8 – the last time Australia enjoyed a budget surplus and zero net public debt – government spending has increased by 78 per cent. Spending now makes up 25.4 per cent of GDP. By contrast, government revenue has increased by 61 per cent and makes up 24.9 per cent of GDP. For those of us who thought John Howard

19 June 2018

It is appalling that a sitting government should have to complain that the ABC is repeating Labor lies as facts. The ABC itself should be ashamed to have received such a complaint. Yet that is precisely why the Labor Party supported the establishment of the ABC – to provide a forum for pro-ALP news and opinion. This points to questioning

14 June 2018

The difference between the ABC and Fairfax and News Ltd is that the ABC is a $1 billion government program that provides media services to Australians. Fairfax and News Ltd are private entities that do so at their own expense and hope to earn a profit. Those small details were missing from Laura Tingle’s defence of the ABC published inWeekend AFR.

26 May 2018

A new book by Professor Sinclair Davidson and Dr Chris Berg ‘Against Public Broadcasting: Why We Should Privatise the ABC and How to Do It’ was launched last night at an Institute of Public Affairs event in Sydney. RMIT Postdoctoral Fellow and IPA Senior Fellow Chris Berg said, “The ABC is a 1 billion dollar public policy initiative that is

11 May 2018

Howls of outrage from the ABC and its fans on social media over the most mild of cuts to the broadcaster’s budget ignore the fact of an institution that has drifted far away from its charter’s demands for objectivity. Judging by the howls of outrage echoing through twitter it seems that the Turnbull government has destroyed our democracy, if not

24 April 2018

Writing in these pages Professor Peter Swan AO has forwarded several arguments against the federal government’s proposed company tax rate changes. While he is a giant of the profession and a treasure to the nation, I hope he has made a rare error. Professor Swan suggests the government modelling in favour of the company tax rate cuts is entirely flawed. Undoubtedly, based on