Research Papers

With the recent closure of Liddell Power Station, the electricity system is on a knife’s edge. It is time for energy policy makers to take stock – and focus on energy security – before it is too late. Australia can continue down the path of closing what have been reliable low-cost baseload power stations without adequate replacements being available. Or

Australian families are facing acute and immediate cost of living pressures, caused by rapidly rising inflation, energy costs, and rising mortgage repayment rates. One of the key causes of rising inflation is debt and deficit-financed government spending. This report examines the relationship between government spending, inflation, and mortgage rates, and its key findings are: In addition, government spending increased by

This week the Institute of Public Affairs released One Voice: Racial Equality in the Australian Constitution, a new research essay exploring the potential legal, political, and social consequences of inserting the proposed Voice to Parliament in the Australian Constitution. The research essay explains how the Voice has the potential to permanently divide Australians along racial lines, could radically reshape Australia’s

The Institute of Public Affairs was founded in 1943 as a non-profit educational research organisation with the objectives: to further the individual, social, political, and economic freedom of the Australian people; and to maintain and enhance the Australian way of life. A central strand of the IPA’s research for 80 years has been on Australia’s democratic traditions, including the egalitarian

The Australian education system is in crisis, and at the heart of this crisis lies the National Curriculum. The curriculum dictates what every child in Australia should know. Sadly, it is becoming increasingly apparent that it is failing to fulfil its purpose, which is to educate Australian children. Unfortunately, Version 9 of the National Curriculum, which will be implemented in

Australia is experiencing both an incarceration crisis and an unprecedented worker shortage. Sensible criminal justice reform can address the excessive burden on Australia’s prison system while also filling persistent job vacancies in the economy. The total cost to the Australian taxpayer of imprisoning roughly 42,000 prisoners is now nearly $4.5 billion annually. Over-incarceration imposes an additional cost on Australians by

The New South Wales Government and Opposition have both committed NSW to the policy of net zero carbon equivalent emissions by 2050. They have also both committed to the medium-term target of reducing CO2-e emissions by half of 2005 levels by 2030 – just seven years from now. This report finds that the policy of net zero emissions will put

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said he wants to follow the lead of New Zealand on reconciliation by implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart. On 6 February 2020, he posted the following statement to Twitter: We can learn a lot from our mates across the ditch about reconciliation with First Nations people. New Zealand has led the way. It’s

The Albanese government has proposed suspending the law requiring the government to fund the publication and distribution of an official pamphlet setting out the “Yes” and the “No” case for any referendum to change the Australian constitution. This means there would be no publicly funded information campaign to inform voters of the arguments for and against changing the Australian constitution

The policy of net zero emissions by 2050 and the green legal activism that it encourages have come at a great cost to Australians. They have contributed to escalating electricity prices, increasing cost of living pressures, and job insecurity in rural and regional areas. Southwest Queensland, which consists of Toowoomba, Darling Downs-Maranoa and immediately adjacent areas, has been and will