HomeRESEARCH AREASGovernment Services

Government Services

What is the proper role of government? What services should the government provide, and not the private sector? Here you will find the IPA's work on the cause of limited government, the ABC, the proper running of government services in Australia and public sector reform.

Opinion

Public Service Perks Don’t Pass The Pub Test

Aaron Lane 17 November 2016 Government services, Ipa today,

Enterprise bargaining is a two-way street. Public sector unions cannot continue to argue that well-paid public servants deserve additional entitlements without considering the trade-offs that...

Federal Spending A Dangerous Drug Of Dependence

Brett Hogan 22 September 2016 Government services, Opinion,

While the deal struck last week between the government and opposition to get $6.3 billion of savings over four years through the Parliament is welcome, it is still just treating the symptoms...

Government Services

Is Reform Hopeless In An Era Of Disillusion?

Chris Berg Started 29 August 2016 Government services,

Around 23 per cent of Australians gave their primary vote to minor parties and independents at the July federal election. This is the highest number since the formation of the Liberal Party and...

Opinion

Still A Strong Case For Keeping Privatisation In The Reform Tool Kit

Mikayla Novak 22 August 2016 Finance and economics, Government services,

Despite recent concerns raised by the head of Australia’s competition watchdog, privatisation remains a viable reform option. Even though it has been firmly established as a modern economic...

Volunteerism And Civil Society

IPA Review Started 21 August 2016 Government services, Publications,

The United Firefighters Union’s attempted power grab over the Country Fire Authority is more than a Victorian industrial dispute, it’s an attack on civil society and the Australian tradition of...

Opinion

Energy Ministers Need To Facilitate, Not Limit, Consumer Choices

Brett Hogan 19 August 2016 Energy and resources, Government services,

As the nation’s Energy Ministers prepare for Friday’s meeting in Canberra to discuss how to “ensure energy markets remain stable and secure” it would be a major step...

Opinion

ABS Census Farce Reminds Us Statistics Are The ‘Eyes Of The Bureaucrat’

John Roskam 12 August 2016 Faith and society, Government services,

In 1961, Murray Rothbard, the most important libertarian economist of the 20th century, wrote about the evils of government statistics. “Statistics are the eyes and ears of the bureaucrat...

Government Services

Spill the Beans

James Bolt Started 1 August 2016 Government services,

Ever wondered why coffee sometimes spills when you walk? What’s that? You’ve literally wondered that every waking second of your life? The endless pursuit of the truth has left you unemployable...

Government Services

Trump: Chief Critic of American Conservatism

Andrew Bushnell Started 1 August 2016 Government services,

The outcry associated with Trump fundamentally misunderstands right-wing politics, writes Andrew Bushnell Since the Second World War, right-wing politics in the United States has been dominated...

Government Services

The Golden Age

Richard Allsop Started 1 August 2016 Government services,

Is the so-called political heyday really the decade that transformed the country? Writes Richard Allsop You could probably write a history of any decade in the nation’s 20th century and give it...

Opinion

What Is The Meaning Of Andrew Leigh’s Pay Cut?

Sinclair Davidson 26 July 2016 Dignity of work, Government services,

Word is that all Labor MPs have to be a member of a trade union. It is surprising then that Andrew Leigh’s union haven’t been knocking on Bill Shorten’s door. Perhaps they are...

Red Tape Strangling Opportunity

Daniel Wild 25 July 2016 Government services, Opinion,

Australia is supposed to be the land of the fair go. When someone wants to take on a new challenge, most of us cheer them on. This spirit is one of the things that makes Australia so great. But...

Now Not The Time To Retreat From Health Reform

Mikayla Novak 22 July 2016 Finance and economics, Government services,

The politically effective Mediscare campaign is a powerful reminder of Australia’s growing reluctance to pursue health sector reform. With the 2016 federal election result favouring the...

Potential Rorting A Warning For PaTH Program

Aaron Lane 21 July 2016 Education and skills, Government services,

Allegations of potential rorting of the Victorian Labor government’s ‘Back to Work’ scheme is a warning shot across the bow of the re-elected Federal Coalition government’s...

Get More Cops On The Beat To Stop Violent Crime Wave

Daniel Wild 7 July 2016 Constitution and law, Criminal justice,

“The recent spate of cars being set on fire across Cranbourne illustrates the urgent need to reinvest some of Victoria’s criminal justice spending in the police force. This is the best...

Opinion

Saying You Have A Plan Isn’t Enough To Win An Election

Simon Breheny 4 July 2016 Government services, Ideas and liberty,

It is not enough to say you have a plan for a strong new economy. You actually have to have one. And it has to be simple enough to sell to the average voter. That means cutting taxes, not...

Ideas and Liberty

The Myth of Matheship

Richard Allsop Started 1 April 2016 Government services, Ideas and liberty,

A history of mateship could be a history of Australia. In fact, in the years when the Old Left view of the Australian story dominated the history books, it often was. In these tales...

Government Services

Cigars and the Plain Packaging Effect

Chris Berg Started 1 April 2016 Government services,

In the 176 page report into smoking produced by the Preventative Health Taskforce—which Labor used as a blueprint for plain packaging— cigars are mentioned just twice. Once, buried in a footnote...

Government Services

BECOME A MEMBER of IPA