
7 November 2019
Red Tape At Record High
Red tape is at a record high, according to forthcoming research by free market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs, reported in today’s The Australian. “Red tape is the single biggest impediment to economic prosperity and opportunity in Australia today”, said Daniel Wild, Director of Research at the Institute of Public Affairs. The forthcoming report applies a new method

19 October 2017
Senate Committee Report Confirms Red Tape Strangling The Australian Economy
Free market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs has welcomed the recommendations from the Select Committee on Red Tape interim report: Effect of red tape on environmental assessment and approvals. “The Senate Committee’s report confirms the economic damage caused by environmental red tape in Australia,” said IPA research fellow Daniel Wild. “The government should implement the Committee’s recommendations, including

19 May 2017
Drone Regulations Stifle Business And Innovation With New Technology
The Senate committee examining Australian drone regulations has had just one public hearing and is months away from its December reporting date. Nevertheless, last week they wrote to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Darren Chester, strongly encouraging immediate action and “strengthened regulation” for drone technology. Calls for more red tape and restrictions on drones is not only premature, but

12 May 2017
Best Way To Make Markets More Competitive Lies In Legislating To Cut Red Tape
Competition is a natural feature of a free market. The idea that the way to increase competition is to strengthen competition laws is naive and misguided. The debate over strengthening section 46 of the Competition and Consumer Act is about to heat up again. The government – along with the Greens and Nick Xenophon – wants to introduce an “effects

1 February 2017
Liquor Licensing: Red Tape On Australian Businesses
Workplace relations, taxation and the regulation of alcohol are only some of the costly and complex burdens facing Australian hospitality and related industries. This paper is an enquiry into one subset of these burdens, liquor licensing, which impacts businesses from supermarkets to small bars. Liquor licensing refers to state-based regulatory restrictions on the sale of alcohol on premises (e.g. bars),

1 February 2017
Georgina Downer: We Must Cut Corporate Tax
The IPA’s Georgina Downer explains why we need to cut corporate tax as other nations become more competitive than Australia. Appearing on ABC News Breakfast on 1 Feb 2017.

31 January 2017
IPA: Australia Must Follow United States And Cut Tape
“President Donald Trump announced today that his Administration will significantly reduce red tape on job creating businesses. Australia must implement serious reforms to reduce the $176 billion cost red tape is imposing on our economy, or we will be rendered uncompetitive,” said Daniel Wild, research fellow with the free market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs. According to CNBC,

18 January 2017
Business Confidence High But Small Businesses Know There Is More Work To Be Done
Today’s Sensis Small Business Index shows that small and medium businesses are more confident about the future than they have been since early 2010. However, the report also shows that small and medium sized enterprises want the Federal Government to reduce red tape and bureaucracy. “While small businesses are more confident than they have been in a long time, the

15 December 2016
The Case For Cutting Red Tape On Drones
From videography and construction, to the age-old primary industries of agriculture and mining, drones hold remarkable potential to revolutionise many Australian industries. From 29 September 2016 regulatory changes by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) cut red tape on drones by removing burdensome license requirements for low-risk operations and carving out an exclusion category for drones on private property. While

9 December 2016
On Regulation, Productivity and Growth
Concern over Australia’s recent falling productivity growth should centre on the real contemporary policy task of achieving marginal reforms that enable individuals to propel long-run economic growth and prosperity. The key policy framework to achieve this, we propose here, is a classically liberal approach to economic policy that involves maintaining the rule of law, limiting government, protecting private property and