6 April 2022
LNP And Labor Fail On Reef Regulations Bill
The Bill introduced by Nick Dametto of Katter’s Australian Party’s (KAP) in the Queensland Parliament to reverse Labor’s pointless Reef Regulations (see here), was defeated by a combination of Labor and Liberal-National (LNP) parliamentarians last week. The Reef is in extremely GOOD condition – at record levels by some measures such as coral cover. The levels of farm pesticide concentrations
23 March 2022
Government Science Failures on Fish Stock Claims
There is a smell of something worse than failure: The Queensland government is claiming that the mackerel fish stocks on the reef are at alarming low levels, and it wants to drastically curtail or close the fishery. They base this on two things: (a) Calculations of fish stock going back to 1912, from data on fish catch and how many
6 January 2021
It Reeks Of Blasphemy, But Might More MPs Give Us Better Service?
Australian democracy faces a crisis of representation. People feel alienated from our politics and our institutions. Donkey votes are up, minor parties’ votes are up, and the major parties are riven by internal dissent. In a way, even the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament can be seen as an attempted end-run around the dysfunction of our electoral process. In short, no-one seems to think that our Federal Parliament can do its
9 September 2020
The Increasing Threat Of Delegated Legislation – Legislation Put Above The Power Of Parliament
“It’s probably a bit unusual for me to be in agreement with the IPA,” said Labor Senator Kim Carr. “I have been known to say some nasty things about you.” This utterance occurred during a hearing of the Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Delegated Legislation on 27 August, of which Carr is a member. The Committee is currently inquiring
20 July 2020
No Excuse For Shutting Parliament In The Digital Age
There has never been a time since the end of World War II when it has been more important to scrutinise government and hold politicians to account. There are monumental issues for the federal Parliament to debate. The future of JobKeeper, suppression v elimination strategies for COVID-19, and the billions of dollars that are flying out of Treasury at the
30 June 2020
Bypassing Democracy: A Report On The Exemption Of Delegated Legislation From Parliamentary Oversight
Questioning and challenging the policies and actions of ministers and senior bureaucrats is fundamental to parliament’s role in holding the government to account. While the Commonwealth parliament can practice oversight of the government in numerous ways, the power to veto laws made by ministers and agencies is a powerful mechanism for parliamentarians to ensure legislation is consistent with the rule
25 June 2020
Bypassing Democracy – A Report On The Exemption Of Delegated Legislation From Parliamentary Oversight
Questioning and challenging the policies and actions of ministers and senior bureaucrats is fundamental to parliament’s role in holding the government to account. While the Commonwealth parliament can practice oversight of the government in numerous ways, the power to veto laws made by ministers and agencies is a powerful mechanism for parliamentarians to ensure legislation is consistent with the rule
12 December 2019
A Fake Assault On ‘Fake News’: Government’s Intervention Is As Chilling As It Is Insulting
The Morrison government bills its proposed digital platform reforms, announced on Thursday, as “world-leading”. That may be true, in the same way that China’s “Great Firewall” – a tool of authoritarian suppression – was “world-leading” when it began in the 1990s. If that comparison seems dramatic, it is meant to be. The government’s ham-fisted measures have absolutely no place in
31 October 2019
Race Has No Place in the Constitution
Proposals to write a so-called Voice to Parliament into our Constitution will divide Australians along racial lines. This would be bad for our democracy and our nation. We are all equal. Today the IPA is proud to release our Race Has No Place research video, in which Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Dr Anthony Dillon, Senator James McGrath and Lorraine Finlay explain
3 June 2019
An Economic Policy Agenda For Mainstream Australia
The 2019 election result was driven by mainstream Australians rejecting an agenda to fundamentally transform Australia. The government now has an opportunity to build and reinforce institutional bulwarks against the forces which undermine mainstream Australian values. To achieve this, public policy should seek to reinforce a community of stakeholders which underpin the success of mainstream Australia and secure the Australian
