public service

25 August 2022

Handing power to public servants won’t fix the problem of politically targeted grants. Governments should do less and spend less. There’s a certain irony in a think tank established with a $30 million taxpayer-funded grant from state and federal Labor governments issuing a report criticising Coalition government “pork-barrelling”. That’s the difference between Labor in power and the Coalition in office.

24 March 2021

The past 12 months have exposed the deep and dangerous division between the two Australias, one comprised of mainstream Australians and the other comprised of the political and bureaucratic elite. But these divisions have been evident for some time, and mainstream Australians have been denied access to the dignity of work while the political class has abdicated its responsibility to ensure that all

10 September 2020

This is not Australia’s first recession, nor will not be the last, but it is the first recession caused by deliberate actions taken by government. Creating a depression-era economy is the expert classes’ solution to managing COVID-19. Shutting down the economy and society through social distancing and travel restrictions was considered the only way to slow the spread of the

9 September 2020

Australia is experiencing a ‘K-shaped’ government-induced recession from the lockdown measures. The public sector are thriving and growing on the upward arm of the ‘K’, but the private sector continues to suffer on the downward arm of the ‘K’, an analysis by free market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs shows. The analysis, based on Australian Bureau of Statistics

2 September 2020

Private sector workers’ wages dropped $5.9 billion in the June quarter while public sector workers’ wages increased $768 million, according to an analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics data released today by the Institute of Public Affairs. In the June quarter, private sector wages were $5.9 billion lower than in the March quarter, a 3.6% decline. Meanwhile, public sector wages

7 February 2020

In the Battle of Bridget, the unelected bureaucrats have triumphed over the will of the Victorian people with the effect of diminishing the value of our democracy. Senator Bridget McKenzie has paid a steep price for the sports rorts scandal, being forced to resign as Minister for Agriculture and leave Cabinet. The usual narrative around McKenzie’s dismissal was that it

23 January 2020

While the wider Australian economy struggles under excessive regulatory burden and lack of ­opportunity, the Canberra swamp charges ahead as a perpetual growth machine. According to Deloitte Access Economics’s latest quarterly business outlook released on Monday, Australia continues to suffer the triple threat of drought, a downturn in housing construction, and low confidence among consumers and business. According to the

6 December 2019

Yesterday,  Scott Morrison announced the number of federal government departments would be cut from 18 to 14. Even if the Prime Minister hasn’t quite pulled the plug on the Canberra swamp, at least he’s started to empty it thimbleful by thimbleful.One of the biggest complaints from federal Coalition MPs is that more than six years after the election of the Abbott government,

14 February 2018

Our latest research brief reports on the trends of the size, cost and wages of the Western Australian public service using statistical measures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Western Australian Public Sector Commission. A copy of the PRB can be read below or downloaded here.

19 December 2017

Our new research brief askes five questions on the size and cost of the Commonwealth Public Sector. Recent data shows that public sector employee numbers are declining, but the public sector salary and wage bill continues to increase – and public sector wage rises are outpacing those prevailing in the private sector. A copy of the report can be read