restrictions

4 May 2022

When the federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg remarked on the inspiration he takes from the Thatcher and Reagan governments in July 2020, he gave Australians an insight into what he had planned for the economic recovery following the pandemic. “… not everyone is a Keynesian and thinking about income support. It is important to go to the supply side. Thatcher, Reagan,

16 March 2022

In the first few months of 2020, fear regarding the new Covid-19 virus was palpable, and understandable. Educated citizens of many democratic nations around the world faced draconian government-issued restrictions on human movement, personal behaviour, and business operations. But, as the months went by and evidence accumulated that contraindicated population-wide restrictions, the continued willingness of individuals to accept them –

28 December 2020

One might think animal spirits had gripped the Australian economy as a flurry of better-than-expected economic figures hit the newsstands before Christmas. But Australians cannot let the political and bureaucratic class off scot-free for the devastation they have caused in 2020, or for their unwillingness to engage in serious reform which will underpin our future prosperity. The Australian Bureau of

12 September 2020

Workers in small businesses have been smashed by lockdown measures compared to workers in big businesses, according to an analysis released today by free market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs. The analysis, based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data, shows that between 14 March and 22 August, 377,400 small business employees lost their job, compared to 30,900 big

11 September 2020

The debacle that is the response of Australia’s state governments to the coronavirus pandemic has provoked claims such as “the federation is broken” and “the PM must do something about it”. In Melbourne, at the moment, a much-discussed option (and wistful hope) is that if Daniel Andrews doesn’t resign, then somehow he’s sacked by either the state’s governor or even

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

8 September 2020

Institute of Public Affairs analysis of data recently released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics finds that over 810,000 small businesses are at risk of closing and approximately 1.7 million jobs are at risk of being lost over the next three months due to the lockdown restrictions which remain in place across Australia. This could potentially cause the official unemployment

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

29 August 2020

When Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says that it is ‘foreseeable’ that a state of emergency could last beyond another 12 months, Australians would not be out of place in wondering if that means until or beyond the next state election due in November 2022. Australians would also not be out of place in wondering what expectations Mr Andrews is trying