
18 June 2022
Victoria’s Winter Of Discontent
The power supply crisis hitting Victorian families, small businesses and manufacturers is not an accident. These are the blackouts Australia did not need to have. The crisis has been caused by deliberate policy choices made by low-voltage politicians, on both sides of politics, cheered on by corporate and media elites, for more than a decade. On the first day of

16 May 2022
Labor Wage Hike To Accelerate Inflation, Punish Mortgage Holders And Small Business
Preliminary research released today by the Institute of Public Affairs has identified that a 5.1% wage hike as proposed by Labor leader Anthony Albanese could over the next twelve months: lead to a 2.25 percentage point increase to inflation, taking inflation from the current rate of 5.1% to 7.36%; push mortgage rates up by 57 basis points, taking the average

16 December 2020
Letter to Treasurer
Dear Treasurer, As you would be aware the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) has long been concerned about issues of freedom of speech in Australia. The IPA strongly supports freedom of the press in Australia and opposes the existence of government owned and operated media organisations. For example, in 2012 the IPA strongly opposed the recommendations of the Finkelstein

9 December 2020
Report: Australian Small And Family-Run Business In Crisis
Research released today by the Institute of Public Affairs outlines how a dramatic re-shaping to the structure of Australia’s economy has largely benefited big corporates and the financial sector, at the expense of family-run and small businesses. The analysis, which is based on data from the Australia Bureau of Statistics, found that the share of national income accruing to family-run

13 November 2020
Will The Australian Way Of Life Be A Long-Term Coronavirus Victim?
COVID-19 has consumed the public’s attention for almost six months, but the economic crisis caused by devastating lockdowns has started to shed light on a nefarious threat to the Australian way of life. Across a number of measures, from home ownership to employment, young Australians have seen a decline to their economic and social wellbeing in recent decades. These declines have been compounded by the government-imposed lockdowns

9 November 2020
Small Business Workers Smashed By Lockdowns
Small business workers continue to suffer heavy job losses and the divide between the two Australias has widened, according to analysis released today by free market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs. The analysis, based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data, shows that 325,500 small business workers lost their job in the first three weeks of October while 44,500

12 September 2020
Small Business Workers Smashed By Lockdowns
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

10 August 2020
Small Business And Jobs Smashed By COVID-19 Lockdowns
Analysis by free market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs of recently released data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals that over 230,000 small businesses are expected to close and 470,000 jobs will be permanently destroyed once COVID-19 support measures are inevitably removed. Approximately 10% of small businesses expect to cease operating once government support, such as the

17 July 2020
How Coronavirus Is Killing Small Business – And Threatening Our Values
The heart of the Australian way of life is under threat with small businesses fighting for survival as lockdown restrictions continue. The crisis has hastened the ongoing decline of small business that functions as the fabric that holds local communities together. A survey commissioned by the Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia revealed a third of sole traders have

4 June 2020
ScoMo’s Flawed Hawke Fantasy
As Scott Morrison eyes consensus-based industrial relations reform, he must not commit the ultimate sin for any Liberal leader and forget Sir Robert Menzies’ forgotten people. As part of his carefully branded ‘jobmaker’ plan, the prime minister has called on big business and unions to come together at the negotiating table for the sake of our shared economic future. The