Opinion Pieces

End to APS Staff Cap Will Stop Government Waste on Contractors

09 August 2018

Originally published by the Canberra Times

The shimmering heat haze and red dirt roads of Alice Springs seem like a world away from the morning fog and paved parallel streets of Canberra.

Budget Zombies Stalk the Coalition

22 April 2018

Originally published in the Australian Financial Review.

The federal budget is the nation's fiscal and economic blueprint - a document that lays out the agenda of the government of the day and outlines the policy priorities for the year ahead.

We Need to Find A Better Way Than Turnbull's Corporate Tax Cuts

12 March 2018

Originally published on the Guardian. 

The big problem with Malcolm Turnbull’s $65bn big business tax cut comes with absolutely no guarantees that the multinationals who receive it will increase investment in Australia, or even invest any of it onshore.

A Budget for Millionaires and Multinationals, Not Middle Australia

19 December 2017

Originally published on Crikey.

With a week to go until Christmas, Malcolm Turnbull has made it perfectly clear in his budget update that it’s big multinational businesses and millionaires who will get all the goodies, and not Australians who work and study.

Rethinking Finance: Why Australia Needs a New Portfolio Approach

16 November 2017

Originally published by the APPS Policy Forum.

Forty-one years ago this week the decision was taken to split the Department of Finance from the existing Treasury.

Even Turnbull's Good Economic News is Terrible

28 September 2017

Originally published by Crikey.

Time and again when it comes to economic management, the Turnbull government substantially lowers the bar and yet still manages to trip over it.

The Turnbull Government's Incredible Debt Problem

16 June 2017

Originally published on Crikey.

Malcolm Turnbull and his Government now have the dubious honour of presiding over half-a-trillion dollars in gross debt for the first time ever in this country’s history.

Why Scott Morrison's Budget is in Such a Mess

02 June 2017

Originally published on Crikey.

There are really three ways to improve the Budget bottom line – through increasing taxes, fair savings measures and strong economic growth.

Australians Want Fairness to be More Than A Slogan

22 May 2017

Originally published by Huffington Post

One of the reasons Australians are no more convinced with or impressed by the Abbott-Turnbull Government's fourth Budget than the three preceding it is because it can't be divorced from the broader economic and political reality into which it has been released.

We Can't Let Go of the Fair Go

23 January 2017

Originally published on John Menadue’s Pearls and Irritations blog

For Australia to succeed and prosper as an economy and a society, we need to ensure growth is inclusive, hard work is rewarded, and there’s a decent safety net for those left behind.