30 May2016

Federal election 2016: evidence doesn’t justify more regulation

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:
Here’s a disturbing fact: “Since 2008, the market share of Coles and Woolworths has risen from 60 per cent to 73 per cent.”

Or so Andrew Leigh, Labor’s spokesman on competition, tells us, in proposing yet more regulation.

16 May2016

Federal election 2016: super debate deserves better than polemics

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian

Let’s start by clearing up the confusion which seems to have clouded even Judith Sloan’s usually razor-sharp insights. The government’s changes to superannuation, whatever one may think of them, are not retroactive: they do not seek to alter the state of the law at a time prior to their announcement.

09 May2016

Super should serve economic and social goals

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian
In theory, putting your jewels in a safe protects them from theft. In practice, thieves know safes are where the jewels are kept. And if the thief has a key, you’re in ­trouble.

That, in a nutshell, is the story of super. There are, no doubt, many twists in the saga; but all the latest episode confirms is that when they are desperate for cash, governments can be trusted to breach whatever trust we have placed in them.

Attachments:
Download this file (Super should serve economic and social goals_Mon 9 May 2016.pdf)Super should serve economic and social goals_Mon 9 May 2016.pdf[ ]91 Kb
07 May2016

US political disillusion made Donald Trump all the rage

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:

So it’s Trump. And what a win.

After all, the field was one of the strongest in Republican history, ranging from Jeb Bush, whose family had produced two presidents and who had a solid claim in his own right, through to heavy hitters such as Marco Rubio, John Kasich and Ted Cruz. And the losers were hardly short of cash, consistently outspending Donald Trump in critical contests. Yet the prize has gone to the man who seemed to come out of nowhere.

02 May2016

Grattan Institute obsessed with wealth distribution

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian

Did you realise “investors now account for more than half of new loans for housing, up from 29 per cent two decades ago”?

You would if you had read Hot Property, the Grattan Institute’s latest call to scrap negative gearing and increase capital gains taxes. Except that it isn’t true. Indeed, the statistical series the report cites as its source shows 35.8 per cent of new housing loans went to investors in February 2016.

25 Apr2016

Labor is taking Europe’s road to ruin

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian:
It is easy to understand why Labor wants to increase taxes on higher-income earners. And it does not take much nous to figure out why the government might feel under pressure to do so too. But what does require explaining is how the need to raise taxes in next month’s budget has become an unchallenged part of the conventional wisdom.

Attachments:
Download this file (Labor is taking Europe’s road to ruin Mon 25 Apr 2016.pdf)Labor is taking Europe’s road to ruin Mon 25 Apr 2016.pdf[ ]91 Kb
11 Apr2016

Student union denies believers’ right of association

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian
In an age of inclusivity, the least one can ask is to be included. Or so the University of Sydney Student Union — which has threatened to deregister the university’s evangelical union unless it drops the requirement that members be evangelical Christians — seems to believe.

04 Apr2016

COAG: more pressure needed to force reforms to tax regime

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian

COAG: more pressure needed to force reforms to tax regime

The premiers had a choice. They could simply demand more money, knowing that, with an election looming, Malcolm Turnbull would be hard pressed to refuse; or they could take responsibility for raising the revenues they claim they need and accept that voters would then hold them to account for the taxes they impose. That they chose as they did is no less disappointing for being utterly predictable.

Attachments:
Download this file (COAG_more pressure needed to force reforms to tax regime Mon 5 Apr 2016.pdf)COAG_more pressure needed to force reforms to tax regime Mon 5 Apr 2016.pdf[ ]101 Kb
21 Mar2016

What is superannuation savers’ should stay so

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian
It is a pity no government has thought to build a tomb of the unknown saver or a cenotaph for fallen superannuants. With the opportunities it offers for iconic memorials gracing our suburbs, a worthier use of public funds would surely be hard to find.

19 Mar2016

Bowen’s right: leave act alone

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian

It’s rare that we’re on the same side as Chris Bowen. But he’s right: section 46
of the Competition and Consumer Act should remain unchanged.
19 Mar2016

Republicans might never recover from Donald Trump

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian

Hillary Clinton ended Bernie Sanders’s dream of a “political revolution” this week, making it virtually impossible for the crusty socialist to win the Democratic nomination.

07 Mar2016

Labor down the rabbit hole with DIY economics

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian

“In a society like ours,” Gore Vidal wrote some years ago, “politics is improvisation”: policies are announced, tactics invented and slogans launched with consequences “no one can foresee and everyone has to live with”. But if Labor’s proposed tax changes prove anything, it is the dangers that involves.

05 Mar2016

A president Donald Trump would wreak havoc far beyond America

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian

Donald Trump’s march to the Republican nomination took another leap forward this week as his Super Tuesday wins added 237 delegates to the 82 he had already gained. Having secured about 44 per cent of the GOP delegates chosen so far, Trump seems increasingly difficult to beat, heightening the tensions within the Republican Party.

29 Feb2016

Labor must stop denying negative gearing truth

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian

With Labor spending last week denying the obvious about its proposed tax hikes, it was hard not to be reminded of writer Hannah Arendt’s warning, which ought to be emblazoned on every street corner, that “no one has ever counted truthfulness among the political virtues”.

Attachments:
Download this file (Labor must stop denying negative gearing truth_Mon 29 Feb 2016.pdf)Labor must stop denying negative gearing truth_Mon 29 Feb 2016.pdf[ ]104 Kb
27 Feb2016

Trump card is changing the rules of the game

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian

And then there were seven, ­Agatha Christie might have said. But even with 16 candidates leaving the field since the outset of the primary season, there is still a lot of blood to be spilled before the line-up for the US presidential election is finally determined.

22 Feb2016

Unicorns all over the place in fantasy tax debate

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian

His budget won’t promise taxpayers any unicorns, Scott Morrison assured the National Press Club last week. Good thing too, for they are ever harder to find.

Attachments:
Download this file (Unicorns all over the place in fantasy tax debate_Mon 22 Feb 2016.pdf)Unicorns all over the place in fantasy tax debate_Mon 22 Feb 2016.pdf[ ]518 Kb
15 Feb2016

Negative gearing plan an exercise in Cirque du Soleil economics

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian
Even for a political party with a pronounced death wish, it seems reckless to propose a clampdown on negative gearing just as an NAB survey shows the housing market slowing and the share of established properties sold to local investors dropping to record lows.

Attachments:
Download this file (Negative gearing plan an exercise in Cirque du Soleil economics Mon 15 Feb 2016.)Negative gearing plan an exercise in Cirque du Soleil economics Mon 15 Feb 2016.[ ]928 Kb
08 Feb2016

GST should not be a matter of political machismo

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian

You may well ask why the government ever floated the idea of raising the GST, given that by far the best tax reform would be bringing public expenditure under control.

Attachments:
Download this file (GST should not be a matter of political machismo Mon 8 Feb 2016.pdf)GST should not be a matter of political machismo Mon 8 Feb 2016.pdf[ ]101 Kb
25 Jan2016

Robert Menzies has messages on how we should tax

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:

It happens every year. Just as the country has settled into the postprandial doze known as the ­Australian summer, swiftly and without warning, wrathfully and without mercy, stupidity strikes.


Attachments:
Download this file (Robert Menzies has messages on how we should tax_Mon 25 Jan 2016.pdf)Robert Menzies has messages on how we should tax_Mon 25 Jan 2016.pdf[ ]535 Kb
23 Jan2016

American nightmare: Republican Donald Trump spells trouble

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:

Hearing Donald Trump, Groucho Marx’s comment springs to mind: he may look like an idiot and speak like an idiot, but don’t let that fool you — he really is an idiot. Yet with the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary only days away, Trump’s standing in the polls is similar to that Barack Obama had at this point in 2008, and is stronger than Mitt Romney’s was four years later.

18 Jan2016

A conflicted China forces more clarity in Australia

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian


With the world’s stock markets reeling after their worst-ever start to a year, it is important to remember that the adjustments at the heart of the current turmoil are inevitable and desirable. But that doesn’t make them any less dangerous. And as the threats mount, strengthening our economy’s capacity to withstand a global downturn becomes ever more urgent.


Attachments:
Download this file (A conflicted China forces more clarity in Australia_Mon 18 Jan 2016.pdf)A conflicted China forces more clarity in Australia_Mon 18 Jan 2016.pdf[ ]105 Kb
16 Jan2016

The China syndrome: China poses a risk to the world economy

Posted in Op eds

In today's The Australian

China’s leaders may not have a clue as to where they are going, but they seem determined to get there as soon as possible. The question is how much damage will be done to the world economy along the way. With world stockmarkets alternating between precipitous falls and short-lived rallies, commodity prices tumbling and economic growth forecasts slashed, the answer seems to be plenty.

Attachments:
Download this file (The China syndrome_China poses a risk to the world economy Sat 16 Jan 2016.pdf)The China syndrome_China poses a risk to the world economy Sat 16 Jan 2016.pdf[ ]183 Kb
11 Jan2016

When faith takes up arms, silence is no option

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today

Political correctness, says Pierre Manent in his new book on France and Islam, is “the language of those who are terrified about what would happen if they stopped lying”.

06 Jan2016

Heydon unions royal commission reveals IR wreck

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today


Australia’s industrial relations system, Justice Henry Bournes Higgins famously declared in 1915, had conquered “a new province for law and order”.

Attachments:
Download this file (Heydon unions royal commission reveals IR wreck_Wed 6 Jan 2016.pdf)Heydon unions royal commission reveals IR wreck_Wed 6 Jan 2016.pdf[ ]110 Kb
28 Dec2015

It’ll take courage to remedy a world gone wrong

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian

There are times when history ­escapes from the leash. And rarely has it done so more dramatically than in the past year.

Attachments:
Download this file (It’ll take courage to remedy a world gone wrong_Mon 28 Dec 2015.pdf)It’ll take courage to remedy a world gone wrong_Mon 28 Dec 2015.pdf[ ]111 Kb
21 Dec2015

A consumer index for the 12 days of Christmas

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today

Today’s release of the 2015 Christmas Price Index should give consumers plenty to cheer about.

Attachments:
Download this file (A consumer index for the 12 days of Christmas_Mon 21 Dec 2015.pdf)A consumer index for the 12 days of Christmas_Mon 21 Dec 2015.pdf[ ]385 Kb
14 Dec2015

MYEFO: spending reform won’t come easy

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today

 
With the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook only a sleep away, the Treasurer is facing his baptism of fire. But whatever the political risks involved in acknowledging the seriousness of our fiscal challenge, simply closing one’s eyes and wishing really hard for the deficit to disappear is hardly an option. Rather, while avoiding both alarmism and complacency, Scott Morrison must show the government has a credible strategy for budget repair.

Attachments:
Download this file (MYEFO_spending reform won’t come easy_Mon 14 Dec 2015.pdf)MYEFO_spending reform won’t come easy_Mon 14 Dec 2015.pdf[ ]519 Kb
12 Dec2015

Mining remains a mainstay of Australia’s future prosperity

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian
With commodity prices plummeting, the pressures on our resource sector seem certain to intensify. But despite the damage that will inflict on commonwealth revenue, and hence on the forecasts of the budget bottom line in next week’s mid-year economic and fiscal outlook, it would be a serious mistake to write off mining’s contribution to the Australian economy.

07 Dec2015

That’s right, Treasurer: superannuation is our money, not yours

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:

 Speaking in Brisbane 10 days ago, the Treasurer called for a national conversation about what needs to be done to “ensure our superannuation system can provide higher standards of living for retirees”.

Attachments:
Download this file (That’s right, Treasurer_superannuation is our money, not yours._Mon 7 Dec 2015pd)That’s right, Treasurer_superannuation is our money, not yours._Mon 7 Dec 2015pd[ ]449 Kb
30 Nov2015

Grattan Institute call to increase taxes ignores sound public policy

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian

Another week, another call from the Grattan Institute to increase taxes. And yet again it is super­annuation in the crosshairs.

Attachments:
Download this file (Grattan Institute call to increase taxes ignores sound public policy_Mon 30 Nov )Grattan Institute call to increase taxes ignores sound public policy_Mon 30 Nov [ ]147 Kb
23 Nov2015

Paris attacks: Ingrained culture of complaint in Muslim community

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:

  After last week’s police raids in Saint-Denis, just outside Paris, and in the Brussels district of Molenbeek, it is only natural for Australians to wonder whether it could happen here.

Attachments:
Download this file (Ingrained culture of complaint in Muslim community_Mon 23 Nov 2015.pdf)Ingrained culture of complaint in Muslim community_Mon 23 Nov 2015.pdf[ ]438 Kb
16 Nov2015

Paris attacks: Our politicians must confront Islamic extremism

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today

Barack Obama is right to call Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris an attack on humanity. But they are first and foremost an Islamist ­attack on the West. And it is only by destroying radical Islam that we can end the ever-escalating savagery that threatens our cities, our culture and our way of life.

Attachments:
Download this file (Paris attacks_Our politicians must confront Islamic extremism_Mon 16 Nov 2015.pd)Paris attacks_Our politicians must confront Islamic extremism_Mon 16 Nov 2015.pd[ ]626 Kb
09 Nov2015

Labor’s strategy over the NBN must be harpooned

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:
“People died last time you were in charge”, senator Stephen Conroy, mad-eyed as Ahab and trembling with fury, barked at Bill Morrow, the chief executive of NBN Co, when Morrow, at a parliamentary committee late last month, questioned Conroy’s assertions about the company’s performance.

Attachments:
Download this file (Labor’s strategy over the NBN must be harpooned_Mon 9 Nov 2015.pdf)Labor’s strategy over the NBN must be harpooned_Mon 9 Nov 2015.pdf[ ]107 Kb
07 Nov2015

Tax reform: Scare campaign will be Turnbull’s stress test

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today

With tough economic choices looming, coming weeks will see the Turnbull government face its first real stress test. For all his weaknesses, Bill Shorten thrives on galvanising the frightened, the resentful and the ill-informed: and even the merest suggestion of any serious tax reform will offer him a feast of opportunities for mischief.

02 Nov2015

IMF’s gift to anti-coal jihadis is vastly overvalued

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today

 Widely cited claims by the International Monetary Fund that subsidies to fossil fuels amount to a staggering 6.5 per cent of global income have been savaged by David Henderson, former chief economist of the OECD, in a letter to London’s Financial Times published on Friday.

Attachments:
Download this file (IMF’s gift to anti-coal jihadis is vastly overvalued_Mon 2 Nov 2015.pdf)IMF’s gift to anti-coal jihadis is vastly overvalued_Mon 2 Nov 2015.pdf[ ]495 Kb
26 Oct2015

Partisan Chris Bowen goes too far in praise of Wayne Swan

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:

It may be symptomatic of that “instinctive distaste for the past” that historian Keith Hancock thought characterised Australians that there is no official history of the Treasury. Chris Bowen’s The Money Men doesn’t claim to fill that gap, but it does provide vivid and insightful portraits of some of our more prominent treasurers.

Attachments:
Download this file (IMF’s gift to anti-coal jihadis is vastly overvalued_Mon 2 Nov 2015.pdf)IMF’s gift to anti-coal jihadis is vastly overvalued_Mon 2 Nov 2015.pdf[ ]495 Kb
24 Oct2015

Trudeau beats Harper but Canada could prove hard to change

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian
As he prepares to leave 24 Sussex Drive, the large, somewhat dilapidated, limestone house in the New Edinburgh neighbourhood of ­Ottawa that is the official residence of Canada’s prime ministers, Stephen Harper remains an enigmatic figure.
19 Oct2015

Labor must get over its bad case of Malcolm envy

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian

Like Portnoy, Tanya Plibersek has a complaint. And with all of Labor piling on to the psychiatrist’s couch, she isn’t alone. But there’s no need to call Dr Freud. The problem is simple enough: ­Malcolm envy.

Attachments:
Download this file (Labor must get over its bad case of Malcolm envy_Mon 19 Oct 2015.pdf)Labor must get over its bad case of Malcolm envy_Mon 19 Oct 2015.pdf[ ]142 Kb
12 Oct2015

Plain truth: Farhad Jabar was a murderer, not a victim

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian

 On this, let us be absolutely clear: Farhad Jabar, who shot police ­accountant Curtis Cheng, was not a victim but a murderer.

Attachments:
Download this file (Plain truth_Farhad Jabar was a murderer, not a victim_Mon 12 Oct 2015.pdf)Plain truth_Farhad Jabar was a murderer, not a victim_Mon 12 Oct 2015.pdf[ ]100 Kb
05 Oct2015

Echo chamber magnifies sense of Muslim grievance

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today

According to senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs in the Turnbull government, the young Muslims who are being drawn into the extremism that led Farhad Jabar Khalil Mohammad to murder a NSW Police Force employee last Friday feel “disengaged” and “disenfranchised”.

Attachments:
Download this file (Echo chamber magnifies sense of Muslim grievance_Mon 5 Oct 2015.pdf)Echo chamber magnifies sense of Muslim grievance_Mon 5 Oct 2015.pdf[ ]105 Kb
03 Oct2015

Economic reality bites Malcolm Turnbull’s honeymoon

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:


In an update on Thursday, the Canberra-based economic modelling firm Cadence Economics estimated that each one percentage point fall in China’s long-term growth rate knocks $46.5 billion off the present value of Australia’s national income, making every Australian about $500 worse off in 2035 than they would otherwise have been.
28 Sep2015

How should the country adjust to being poorer?

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:

Appearing last week on the ABC’s 7.30, former treasury secretary Ken Henry claimed Australia has a revenue problem, because the ratio of tax revenues to GDP is lower than in 2002, the implication being tax rates should rise. And that was only the highlight of a week-long “taxfest”, in which the media was crowded with like-minded pundits proposing ways of lightening taxpayers’ wallets.

Attachments:
Download this file (How should the country adjust to being poorer_Mon 27 Sep 2015.pdf)How should the country adjust to being poorer_Mon 27 Sep 2015.pdf[ ]134 Kb
21 Sep2015

Malcolm Turnbull’s economic choices will make him or break him

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today

According to the Australian Election Study, which surveys voters at each federal
election, Tony Abbott won the 2013 election with the lowest approval rating ever for an
incoming prime minister. So despite gaining 53.5 per cent of the vote and delivering on a
broad range of commitments, he had little political capital on which to draw and never
found a way to secure the electorate’s goodwill.
14 Sep2015

Migrant crisis: Refugees must be prioritised on their beliefs

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian

Just as the government, in allocating the 12,000 places it has added to the humanitarian intake, has every right to screen out security threats, so it has every right to test whether applicants are capable of integrating peacefully and effectively into the community.



Attachments:
Download this file (Migrant crisis_Refugees must be prioritised on their beliefs_Mon 14 Sep 2015.pdf)Migrant crisis_Refugees must be prioritised on their beliefs_Mon 14 Sep 2015.pdf[ ]629 Kb
07 Sep2015

EU should revisit Australia’s asylum-seeker policy

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian

All the grief in the world about the death by drowning of Aylan and Galip Kurdi, aged 3 and 5, as they tried to cross from Turkey to Greece, cannot absolve Europe of its responsibility for the 2600 lives lost, this year alone, to the Mediterranean’s treacherous seas.

Attachments:
Download this file (EU should revisit Australia’s asylum-seeker policy_Mon 7 Sep 2015.pdf)EU should revisit Australia’s asylum-seeker policy_Mon 7 Sep 2015.pdf[ ]317 Kb
31 Aug2015

Tax reform: Australia could do without a CGT

Posted in Op eds

Today in the Australian

If there is an iron law of Australian public policy, it is that you can’t keep a bad idea down. And never was that clearer than in the ­National Reform Summit’s ­discussion of capital gains tax.



Attachments:
Download this file (Why capital gains tax should go.pdf)Why capital gains tax should go.pdf[ ]741 Kb
27 Aug2015

National Reform Summit: Agreeing to disagree a place to start

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian:

“Every human benefit and enjoyment,” wrote Edmund Burke, “is founded on compromise.”

Attachments:
Download this file (National Reform Summit_Agreeing to disagree a place to start_Thu 27 Aug 2015.pdf)National Reform Summit_Agreeing to disagree a place to start_Thu 27 Aug 2015.pdf[ ]252 Kb
15 Aug2015

IR report: Productivity Commission falls short of the mark

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian
The sole objective of the industrial relations system should be to facilitate the process by
which employees and employers reach mutually advantageous agreements about the
terms and conditions of employment.
Attachments:
Download this file (IR report_Productivity Commission falls short of the mark_Mon 10 Aug 2015.pdf)IR report_Productivity Commission falls short of the mark_Mon 10 Aug 2015.pdf[ ]271 Kb
15 Aug2015

Chinese economy: yuan’s ripple effect exposes weaknesses

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today
 While the initial shock has eased, the reaction to the devaluation of the yuan highlights just how anxious world markets are about China’s economic prospects.

03 Aug2015

Bronwyn Bishop: Abbott shoulBronwyn Bishop: Abbott should have acted far more quicklyd have acted far more quickly

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today

After spending $6000 on chartering a corporate aircraft to fly her from Sydney to Nowra, Bronwyn Bishop had no option but to resign. There must still be questions, however, about why it took Tony Abbott so long to act

27 Jul2015

Ageing population not draining health budget but reforms needed

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian

When Ovid, in the Metamorphoses, made the first recorded use of the term “reformare”, it meant the sudden rejuvenation of an old man — but for one day only.

Attachments:
Download this file (Ageing population not draining health budget but reforms needed_Mon 27 Jul 2015.)Ageing population not draining health budget but reforms needed_Mon 27 Jul 2015.[ ]250 Kb
20 Jul2015

Greece: who’s going to pay to get the country out of trouble?

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian

The question is not whether Greece’s debt burden is sustainable; even on its current, highly concessional, terms, it isn’t. Rather, the real question is how the adjustment occurs — and who pays for it.

18 Jul2015

Europe in a continental drift: Greek crisis exposes flaws

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today

It isn’t only for Greece that hope has proven the handmaiden to misery, as it always does in the classical tragedies. Rather, after the turmoil of the last month, what little remains of the European ­project also lies in tatters.

11 Jul2015

China’s stock market crash: When the flying panda fell to earth

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian
“The Guide says there is an art to flying, or rather a knack,” the gal­actic hitchhiker Ford Prefect explains in Douglas Adams’s Life, the Universe and Everything: “The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”


06 Jul2015

It’s clear, negative gearing has a positive influence

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:
Let’s be clear: John Daley, who heads the Grattan Institute, is perfectly entitled to his obsessions, among which negative gearing seems to figure prominently. But Ogden Nash had a point when he warned that: “Of obligations, by far the solemnest / Burden the ­conscientious columnist.”


Attachments:
Download this file (It’s clear, negative gearing has a positive influence_Mon 6 Jul 2015.pdf)It’s clear, negative gearing has a positive influence_Mon 6 Jul 2015.pdf[ ]132 Kb
04 Jul2015

Greek drama could unleash the furies

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today
Like every great tragedy, it is all about fate, but fate in the sense of the Greek word ananke, a force even more powerful and pitiless than the gods. Yet as the referendum that will decide Greece’s future looms, any ultimate resolution of the euro’s drama seems as remote and uncertain as ever.
Attachments:
Download this file (Greek drama could unleash the furies | The Australian.pdf)Greek drama could unleash the furies | The Australian.pdf[ ]2015 Kb
29 Jun2015

ABC’s terror stance calls for inquiry and remedies

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:
Merely hours after the managing director of the ABC claimed Zaky Mallah had the same right to ­appear on Q&A as Charlie Hebdo had to publish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, the Islamists showed the world exactly how much use they have for freedom of expression.
22 Jun2015

If unions need to be clean, support the government

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian :
That Cleanevent and the EastLink consortium did very well out of their agreements with the AWU is beyond question.

Attachments:
Download this file (If unions need to be clean, support the government_Mon 22 Jun 2015.pdf)If unions need to be clean, support the government_Mon 22 Jun 2015.pdf[ ]134 Kb
15 Jun2015

Super claims not only a joke but they tax the mind

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:
"There’s an old Yiddish joke about a man whose job is to stand at the city gates and wait for the Messiah: it’s dull and badly paid, he explains, but at least it’s steady work."

13 Jun2015

The home front open to reform: Joe Hockey’s right

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian:

You have to feel for Joe Hockey. He was simply stating a truism: if the price of houses in Sydney is rising, it’s because people are buying them. As abundant demand chases scarce supply, he suggested, it doesn’t seem sensible to call Sydney’s housing “unaffordable”.

08 Jun2015

Low interest rates mean more risks for investors

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:

In the cartoons, before machines explode they start shaking violently, their shudders presaging the approaching conflagration.


Attachments:
Download this file (Low interest rates mean more risks for investors_Mon 8 Jun 2015.pdf)Low interest rates mean more risks for investors_Mon 8 Jun 2015.pdf[ ]133 Kb
06 Jun2015

Home bubble fears are over-inflated

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:
Speaking in Senate estimates this week, Treasury secretary John Fraser may have been less eloquent than Jonathan Swift but his message was no less ominous.

01 Jun2015

Don’t dream of cuts in this society of free riders

Posted in Op eds

In today's The Australian
Oh, the poetry of economics! Exchange rates float, economies limp and tax brackets creep. No wonder the field attracts fertile minds. But it would be better if they kept their imaginations under control.

Attachments:
Download this file (Don’t dream of cuts in this society of free riders_Mon 1 Jun 2015.pdf)Don’t dream of cuts in this society of free riders_Mon 1 Jun 2015.pdf[ ]132 Kb
25 May2015

Super changes? Let’s take a hard look at the facts

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today

“The taxation concession on superannuation earnings in retirement is unsustainable,” Chris Bowen said last week. And “someone has to show the courage to say it and to deal with it”.

Attachments:
Download this file (Don’t dream of cuts in this society of free riders_Mon 1 Jun 2015.pdf)Don’t dream of cuts in this society of free riders_Mon 1 Jun 2015.pdf[ ]132 Kb
18 May2015

Budget 2015: Scratching around for fresh ideas

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today

Joe Hockey’s second budget would have left many asking, as Peggy Lee did years ago, “Is that all there is?” As for Bill Shorten’s budget reply, it made Peggy Lee’s advice, faced with a disappointing answer to her question, to “break out the booze”, seem like sound common sense.

Attachments:
Download this file (Budget 2015_Scratching around for fresh ideas_Mon 18 May.pdf)Budget 2015_Scratching around for fresh ideas_Mon 18 May.pdf[ ]659 Kb
11 May2015

Left strives to keep students in the dark

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today
"Aristotle opens the Metaphysics with one of his most striking phrases: “By their nature, all men desire to know.” Quite so. But not at the University of Western Australia."

Attachments:
Download this file (Left strives to keep students in the dark_Mon 11 May 2015.pdf)Left strives to keep students in the dark_Mon 11 May 2015.pdf[ ]432 Kb
09 May2015

‘Fair go’ budget debate distorted by politics of envy

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today
Whatever else last year’s budget may have achieved, it certainly placed fairness at the heart of the political battle. And whatever this year’s budget may bring, the ­government will be working overtime to ensure it is less vulnerable than its predecessor to being cast as unfair.



04 May2015

Coward’s route to raising tax

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today
"It’s hardly about negative gearing. Rather, what the Left really wants is to increase income tax on the middle class. As it lacks the courage to do that directly, fiddling the definition of income is the coward’s way of achieving the same goal."
Attachments:
Download this file (Coward’s route to raising tax_Mon 4 May 2015.pdf)Coward’s route to raising tax_Mon 4 May 2015.pdf[ ]32 Kb
27 Apr2015

Chris Bowen reheats discredited, soak-the-rich super policy

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:

You can’t step into the same river twice. But the bathwater is a different matter. It just gets colder and nastier each time.
Attachments:
Download this file (Chris Bowen reheats discredited, soak-the-rich super policy_Mon 27 April 2015.pd)Chris Bowen reheats discredited, soak-the-rich super policy_Mon 27 April 2015.pd[ ]110 Kb
20 Apr2015

Tax system isn’t broken, and ‘fixing’ it may not pay off

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian
"The trouble, it seems, is not that we spend too much: it’s that we tax too little. And the Senate inquiry into corporate tax avoidance, chaired by Labor senator Sam Dastyari, is unlikely to leave much uncertainty about the culprits: those ­tax-dodging, revenue-shifting multinationals. "
Attachments:
Download this file (Tax system isn’t broken, and ‘fixing’ it may not pay off_Mon 20 April 2015.pdf)Tax system isn’t broken, and ‘fixing’ it may not pay off_Mon 20 April 2015.pdf[ ]84 Kb
11 Apr2015

As budget nears, retirement income system faces crisis point

Posted in Op eds


In The Australian today

"As the search for budget savings focuses on the age pension, the challenge for the government is to reconcile rigour, fairness and sustainability. With the pension intended to help those who cannot reasonably help themselves, it seems absurd that public money is going to the well-off. But in a retirement income system that is struggling to meet its objectives, simply tightening access to the pension carries risks of its own. "


Attachments:
Download this file (As budget nears, retirement income system faces crisis point_Sat 11 Apr 2015.pdf)As budget nears, retirement income system faces crisis point_Sat 11 Apr 2015.pdf[ ]622 Kb
06 Apr2015

No end in sight for the dark continent’s suffering

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:

Thursday’s murder by Somali terrorists of 150 mainly Christian students at Kenya’s Garissa University College provided a horrific backdrop to the Easter weekend. And with more than 200 young Christian girls kidnapped in Nigeria by Boko Haram still in captivity, the spotlight is once again on Africa and on the continent’s struggle to find peace and prosperity.

Attachments:
Download this file (No end in sight for the dark continent’s suffering_Mon 6 Apr 2015.pdf)No end in sight for the dark continent’s suffering_Mon 6 Apr 2015.pdf[ ]607 Kb
30 Mar2015

With reform an uphill battle, Canberra must cut spending instead

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:
The good news is that Mike Baird has been re-elected Premier of NSW. The bad news is that there was a large swing to Labor, un­deserving though it was.
Attachments:
Download this file (With reform an uphill battle, Canberra must cut spending instead_Mon 30 Mar 2015)With reform an uphill battle, Canberra must cut spending instead_Mon 30 Mar 2015[ ]41 Kb
28 Mar2015

Lee Kuan Yew’s miracle Singapore faces testing times

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:
"As Singapore, arguably the most successful city-state in contemporary history, mourns the death of Lee Kuan Yew, it starts a new chapter in its history. And with Hong Kong also in the midst of a difficult transition, the “queens of the further east”, as an early British colonialist called them, face ­far-reaching economic, social and ­political challenges. "
Attachments:
Download this file (Lee Kuan Yew’s miracle Singapore faces testing times_Sat 28 Mar 2015.pdf)Lee Kuan Yew’s miracle Singapore faces testing times_Sat 28 Mar 2015.pdf[ ]189 Kb
23 Mar2015

Another decade going to waste

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:

"As things turned out, Malcolm Fraser’s prime ministership was not a fresh start; it was merely the final act in the long crisis of the 1970s."
Attachments:
Download this file (Another decade going to waste_Mon 23 Jan 2015.pdf)Another decade going to waste_Mon 23 Jan 2015.pdf[ ]32 Kb
16 Mar2015

Another state where PS unions could do harm

Posted in Op eds

In today's The Australian
"There is a direct link between the NSW election and Australia’s deteriorating international competitiveness. "
Attachments:
Download this file (Another state where PS unions could do harm_Mon 16 March 2015.pdf)Another state where PS unions could do harm_Mon 16 March 2015.pdf[ ]34 Kb
02 Mar2015

Cheaper, efficient power to the people

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:
"Between 2008 and 2014, electricity transmission and distribution costs increased by some $400 per household in Queensland and New South Wales, where the poles and wires are government-owned, but by around $250 per household in the privatised systems of Victoria and South Australia."

Attachments:
Download this file (Cheaper, efficient power to the people_Mon 2 March 2015.pdf)Cheaper, efficient power to the people_Mon 2 March 2015.pdf[ ]294 Kb
23 Feb2015

It’s absurd to deny jihadis act in the name of Islam

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:
"With jihadist violence continuing to escalate, the acid test of today’s national security statement will be the actions it proposes."
Attachments:
Download this file (It’s absurd to deny jihadis act in the name of Islam_Mon 23 Feb 2015.pdf)It’s absurd to deny jihadis act in the name of Islam_Mon 23 Feb 2015.pdf[ ]134 Kb
21 Feb2015

Grab for pension is not helping

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:
"With Joe Hockey warning that the imminent Intergenerational Report will knock people “off their chairs”, the cost of our retirement income system is unlikely to disappear from the front pages anytime soon. But reconciling fiscal sustainability and community expectations is every bit as politically challenging as it is technically complex. "
Attachments:
Download this file (Grab for pension is not helping_Sat 21 Feb 2015.pdf)Grab for pension is not helping_Sat 21 Feb 2015.pdf[ ]167 Kb
16 Feb2015

It’s time to get over our civil wars and close the expenditure gap

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian
"It's the simplest measure of all: the cash the commonwealth spends each month compared to the cash it receives, stretching back to 1973."
09 Feb2015

Coalition is paying for failing to prosecute its case

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today
If the merest spark sufficed to set off the firestorm consuming the Abbott government, that is because so many grievances have been smouldering beneath the surface. No doubt, the circumstances the government has faced might defeat even the ablest leadership; but it is hard to deny that there have been many unforced errors, worsened by an apparent insensitivity to mounting concern in the party room, frustration among senior ministers and a deteriorating public mood.

Attachments:
Download this file (It’s time to get over our civil wars and close the expenditure gap_Mon 16 Feb 20)It’s time to get over our civil wars and close the expenditure gap_Mon 16 Feb 20[ ]74 Kb
07 Feb2015

Declining dollar makes it essential to lift productivity through reform

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:
"While Canberra focuses on the big issues, such as whether Prince Philip should have been awarded a knighthood, the Australian dollar burns."
Attachments:
Download this file (Declining dollar makes it essential to lift productivity through reform_Sat 8 Fe)Declining dollar makes it essential to lift productivity through reform_Sat 8 Fe[ ]185 Kb
02 Feb2015

Governments can afford no mistakes

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:
"The voice of the people, the Romans used to say, is the voice of the gods. And on Saturday, that voice decisively rejected Queensland’s LNP government and the policies it stood for. "

Attachments:
Download this file (Governments can afford no mistakes_Mon 2 Feb 2015.pdf)Governments can afford no mistakes_Mon 2 Feb 2015.pdf[ ]138 Kb
31 Jan2015

Greece and EU troika likely to compromise after talking tough on debt

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today
' “IN the ancient world,” Karl Marx famously wrote, “the class struggle took the form mainly of a contest between creditors and debtors.” Ever anxious to breathe new life into old theories, Greek voters on the one side and the EU on the other seem set to give Marx’s claim a fresh run. '
Attachments:
Download this file (Alas, poor Europe’s infinite debt | The Australian.pdf)Alas, poor Europe’s infinite debt | The Australian.pdf[ ]516 Kb
31 Jan2015

Don’t expect US economy to carry the world

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:
"Although the US economy is growing more strongly than the International Monetary Fund expected in last October’s World Economic Outlook, that acceleration will not suffice to boost global economic growth.

26 Jan2015

Islamists cannot be permitted to abuse our tradition of tolerance

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:

"The French love the idea of France, Americans their country’s shining ideal of liberty. Australians simply love their country as it is. And nothing is more integral to the achievement we celebrate on Australia Day than the easygoing tolerance of difference. "

Attachments:
Download this file (Islamists cannot be permitted to abuse our tradition of tolerance_Mon 26 Jan 201)Islamists cannot be permitted to abuse our tradition of tolerance_Mon 26 Jan 201[ ]127 Kb
19 Jan2015

Shock waves from Zurich

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian:
"Last Thursday, in a dramatic policy reversal, the Swiss National Bank abandoned the cap it had maintained since 2011 on the value of Switzerland’s currency. The move, which took markets by surprise, saw the currency rocket from 1.20 to 0.85 Swiss francs per euro, before settling just above parity. But while that 23 per cent appreciation may have stabilised the Swiss franc, the shock waves will reverberate for months to come."
Attachments:
Download this file (Shock waves from Zurich_Mon 19 Jan 2015.pdf)Shock waves from Zurich_Mon 19 Jan 2015.pdf[ ]108 Kb
17 Jan2015

Having returned from the brink, Queensland finds its strength

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:
"One thing is certain: Labor left Queensland in a mess. And it is equally certain that Campbell Newman has been willing to take the hard decisions needed to turn the situation around."

Attachments:
Download this file (Having returned from the brink, Queensland finds its strength_Sat 17 Jan 2015.pd)Having returned from the brink, Queensland finds its strength_Sat 17 Jan 2015.pd[ ]290 Kb
12 Jan2015

Eyes wide shut to Islamist threat

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today
"As the Australian summer dims memories of the Lindt cafe, the terrorist attacks in Paris are a savage reminder of the world we’re in. Yesterday, European leaders gathered to honour the victims; but barbarism will hardly be defeated by pious pleas for unity. "

Attachments:
Download this file (Eyes wide shut to Islamist threat_Mon 12 Jan 2015.pdf)Eyes wide shut to Islamist threat_Mon 12 Jan 2015.pdf[ ]627 Kb
05 Jan2015

Alas, poor Europe’s infinite debt

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:

“It’s not difficult to end up like Europe. What is hard, once the rot sets in, is to prevent the slide into debt from becoming a tumble.”

22 Dec2014

Dollar’s fortunes are something we can feast on

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:
"When our Christmas Price Index, which measures the cost of purchasing all the items listed in The Twelve Days of Christmas , was first compiled, Australian suitors intent on giving their true love the full complement could save $36,000 by hopping on a plane to the US, with the price difference across the Pacific more than sufficient to fund a romantic trip in first class for two.
Attachments:
Download this file (Dollar’s fortunes are something we can feast on_Mon 22 Dec 2014.pdf)Dollar’s fortunes are something we can feast on_Mon 22 Dec 2014.pdf[ ]125 Kb
20 Dec2014

Australia’s economic outlook still gloomy as time to fix finances runs out

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:

"With this week’s mid-year economic and fiscal outlook projecting deficits through to 2019-20, Australia’s prosperity is as threatened as our peaceful way of life. But while the horrors of terrorism have brought Australians together, the economic risks this country faces are tearing our political system apart. Whether the government can regain the initiative, focusing the nation’s attention on the dangers of simply letting our fiscal situation drift as export prices plunge, is the crucial question for the year ahead."
Attachments:
Download this file (Australia’s economic outlook still gloomy as time to fix finances runs out_Sat 2)Australia’s economic outlook still gloomy as time to fix finances runs out_Sat 2[ ]120 Kb
15 Dec2014

Talking sense on health spending

Posted in Op eds

In today's The Australian
"It's the season for miracles. Unfortunately, today’s Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook is likely to show they are in short supply. But if divine intercession is too much to hope for, surely a sensible discussion about public spending is not. And with MYEFO adding to the focus on the proposed GP co-payment, health expenditure should be a good place to start."
Attachments:
Download this file (Talking sense on health spending_Mon 15 Dec 2014.pdf)Talking sense on health spending_Mon 15 Dec 2014.pdf[ ]33 Kb
13 Dec2014

Double-edged sword of the new oil shock

Posted in Op eds

Today in The Australian
"It's certainly been good news for Australian consumers. In October, a litre of petrol cost about $1.50; with prices now down to $1.25, the typical motorist is saving $60 a month."
01 Dec2014

Get better arms and a new map

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today

"With Victorians flocking to put King Herod in charge of the nursery, the federal Coalition could be forgiven were a sense of anxiety intruding like a creeping fog. Whatever its weaknesses, the Napthine government was neither incompetent nor corrupt; that it was thrown out after a single term suggests an electorate that is impatient, intolerant and unforgiving."
Attachments:
Download this file (Get better arms and a new map_Mon 1 Dec 2014.pdf)Get better arms and a new map_Mon 1 Dec 2014.pdf[ ]84 Kb
08 Dec2014

Tony Abbott pays price for ignoring basic political principles in budget

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:
"Like watching a dog hit by a car, the dying takes longer than one could possibly have imagined. But as budget measure after budget measure writhes in agony, the government has struggled to adapt to the situation it finds itself in."
Attachments:
Download this file (Tony Abbott pays price for ignoring basic political principles in budget_Mon 8 D)Tony Abbott pays price for ignoring basic political principles in budget_Mon 8 D[ ]43 Kb
24 Nov2014

Barack Obama’s green smoke and mirrors

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:
"Ain't love grand! Spell-bound, you see what isn’t there. But though it made the cow-eyed audience at the University of Queensland swoon, virtually none of the $US3 billion Barack Obama pledged for the Green ­Climate Fund is new money."
17 Nov2014

Vital clues to fiscal sense in Franco-German contrasts

Posted in Op eds

In today's The Australian
'"If way to the Better there be,” wrote Thomas Hardy, “it exacts a full look at the Worst”. And who could imagine a worse predicament than the eurozone’s?"
Attachments:
Download this file (Vital clues to fiscal sense in Franco-German contrasts __Mon 17 Nov 2014.pdf)Vital clues to fiscal sense in Franco-German contrasts __Mon 17 Nov 2014.pdf[ ]38 Kb
15 Nov2014

Time to open up the world for business

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:
"Founded exactly six years ago, the G20 is battling to prove its continued relevance. Yes, Aust­ralia has never hosted a gathering of world leaders as eminent as that taking place in Brisbane; but the question is whether the enormous effort and expense will ultimately enhance global prosperity."
Attachments:
Download this file (Time to open up the world for business_Sat 15 Nov 2014.pdf)Time to open up the world for business_Sat 15 Nov 2014.pdf[ ]87 Kb
10 Nov2014

Unions poised to control Victoria

Posted in Op eds

In The Australian today:

'According to the polls, the next premier of Victoria will be a man with close links to criminals. Not that Labor leader Daniel Andrews shows any embarrassment about his relationship with Victorian Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union secretary John Setka, who, Andrews claims, “has the confidence of his members”.'
Attachments:
Download this file (Unions poised to control Victoria_Mon 10 Nov 2014.pdf)Unions poised to control Victoria_Mon 10 Nov 2014.pdf[ ]76 Kb
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