Henry in The Australian Monday 25 June 2012:

Beaming from ear to ear, Wayne Swan declared the latest figures on Australia's economic growth "stunning". As for Julia Gillard, she hailed the "remarkable" data as "proving the doomsayers and sceptics wrong". "They are proof," Swan added, "that something special is happening in our country."

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Henry in The Australian Monday 18 June 2012:

"Next year, each man, woman and child in this country will pay $450 in electricity charges for "green schemes", including the carbon tax, renewable energy targets and solar feed-in tariffs."

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Henry in The Australian Monday 11 June 2012:

"Two weeks after being elected, Kevin Rudd convened the state and territory premiers to announce "a historic new era of co-operative federalism" that would, at long last, "fix the federation". Five years later, Australian federalism lies in tatters."


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GST punishes resourceful states to reward the rest

Henry in The Australian Monday 4 June 2012:

"Here's the rub," Julia Gillard told the nation's mining executives at last week's Minerals Council annual dinner; "you don't own the minerals". But she carefully omitted to say precisely who does. For she knows full well the commonwealth no more owns those minerals than it owns the moon."

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Download the pdf.

"It is far easier to make a fish soup out of an aquarium than the other way around. And once the soup has been made, it is a bit late to try to extricate a particularly inedible goldfish. "

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Better for Club Med to stay in eurozone and face up to reform

"Last Tuesday, Martin Parkinson, the Treasury Secretary, used the annual post-budget address to examine the uncertainties in the economic outlook. While his speech was wide-ranging, one component stuck out: the suggestion that the rapid growth of mining was "dampening tax receipts as a share of the economy", with "the accelerated write-offs provided for many mining assets" being "of particular importance". "

More reading at Henry's blog.

Click here to read the article at The Australian's website (subscription required)

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Miner's taxes pay for PM's follies

"Despite the devastating Christchurch earthquakes, New Zealand is undertaking a fiscal consolidation twice the size of Australia's"

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PM rebuilds the base to go back to the future

Henry in The Australian 7 May 2012:

"Since being elected in 2007, Labor has taken policy decisions that have increased revenue by $24.2 billion and expenditure by $126.1bn, worsening the budget bottom line by $102bn."

More reading at Henry's blog.

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Flimsy balancing trick really a lacklustre effort

Henry in The Australian 7 May 2012:

"Tomorrow, in presenting the 2012-13 budget, Wayne Swan is likely to repeat the Gillard government's mantra that it has achieved "the fastest fiscal consolidation on record". But the reality is far from the government's claims of shining fiscal rectitude."

More reading at Henry's blog.

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Talk of fiscal rectitude is Labor spin

Henry in The Australian 30 April 2012:

"Given just how warped our taxation of superannuation is, one might have thought it difficult to make it worse."

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Doubling tax on super will blow out distortions

Henry in The Australian 23 April 2012:

"It is nonsense to talk of population ageing as a problem. Rather, its main cause -- the immense rise in human life expectancy -- is perhaps society's greatest achievement. But it does create challenges, and providing aged care is central among them."

More reading at Henry's blog.

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Aged-care package buys time but tsunami ahead

Henry in The Australian 16 April 2012:

"The Gonski Review of Funding for Schooling is right: our schools should provide better and more equitable outcomes. Unfortunately, the funding model it recommends is unlikely to achieve those goals."

More reading at Henry's blog.

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Extra money won't fix schools

Henry in The Australian 1 April 2012

"That drugs destroy lives hardly needs to be said. The question is how we should deal with them. In a recently released report, Australia21, a policy think tank, calls our prohibition-based approach an exercise in "failure and futility". Australia21's claims are exaggerated and in important respects incorrect. But that doesn't mean our policies should stay as they are."

More reading at Henry's blog.

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Prohibition still best way to beat drugs

Henry in The Australian Monday 2 April 2012

"The ALP's crushing defeat in Queensland has renewed calls for Labor to expand and empower its shrinking membership."

More reading at Henry's blog.

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ReformingTheALP.pdf

Henry in The Australian Monday 26 March 2012:

"The challenge facing Queensland's new 264 is to clean up the legacy of 14 years of Labor rule, improve the state's 266 and deliver on its ambitious election promises. "

More reading at Henry's blog.

Click here to read the op-ed at The Australian's website (subscription required) or on the link below to download a pdf.

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Campbell_must_clean_up_state_finances_Mon_26_Mar_2012.pdf

There is inspiration in respiration

One of those obnoxious climate sceptics, may they perish in the eternal flames (should it stop raining long enough for those flames to burn the way they used to), has written querying a report on the ABC science blog. That report suggests climate change is to blame for yes, obesity: “Steadily rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may be affecting brain chemistry and contributing to the obesity epidemic”. The sceptic (may he perish etc.) complains this assertion does not seem to be based on any evidence.

Read more at Henry's blog.

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ThereIsInspirationInRespiration.pdf

Henry in The Australian Monday 19 March 2012:

"Since 1999 Australia's prison population has increased by 50 per cent. And with high and likely rising recidivism rates, it seems set to continue growing."

More reading at Henry's blog.

Click here to read the op-ed at The Australian's website (subscription required) or on the  link below to download a pdf.

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It_s_only_when_crime_doesn_t_pay_that_criminals_will_be_deterred_Mon_19_Mar_2012.pdf

The 264 is placing huge weight on its rather small cut in the company tax rate. However, Australia has an imputation tax system. That means that dividends that are ‘franked’ are effectively pre-payments of personal income tax. As a result, the company tax bites most when companies are paying dividends to foreign shareholders. Those dividends are typically covered by double tax agreements: so payments made on investments in Australia to foreign investors are taxed at the higher of the Australian or foreign tax rate. When the Australian rate of company tax is cut, the investor’s tax liability only decreases if the effective Australian tax rate is higher than the tax rate overseas. In other cases, the result of cutting the Australian tax rate is simply to transfer tax from the ATO to its foreign counterparts. 

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JustHowImportantCuttingCompanyTaxRates.pdf

Henry in The Australian Monday 12 March 2012:

"Should the News 267 Council recommended by the Finkelstein 267 inquiry be established, it will have no difficulty finding penalties: for severe offences, 100 pages of the inquiry's report; for recidivism, another 100; and for the truly heinous, the entire document, committed to memory. Like capital punishment, that should ensure recalcitrants never do it again. "

More reading at Henry's blog.

Click here to read the op-ed at The Australian's website (subscription required) or on the  link below to download a pdf.

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Watchdog_can_muzzle_264_critics_Mon_12_Mar_2012.pdf

Henry in The Australian Monday 5 March 2012:

"Whatever Wayne Swan's strengths may be, a sense of irony is not among them. Were it, he might have hesitated to publish in The Monthly, the brainchild and mouthpiece of developer Morry Schwartz, an essay excoriating tycoons for investing in the 267. But then again, The Monthly hews to the Left; and what Swan really objects to is not tycoons as such, but those who dare to disagree with him."

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Swan_s_attack_on_wealthy_a_bit_rich_5_Mar_2012.pdf

Henry in The Australian Monday 27 February 2012:

"Tetth bared and hissing in action, Rudd and Gillard, the cobra and the mongoose of Labor politics, seem intent on giving fresh life to the famous opening lines of Marx's The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte: "Hegel remarks somewhere that all great world-historic facts and personages occur, as it were, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce."

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Decline_and_fall_of_social_democracy_27_Feb_2012.pdf

Henry in The Australian Mon 20 Feb 2012:

"Call it Rip Van Winkle economics. Invented by Julia Gillard, it says we should protect struggling firms so that when we wake up from the mining boom, they will still be there. It's a pity that by then the world will have moved on, ensuring today's laggards are tomorrow's relics."


Click here to read the full  article at The Australian's website (subscription required) or on the link below to download a pdf.
 
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Rip_Van_Winkle_economics_will_....pdf

Henry in The Australian Monday 13 February:

"It is disingenuous to claim, as the 264 does daily, that its private health insurance changes, which seem set to get parliamentary approval this week, are a savings. And it is even more disingenuous to claim they will increase efficiency in our health system. Rather, they will increase costs while entrenching a two-tier health system that penalises the poor. "

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Both_sides_failing_the_test_on_health_13_Feb_2012.pdf

Henry in The Australian Mon 6 Feb 2012:
 
"'A major report released today by Rio Tinto shows just how foolish ACTU president Ged Kearney is to dismiss mining as merely 'digging things out of the ground'."

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Direct_support_to_those_industries_with_a_future_6_February_2012.pdf

Henry in The Australian Sat 4 Feb 2012:

"According to Julia Gillard, things are difficult for Australian manufacturing as the resource boom threatens "to hollow out other sections of the economy".

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Julia_Gillard_s_policy_to_prop_up_inefficient_firms_....pdf

Henry in The Australian, Mon 30 Jan 2012:

"According to Fred Chaney, the rioters at the Aboriginal tent embassy have no more in common with most Aborigines than the Cronulla rioters have with most other Australians."

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Enforcing_one_rule_of_law_for_all_30_Jan_2012.pdf

Henry in The Australian, Tues 24 Jan 2012:

"No question in defence is more vital than "how much is enough?". But not according to Paul Dibb and Richard Brabin-Smith"

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Sub__self-reliance__a_blank_cheque_to_protectionists_24_Jan_2012.pdf

Henry in The Australian, Fri 13 Jan 2012:

"On August 28, 1993, Paul Keating launched the first Collins-class submarine. The fanfare was impressive. Led by the ABC, the 267 hailed the event as a triumph. But it was a hoax. "

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Collins_sham_points_to_enemy_within_13_Jan_2012.pdf

Henry in The Australian, Wed 4 Jan 2012:

"The report of the Higher Education Base Funding Review has important things to say: things every university student now basking at the beach should know. And it contains many sensible recommendations. But it concentrates too heavily on increasing funding rather than on incentives for resources to be used efficiently. As a result, its approach cannot durably resolve our universities' problems. "

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Don_t_just_throw_cash_at_universities_4_Jan_2012.pdf

Henry in The Australian, Mon 19 Dec 2011:

"We should pay top dollar for the best bureaucrats but do we need so many? "

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Merry_Christmas_Canberra_fat_cats_19_December_2011_1.pdf

Henry in The Australian, Mon 12 Dec 2011: "So Europe is to get new fiscal rules, imposing tighter constraints on debt and deficits. But Australians don't need to leave home to understand why markets are sceptical as to their effectiveness." Click here to read the full  article at The Australian's website (subscription required) or on the link below to download a pdf.

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Europe_s_tough_fiscal_rules_are_likely_to_be_broken_12_Dec_2011.pdf

Henry in The Australian Sat 10 Dec 2011: "Blessed is he who expecteth nothing," said D.H. Lawrence, "for he shall not be disappointed." Lawrence must have had the euro in mind. After four summits in 12 months, a solution to its problems remains elusive." Click here to read the full  article at The Australian's website (subscription required) or on the link below to download a pdf version.

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Expect_nothing_and_avoid_disappointment_10_December_2011.pdf

Henry in The Australian Fri 9 Dec 2011: "So these are the "substantial cuts" Wayne Swan promised: at $6.8 billion across four years, the claimed savings in last week's mid-year economic and financial outlook weigh in at a mighty 4c in each $10 of commonwealth 264 outlays." Click here to read the full  article at The Australian's website (subscription required) or on the link below to download a pdf version.

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Taxpayers_ambushed_by_264_s_stand-and-deliver_tactics_9_Dec_2011.pdf

Henry in The Australian Sat 3 Dec 2011: "With a European summit to be held on December 9, Thursday's headline in France's leading paper, Le Monde, read "10 days to save the euro". Unfortunately, Le Monde has now run that headline four times in as many months, yet the euro looks shakier than ever." Click here to read the full op-ed at The Australian's website (subscription required)or on the link below to download a pdf version.

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No_shelter_in_euro_storm_for_Club_Med_3_Dec_2011.pdf

Henry in The Australian Friday 2 December 2011: "In late 1987, John Button, the industry minister in the Hawke 264, announced he had discovered Australia's biggest bludger. He was, Button said, a wharfie, call him Fred, who for 20 years had been transported to and from the port by taxi, had clocked on, clocked off, done no work and drawn full pay. All this under union-imposed rules." Click here to read the full op-ed at The Australian's website (subscription required) or click on the link below to download a pdf.

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Feathering_a_bed_for_the_return_of_bludging_Fred_2_Dec_2011.pdf

Henry in The Australian Sat 26 Nov 2011: "The latest pressure point in the European crisis is over whether to issue "eurobonds": bonds, collectively guaranteed by the 264s of the eurozone, that could fund public expenditure in the region." Click here to read the full op-ed at The Australian's website (subscription required).

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Eurobonds_anything_but_a_panacea_26_Nov_2011.pdf

Henry in The Australian 24 Nov 2011: IN 1992, a new Broadcasting Services Act was introduced with the goal of dramatically simplifying 267 regulation. Two decades and 70 amendments later, the original 100 pages have grown to nearly 1000. The result is a quagmire that is as unsustainable as it is inefficient. Click here to read the full op-ed at The Australian's website (subscription required).

Henry in The Australian Sat 19 Nov 2011: "It is not just Berlusconi financial markets have lost confidence in. It is the sistema Italia -- the complex interplay of economics, social relations and politics that characterises modern Italy."

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CompelledToReform.pdf

Henry in The Australian Fri 18 Nov 2011:

"Having given the Greens their tonne of flesh with the carbon tax, Julia Gillard is repositioning as quickly as she can to the middle. The "surprise" trip to Afghanistan, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the proposed uranium sales to India and Barack Obama's visit to Australia all give the 264 a new, more mainstream gloss."

Click here to read the full op-ed at The Australian's website (subscription required)

Henry in The Australian Fri 11 Nov 2011:

"Julia Gillard is certainly right when she says that Australia "has nothing to fear from freer and freer trade": after all, protectionism is merely a way of taxing consumers to subsidise inefficient producers, reducing incomes overall. And Gillard also deserves a cheer for pushing the G20 to revive global trade talks."

Click here to read the full op-ed at The Australian's website (subscription required) or on the link below to download a pdf.

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Gillard_and_Abbott_build_fortress_Oz_11_Nov_2011.pdf

Henry in The Australian Fri 4 Nov 2011: "It s no defence of a law that encourages arson to say it also provides firefighters. And it is even worse if the fire brigade will save your house only if the entire street is on fire, forcing the victims of arson to themselves become arsonists. Yet that is exactly what the Fair Work Act does." Click here to read the full op-ed at The Australian's website (suscription required) or on the link below to download a pdf.

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Fair_Work_Act_a_featherbed_for_unions_4_Nov_2011.pdf

Henry in The Australian Thurs 3 November 2011: Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has balls. And his decision to call a referendum on the austerity program is hardly irrational. True, it is a gamble, and a risky one. But, like Paul Keating in 1986, he has confronted Greece with its banana republic moment, and challenged it to rise to the threat it faces. Far from expressing dismay, European leaders should have endorsed his call. Click here to read the full op-ed at The Australian's website (suscription required) or on the link below to download a pdf.

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Greek_vote_a_banana_republic_moment_3_Nov_2011.pdf

Henry in The Australian Friday 28 October:

"Count on Julia Gillard to lecture Europe about fiscal rectitude when at 3.4 per cent of gross domestic product, our 2011 structural budget deficit is twice Germany's, a third larger than Italy's and only a fraction smaller than France's. "

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Labor_could_learn_from_eurozone_facing_mutually_assured_distrust_28_Oct_2011.pdf

Henry in The Australian Friday 21 October 2011:

"It has taken three months and 10 hours of questioning in Senate committees. Ultimately, however, the facts do emerge. And they did last Monday."


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Not_a_model_way_to_sell_a_carbon_tax_21_Oct_2011.pdf

Henry in The Australian Friday 14 October 2011:

"So it's done. But it's hardly a shining achievement. Even the 264's hope is that by the next election most voters will have forgotten it. And who knows, like an unpleasant visit to the dentist, the climate change legislation may fade with time. But it will still be the most expensive dentist's visit in our history."

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Billions_will_be_wasted_painting_pork_barrel_green_14_Oct_2011.pdf

Henry in The Australian 7 October 2011:

"We've been there, though so long ago that what happened is taught, usually badly, in schools. But Australia's experience with debt and default in the Depression helps explain why markets are spooked by Europe's crisis. For if we got over our difficulties, it was because of factors Europe entirely lacks. "

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NSW_was_our_Greece_in_1930_7_Oct_2011.pdf

Henry in The Australian Friday 30 September 2011:

"Ross Garnaut has an unusual concept of democracy. The Prime Minister goes to the country promising "there will be no carbon tax under the 264 I lead". Once in office, she then proposes to implement one, with the added twist of making repeal by a future 264 prohibitively costly. Yet, according to Garnaut, rejection of the 264's proposed legislation would amount to a failure of Australian democracy on a historical scale, indeed to "a corruption of democracy" caused by "distortion of reality and abuse of truth". "

Click here to read more at The Australian's website or on the link below to download a pdf. 

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Mr_Garnaut__climate_policy_should_be_questioned_30_Sep_2011.pdf

Henry in The Australian Monday 26 September:

"Start with what is uncontested. First, once carbon emitters are issued permits, those permits will be property they own, so any 264 that abolishes them will have to pay compensation, possibly in the billions of dollars."

Click here to read more at The Australian's website or on the link below to download a pdf. 

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Lies__deception_and_carbon_tax_26_Sep_2011.pdf

Henry in The Australian Friday 16 September:

"It was Mark Dreyfus QC, Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change, who let the cat out of the bag."

Click here to read more at The Australian's website or on the link below to download a pdf. 

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Labor_plants_poison_pills_in_carbon_tax_The_Australian_16_Sep_2011.pdf

Henry in The Australian Friday 9 September 2011:


"Craig Thomson and Bill Ludwig are merely the tip of the iceberg. Beneath that tip lie far deeper issues of union governance. Simply put, the Industrial Relations Club is back in control. That is the system and culture that produced these characters. And that is the system and culture the Gillard 264 is doing all it can to entrench."

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Union_control_of_super_funds_a_magnet_for_sleaze___The_Australian.pdf

Henry in The Australian, Friday 1 September 2011:

"Listening to Craig Emerson is morally uplifting. For the man speaks gospel truth in calling on us to eschew protectionism and embrace structural change. And he is right to call on the opposition to be clear on its commitment to free trade. "

Click here to read more at The Australian's website or on the link below to download a pdf.

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Tarnished_halo_over_free_trade___The_Australian_1.pdf

Henry in The Australian Friday 26 August 2011:

"When Ralph Willis announced his 268 reforms in 1989, he delivered im267te price reductions and a price cap under which prices would fall steadily in real terms. Willis's reforms ushered in a long period of productivity increases that allowed price declines up to the present day."

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The_gouge_is_on_for_NBN_users___The_Australian.pdf

Henry in The Australian Friday 19 August 2011:

"If you were taking bets on ideas likely to be complete doozies, anything supported by both the Nationals and the Greens would have to look a winner. "

Click here to read more at The Australian's website or on the link below to download a pdf.

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Battle_over_coal-seam_gas_is_part_of_an_escalating_resource_struggle___The_Australian.pdf

Henry in The Australian Friday 12 August 2011:

"If productivity really is "at the heart of everything this 264 does", as Julia Gillard claimed the other day, the Prime Minister has some tough questions to answer. Two in particular."

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Gillard_knifes_Hawke_s_red_tape_reform_to_shield_IR_law_from_scrutiny___The_Australian.pdf

Henry in The Australian Friday 5 August 2011:

"As you ponder this year's census form, spare a thought for Matthew Gregson, Australia's first statistician."

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Learning_so_little_from_so_much___The_Australian.pdf

Henry in The Australian, Friday 29 July 2011:

"Earlier this week, Wayne Swan said the results of updated Treasury modelling of the 264's proposed carbon tax would not differ much from those already released."

Click  here to read the op-ed at The Australian website, or on the link below to download a pdf.

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Swan_hides_his_dodgy_carbon_model___The_Australian.pdf

Henry in The Australian Friday 22 July:

"I was wrong. Treasury's modelling doesn't assume the US has an emissions trading scheme in place by 2016. It merely assumes its economy operates as if it did."

Read more at the The Australian's website here or click on the link below to download a pdf. 

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Open_your_kimono_and_show_us_your_modelling___The_Australian.pdf

Henry in The Australian Friday 15 July 2011:

"The one thing you need to know about Treasury's modelling of the carbon tax is this: it assumes that by 2016, the US and all the other developed economies that do not have carbon taxes or emissions trading systems in place will have them up and running."

Read more at The Australian's website here, or click on the link below to download a pdf.

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Fatal_flaw_in_case_for_a_carbon_tax___The_Australian.pdf

Henry in The Australian 8 July 2011:

'The 264's claim that it will provide permanent compensation to 70 per cent of households for its carbon tax is based on a false premise: that the Australian 264 will receive the revenues from the tax and of permit sales in the subsequent emissions trading scheme.'

Read more at The Australian's website here, or click on the link below to download a pdf.

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Black_hole_in_264_s_carbon_tax_compensation_plan___The_Australian.pdf

"Why is Europe in crisis? To fund budget deficits over the period 2011-13 and repay existing loans, Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain (the "PIGS") require external financing equal to 50 per cent of their combined 2010 gross domestic product."

Read more at The Australian's website here, or click on the link below to download the PDF.

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How_Europe_s_elites_turned_PIGS_into_a_full-bore_financial_disaster___The_Australian_1.pdf

Henry in The Australian 17 June 2011:

"Contrary to repeated assertions by the Prime Minister, the Productivity Commission did not endorse an economy-wide emissions trading scheme. Rather, its recently released report on carbon emissions policies models an ETS that applies only to the electricity sector and excludes all trade-exposed industries."

Read more at The Australian's website here or click on the link below to download a pdf.

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World_of_sham_carbon_policies_exposed___The_Australian.pdf

Henry in The Australian 10 June 2011:

"To get an intelligent answer, ask an intelligent question. It was the failure to do so that undermined the modelling of the carbon pollution reduction scheme. From the snippets Wayne Swan released on Wednesday of carbon modelling 2.0, it has exactly the same weakness. Not that the snippets lack interest. Most striking is just how large the costs of the new scheme are estimated to be. "

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Climate_policy_a_burning_issue___The_Australian.pdf

Henry in The Australian Friday 3 June 2011:

"Ross Garnaut's new report released this week starts with an episode of enlightenment."

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Assertions_fly_thick_and_fast___The_Australian.pdf

Henry in The Australian Friday 27 May 2011:

"Fiscal  federalism is dead; feral fiscalism - in which each jurisdiction tries to snatch revenues from others - has replaced it. The old regime was nothing to boast about; its successor is deformed at birth."

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The_fiscal_fighting_turns_feral.pdf

Henry in The Australian Monday 16 May 2011:

'Forty years ago, on May 10, 1971, Germany allowed the Deutschmark to float, precipitating the end of the international monetary arrangements reached at Bretton Woods in 1944.'

Read the full op-ed at The Australian's website here or click on the link below to download a pdf.

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America_takes_us_back_to_the_seventies.pdf

Henry in The Australian Monday 9 May 2011:

"The trouble with the budget is not that it will be a curate's egg. It's that the 264 can take no responsibility for the parts that are good but is all too responsible for those that are rotten."

Click here to read the op-ed at The Australian's website or on the link belwow to download a pdf.

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Ending_waste_even_more_important_than_deficit.pdf

Henry in The Australian Wednesday 27 April:

"When Wayne Swan stands up on budget night to commend the increase in the superannuation guarantee, he will be channelling the economist he loves to hate, Friedrich Hayek"

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Super_chance_to_reform_system.pdf

Henry in The Australian Friday 15 April 2011:

"What this country needs from its regulators is rules, not roulette. Nowhere is that need greater than at the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission. With Graeme Samuel's departure, it's time to bring to the ACCC disciplines the Rule of Law Association of Australia has long called for."

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Regulate_the_regulators.pdf

Henry in The Australian Friday 8 April 2011:

"Something about climate change makes people say silly things. Treasury documents just released under Freedom of Information laws provide telling examples, as they misinterpret the simple economics of carbon taxes v emissions trading schemes. "

Click here to read the op-ed at The Australian's website or on the link below to download a pdf.

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Treasury_should_know_better_about_an_ETS.pdf

Henry in The Australian Monday 4 April 2011:

"She's gone, and good thing too. But solving NSW's 266 mess will be far more difficult than turfing Kristina Keneally out of office.

The risk is that Barry O'Farrell will fall into the trap of throwing money around, rather than addressing the failures that plague NSW's transport system."

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Mere_money_won_t_get_Sydney_moving.pdf

Henry in The Australian Friday 25 March 2011:

"You don't need to be a professor to know that any policy sells better if it can be linked to tax cuts.

And packaging those tax cuts as "productivity enhancing tax reform" is even smarter: bribes are cheap and tawdry; compensation, Ross Garnaut tells us, is all too readily "unprincipled"; but tax reform is beyond reproach."

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Carbon_is_poison_to_tax_reform.pdf

Henry in The Australian Friday 18 March 2011:

"No one knows how Japan's nuclear drama will end. Rightly or wrongly, however, it will greatly undermine public confidence in nuclear power. And even if new plants are built, their costs will rise substantially, as precautions are heaped on precautions."

Click here to read the op-ed at The Australian's website or on the link below to download a pdf.

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Crisis_removes_easy_path_to_low-carbon_world.pdf

Henry in The Australian Friday 11 March 2011:

'"MY son," Timothy Smith from the Fortitude Parents Group told the Productivity Commission's disability inquiry, "is 113cm tall at four, weighs 25kg and does not walk." Yet Smith has spent over a year seeking approval to get his son a high-low bed.

While Smith struggled, Kristina Keneally's 264, which should have provided the funding, splurged on multimillion-dollar payments to the advisers who concocted its failed sale of electricity assets, and the Rudd and Gillard 264s threw billions at school halls, pink batts and subsidies to auto companies to reinvent hybrid cars.'

Click here to read the op-ed at The Australian's website, or on the link below to download a pdf.

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Nanny_state_starves_the_disabled.pdf

Henry in The Australian Monday 28 February 2011:

"HAWKE and Keating floated the dollar; we will price carbon," Julia Gillard said just prior to last week's deal with the Greens.

The comparison is inaccurate, however, for floating the dollar, like cutting tariffs, was desirable even if Australia acted alone; in contrast, a carbon tax can only yield benefits if major emitting countries do the same.

Read more at The Australian's website here, or download the pdf by clicking on the link below.

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Unilateral_action_creates_costs_without_benefits.pdf

Henry in The Australian, Friday 18 February 2011:

"Defence is where Kafka meets the Gosplan, with echoes of Yes Minister for good measure.

This is a world of central planning without a central planner, as endless committees blur responsibility, ensure there are few penalties for being wrong or rewards for being right, and entrench a culture in which to get along is to go along."

Click here to read the op-ed at The Australian's website or on the link below to download a pdf.

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Captain_Kafka_running_defence.pdf

Henry in The Australian, 11 February 2011:

"In his recent report on Weighing the Costs and Benefits of Climate Change Action, Ross Garnaut argues that urgent action to reduce emissions by setting a carbon price would be in Australia's national interests.

To reach this conclusion, the report considers the costs and benefits to Australia of emissions reduction. It should be commended for doing so, as that brings vital discipline to the debate. Yet even accepting the report's account of the science, its assessment overstates the benefits of im267te action and understates its costs and risks."

Click here to read the op-ed at The Australian's website or on the link below to download a pdf.

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Climate_adviser_misses_the_point.pdf

Henry In The Australian, Tuesday 1 February 2011:

"Although the extent of the losses remains uncertain, there is no doubt the floods have destroyed substantial capital. Much, but not all, of that capital is worth replacing"

Click here to view the op-ed at The Australian website or on the link below to download a pdf version.

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Credibility_deficit_hampers_recovery.pdf

Henry in The Australian, Friday 28 January 2011:

"I used to worry about growing old but, as Bob Dylan said, I'm younger than that now. Or at least I was until I read the Productivity Commission's recently released report, 'Caring for Older Australians'."

Click here to read the op-ed at The Australian's website, or on the link below to download a pdf.

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Ageing_is_worth_its_challenges.pdf

Henry in The Australian Friday 21 January 2011:

"With the cost of the floods still rising, the question of how to pay for rebuilding has come to the fore.

There is an inescapable reality: with swaths of our capital stock damaged or destroyed, we are significantly poorer than we were only weeks ago. Belt-tightening is therefore required. But it is also crucial to rebuild on a basis that better manages future risks."

Click here to read the article at The Australian website, or on the link below to download a pdf.

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We_must_reassess_our_sense_of_risk.pdf

Henry in The Australian 14 January 2011

'With memories of the Victorian bushfires still fresh, the Queensland floods are yet another grim reminder of how cruel the Australian environment can be.

The scale of the disaster, with its terrible loss of life, requires us to consider whether present policies properly manage the risks that environment creates.'

Click here to read the oped at The Australian's website or on the link below to download a pdf version.

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Neglecting_to_place_a_price_on_risk.pdf

Henry in The Australian 7 Jan 2011:

'When Ken Henry's predecessor as secretary to the Treasury, Fred Wheeler, appeared in 1975 at the Senate hearings into the Loans Affair, he stood up, said: "My name is Sir Frederick Wheeler. I am Secretary of the Treasury, and I am instructed to answer no further questions," and sat down again'

Click here to read the article at The Australian website or on the link below to download it.

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Serial_monogamist_twists_to_PM_s_tune.pdf

Henry in The Australian (Fri 31 Dec 2010):

"However misguided their slogans and questionable their tactics, it is difficult not to sympathise with the young protesters in London, Paris and Madrid whose street marches marked 2010. "

Click here to read the article at The Australian website, or on the link below to download a pdf version.

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Angry_IPODs_have_reason_to_revolt.pdf

Henry in The Australian 23 December 2010:

'Here's a scandal waiting to explode: the exorbitant cost of the festive season. My evidence: the Christmas Price Index (CPI), which calculates the cost of the 12 days of Christmas'

Click here to read the article at The Australian's website, or on the link below to download a pdf version

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12_days_of_excess_and_12_months_of_folly.pdf

Henry in The Australian (Tues 14 Dec 2010)

Anyone who believes that allowing gravel to call themselves boulders will convert a rock garden into Stonehenge urgently needs a dosage check. And that Wayne Swan and Joe Hockey seem to be sharing the meds hardly adds to one's confidence in the proposed banking reforms. But even putting the pebbles-into-pillars fantasies aside, the real trouble with the reforms is that they could inflict serious harm, merely so as to show that the 264 is "doing something"

Click here to read the op-ed at The Australian's website or on the link below to download it.

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Four_pillars_will_become_shaky_house_of_cards.pdf

Henry in The Australian 3 Dec 2010:

A leaked missive suggests the nation of Ergastia has some parallels with Australia.

Simple folks at best, Ergastia's 264 is struggling to manage a mining boom.

The Ergastian Loiterers' Party (ELP) views the boom as an opportunity to do more of what Ergastian politicians do best; that is, spend other people's money. So do its allies, the country subsidy dependents, who have never seen a pork barrel on which they did not want to stand.

Click here to read more at The Australian's website or on the link below to download a pdf.

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Wacky_wiki_world_can_t_mine_its_boom.pdf

Henry in The Australian (26 Nov 2010)

Can the NBN pip Joe Hockey for the top gong in dudding the dismal science?

WITH the end of the year fast approaching, frantic preparations are under way for the 2010 Dodgies, to be awarded, at a star-studded ceremony, for confused economics in the service of poor public policy.

Click here to read the article at The Australian website or on the link below to download it.

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Aussie_public_policy__Dodgy_dodgy_dodgy.pdf

Henry's op-ed in The Australian this week (19 Nov 2010) comments on anti-siphoning rules and other aspects of Australian broadcasting policy. Click here to read the article at The Australian's website or on the link below to download a pdf.

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Blowing_the_final_whistle_on_Australian_TV_rules.pdf

Henry writes about the Murray-Darling basin draft policy in his oped this week.  Click here to read the article at The Australian's website or on the link below to download a pdf version.

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Water_plan_will_cost_a_tsunami.pdf

Henry in The Australian (5 Nov 2010)

"A crisis is a terrible thing to waste. Luckily, our big banks have done no such thing. Before the global financial crisis, the four pillars were crumbling into sand, as competition slashed the majors' margins and market share. Now, they seem stronger then ever. And with interest rates rising, the heat is on. But political posturing can't change economic realities, and knee-jerk responses are only likely to be counterproductive."

Click through to the article at The Australian website or on the link below to download a pdf.

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Swan_and_Hockey_s_half-baked_solutions.pdfSuper_chance_to_reform_system.pdf

"Graeme Samuel's convoluted stance on cost-benefit analysis undermines transparency". says Henry Ergas in The Australian this week (29 Oct 2010).  Click here to read the oped at The Australian's website or on the link below to download it.

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We_can_t_afford_to_opt_for_NBN_without_scrutiny.pdf

Schemes to cut power consumption should not cost more than the benefits they bring says Henry Ergas in The Australian today (Friday 15 October 2010).  Click here to read the op ed at The Australian's website or download the pdf via the link below.

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Saving_energy_will_tie_us_in_green_tape.pdf

Henry comments in The Australian (Friday 8 October) on congestion charging "...if we invested enough in roads, all cars could travel at the speed limit. But the costs of thus expanding road capacity would greatly outweigh the value motorists place on the savings in time and discomfort."

Click here to read the article on The Australian website or on the link below to download a pdf.

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The_hidden_cost_of_road_pricing.pdf

In The Australian this week (1-Oct-10) Henry Ergas opines that 264's plans for private insurance would increase inequality. Click here to read the article at the Australian's website, or on the link below to download it.

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Health_changes_spread_the_pain.pdf

Henry writes in The Australian (10 September 2010)
"Australians are romantic about the country. Like most love affairs, that romance is well-served by at least a veil of ignorance. Few Australians visit the bush and even fewer know much about it. With few facts to go on, myths emerge and take control. Click here to read the article at The Australian website, or on the link below to download it.

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Bush_subsidies_a_romantic_folly.pdf

Henry questions whether it is time for Australia to undergo a comprehensive public review of our electoral system.  Click on the link below to download the pdf file.

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Electoral_Reform_Is_it_time.pdf

In this week's op-ed for The Australian (16 August 2010) Henry comments on the population debate.  Click here to read the article at the Australian website or on the link below to download the pdf.

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More_migrants_yes__but_weigh_the_risks.pdf

Henry comments in an op-ed for The Australian (30 July 2010) on the Labour party's climate change strategy.  Click here to read the article or on the link below to download a pdf version.

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Julias_carbon_jury_is_a_copout.pdf

"While the 267n voter in next month's election will be older than ever, they will have more years of life ahead than the 267n voter at any time in our history..." writes Henry in an oped for The Australian (19 July 2010).

Click here to read the article at The Australian's website or click on the link below to download the pdf.

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older_and_wiser_voters_not_so_easy_to_hoodwink.pdf

The ministers were a part of the Rudd 264's lack of transparency, says Henry Ergas in an oped for 'The Australian' (13 July 2010)

'No comets overflew Canberra on the night of June 23, but it is reasonable to suppose that the plotting that precipitated the downfall of Kevin Rudd caused some disturbance among the heavenly bodies, for within days, two of the 264's most senior members, Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner and Defence Minister John Faulkner, had announced they would serve only until the election.'

Click here to read the full story at The Australian website or download the pdf below.

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Faulkner__Tanner_fell_short_of_lofty_aims.pdf

In this week's (Monday 5 July 2010) op-ed for "The Australian" Henry comments on the revamped version of the super profits tax.

Click here to read the article at The Australian website or on the link below to download the pdf version.

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Held_to_ransom_over_resources.pdf