21 Jan2011

We must reassess our sense of risk

Posted in Op eds

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
14 Jan2011

Neglecting to place a price on risk

Posted in Op eds

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
07 Jan2011

Serial monogamist twists to PM's tune

Posted in Op eds

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
31 Dec2010

Angry IPODS have reason to revolt

Posted in Op eds

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
23 Dec2010

12 days of excess and 12 months of folly

Posted in Op eds

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
14 Dec2010

Four pillars will become shaky house of cards

Posted in Op eds

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
03 Dec2010

Wacky wiki world can't mine its boom

Posted in Op eds

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
26 Nov2010

Aussie public policy? Dodgy, dodgy, dodgy

Posted in Op eds

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
05 Nov2010

Swan and Hockey's half-baked solutions

Posted in Op eds

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
09 Oct2010

The hidden cost of road pricing

Posted in Op eds

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
10 Sep2010

Bush subsidises a romantic folly

Posted in Op eds

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
13 Jul2010

Faulkner, Tanner fell short of lofty aims

Posted in Op eds

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
05 Jul2010

Held to ransom over resources

Posted in Op eds

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
29 Jun2010

We'll pay dearly for this NBN folly

Posted in Op eds


Henry comments on the NBN deal in his op-ed for The Australian this week (28 June 2010):

EIGHTEEN months ago, Telstra proposed risking $10 billion of its shareholders' money building a high-speed broadband network. After that bid fell over, the 264, dizzy with its success in the polls, decided to build a fibre network of its own. Why? Because, Kevin Rudd said at the time, the alternative would have been to pay Telstra "billions of dollars in compensation".

Click here to read the full article or click on the link below to download the pdf.

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We_ll_pay_dearly_for_this_NBN_folly.pdf
18 Jun2010

Kevin 7/11 needs to think long term

Posted in Op eds

Kevin 7/11 needs to think long term.

In this week's (18 Jun 2010) op-ed for The Australian Henry clarifies and explains the problems with the 264's proposed resource super-profits tax.  To read the full article at The Australian website click here or download the PDF below.

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11_needs_to_think_long_term.pdf
28 May2010

About the rent we're charging

Posted in Op eds


In this week's (28 May 10) op-ed for The Australian newspaper Henry explains some key concepts about the proposed mining tax, mooted changes and their possible impacts.

Click here to access the article on The Australian website or download the pdf below.

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About_the_rent_we_re_charging.pdf
21 May2010

Big risks require bigger returns

Posted in Op eds

This week Henry's opinion piece for "The Australian" is a review of the recent McKinsey/KPMG study on the National Broadband Network:

"The recently released McKinsey/KPMG study on the National Broadband Network is 534 pages long. How many times does it say the NBN is worth doing? Not once. As postmodernists say, read the silence."

Click here to read the full article on The Australian website or download the pdf file below.

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Big_risks_require_bigger_returns.pdf
16 Apr2010

Robbing Peter to pay Paul's doctor

Posted in Op eds

In his opinion piece for The Australian (Fri 16 Apr) Henry says:

"No one would dispute that health reform is difficult. But that is not why the commonwealth 264's proposals are inadequate. Rather, it is because they do not say, in an honest and transparent way, how we will pay for health care in the long run, how it will be provided, and within what constraints."

Click here to read the full article or download the pdf below.

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Robbing_Peter_to_pay_Paul_s_doctor.pdf