Budget Policy

29 June 2020

Australia urgently needs an economic transition plan for the next 6-to-12 months

So far, Australia’s COVID-19 responses have been among the best in class. But the next big test for our leaders is rebuilding the economy and creating jobs.

11 June 2020

How to improve JobKeeper

The Government should move to upfront payments, expand the scheme to cover temporary workers and short-term casuals, introduce a separate part-time payment rate, and act quickly to avoid the looming fiscal cliff.

22 May 2020

How do you lose $60 billion, and where does this leave Australia?

We need to understand the assumptions that produced those spectacularly flawed JobKeeper numbers, and where the reality differed, if we are to understand the scheme and its success or otherwise.

14 May 2020

Beware the fiscal cliff: why Australia urgently needs an economic transition plan

Transitioning the economy from emergency settings to business as usual will not be easy, but there’s no imperative to do it suddenly.

30 April 2020

Don’t expect a V-shaped recovery after the pandemic

The longer this economic downturn goes, and the worse it gets, the less likely the labour market can spring back afterwards.

27 April 2020

Childcare won’t remain free after the pandemic, but it should be reformed

Here’s an affordable proposal that would support the post-crisis recovery and enable women who want to increase their paid work to do so.

26 April 2020

Cautiously reopening schools will be a lifeboat for families and the economy

As long as it is done carefully, a staged return to school will help students, especially the disadvantaged, and parents, especially mothers.

31 March 2020

COVID-19: The PM’s $130b wage subsidy scheme gets marks for scale and substance

It’s not perfect, but it should give Australia a fighting change of weathering the worst of the economic fallout of the coronavirus crisis.

30 March 2020

COVID-19: New OECD estimates suggest a 22% hit to Australia’s economy

The size of the economic shock Australia faces points to the need for governments to provide substantial further support to cushion the blow.

27 March 2020

The case for a rent holiday for businesses on the coronavirus economic frontline

Businesses on the economic frontline need immediate help to get through the COVID-19 crisis. And rent is the biggest barrier to survival.