Budget Policy
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.
19 March 2020
COVID-19: The economic rescue package must target households as well as businesses
Two policies should form the centrepiece of Stimulus Two: wage and rental relief for businesses, and cash for affected workers. It will be costly and controversial, but it must be done.
18 March 2020
COVID-19: Let’s enlist childcare workers as nannies for health workers
It’s an unusual plan, but we are living in unusual times. Here’s why it makes sense, and how it could work.
18 March 2020
Talking straight on COVID-19: the economic effects will be ugly
The Government needs to produce a second stimulus package, and quickly. Here’s what it should look like.
12 March 2020
The Prime Minister’s stimulus message: go hard, go early, go business
The Federal Government has generally made the right calls in its $18 billion package. But it must stand ready to do more, in the likely event that coronavirus containment measures such as the widespread closure of schools and workplaces are enacted.
11 March 2020
Recession is nearly inevitable. The question now is how deep and how long
We must ensure that no worker exposed to coronavirus avoids going into isolation because they fear they can’t afford it. In these circumstances, cash handouts are both an economic and a public health measure.
13 February 2020
Vested interests, money, and the democratic deficit
Australia needs to bridge the growing gulf between citizen and state, starting with new rules of engagement in the ‘grey zone’: where economic power is converted into political influence.
4 February 2020
How big money influenced the 2019 federal election
The latest political donations data release exposes significant vulnerabilities in Australia’s democracy. Here’s what we should do to fix the system.