This discussion paper asserts that to rebuild the trust that is at the heart of the Australian democratic enterprise, Australia needs a Royal Commission if we are to discover how and why war crimes were committed in Afghanistan, and put in place fail-safe procedures that will prevent their re-occurrence.

Compared to other Australian states, Tasmania has weaker political donation laws, less government transparency and limited public accountability. This report recommends that the Tasmanian government undertake significant, rather than piecemeal, reform in 2021, to ensure the people of Tasmania have confidence in their democracy and their elected officials.

The Morrison Government’s decision to reduce the rate of JobSeeker by $150 from January 2021 will push an additional 190,000 Australians below the poverty line—including 50,000 children—and have a devastating impact on low income families, argues this paper.

This discussion paper asserts that the Morrison Government’s 'gas-fired recovery' will not assist Australia’s manufacturing industry, arguing that increasing gas production is likely to benefit gas exporters, not the manufacturing industry.

This paper outlines a comparison of the impact on employment of child care expenditure and income tax cuts of an equivalent net cost to the budget. The paper argues that the clear superiority of childcare expenditure in stimulating economic activity reflects the concentration of the benefit on a cohort with much greater capacity for labour...