The author discusses the merits of open source software and the counter-arguments of corporate interests, and concludes that Australia should be wary of extending its intellectual property law.

The St Vincent de Paul Society's recent paper, The Reality of Income Inequality in Australia, warns of Australia's 'current headlong dash into the chasm of inequality'. In his response Peter Saunders shows this claim is grossly exaggerated. The Vinnies' report argues that there has been 'a very significant shift to greater inequality' of disposable incomes...

The deep divide between the tiny elite minority in Papua New Guinea who enrich themselves at the expense of the vast majority of ordinary people will continue to grow with disastrous consequences unless the Australian government's new Enhanced Cooperation Programme (ECP) is fully restored and Australian police return to Papua New Guinea. Helen Hughes and...

This paper outlines the need for change across all areas in remote Aboriginal communities: health, housing, education, employment and training, governance, Land Councils, business and funding. It sets out the policy reforms needed to reduce deprivation in remote Aboriginal communities.

Many government spending programmes do some good, but the question posed in this new research paper is whether they do more good than the harm they cause. Alex Robson demonstrates that every dollar the government raises in tax has a cost. He calculates the total deadweight loss of taxation could be as high as $61...