This paper seeks to lay out the evidence for and against increasing the rate and broadening the base of the GST in terms of the GST’s relative efficiency, equity and revenue raising capacity. Overview The Commonwealth Government has run underlying structural deficits for 8 years and the outlook remains rather pessimistic in terms of revenue...

Summary The housing market has been the driving force behind the NSW economy’s recent resurgence – driving dwelling investment, generating wealth and catalysing household consumption growth. The first half of the year saw the median house price in Sydney breach the million dollar mark. Even though annual house price growth was recorded at 12.8% in...

Stable and affordable housing, with access to jobs and services, is fundamental to support employment and wellbeing by enabling social and economic participation in society. However, as pointed out by the Affordable Housing Taskforce, “by a range of indicators, there is a housing affordability issue facing NSW which is particularly acute in Sydney and other...

House price rises have underpinned the continuation of positive headline economic results over the past year or so, flowing onto other areas of the NSW economy, in particular residential construction. Summary The continued surge in house prices was the major story to come out of the State economy in the Winter quarter. During the Spring...

Brings together a number of the core issues related to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement, and includes NSW trade statistics with TPP member nations. Introduction After 19 rounds of negotiations that began in Melbourne in 2010, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement – which includes 30 chapters of provisions – was concluded in Atlanta on 5...