Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries are entrusted with the conduct of public business and must act in a manner that is consistent with the highest standards of integrity and propriety. The public, quite rightly, has high expectations of them, in terms of their personal conduct and decorum.

This paper focusses on the processes involved in responding to a costing or budget analysis request.

One focus of this paper is on the fiscal incentives faced by state governments and how these incentives cause regulatory problems. This suggests reforms to the federation, worthwhile for many reasons, will also assist in cutting back Australia’s red tape burden.

The 2017 Tax Expenditures Statement lists 289 tax expenditures and, where possible, provides an estimate of the dollar value or order of magnitude of the benefit to taxpayers.

Australia has fallen six positions on the international Corruption Perception Index since 2012, and recent polling shows 85% of Australians think there is corruption in federal politics.