The Budget is an opportunity for the Government to inform the Parliament, and therefore the broader public, about matters including: the expected performance of the international and Australian economy the Government’s economic and fiscal strategy specific policy decisions the Government has made. Budget Night is typically the most important annual policy statement by the Government.

Overview: With preparations for the Defence White Paper 2015 well underway, both government and the public are probably more interested than usual in the esoteric topic of Australia’s strategic policy. In this paper, the author unpacks some thoughts about that by talking most about how strategic policy is—ideally—made. Making strategic policy means solving a puzzle...

This audit assessed the effectiveness of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s management of initiatives to supply low aromatic fuel to Indigenous communities. Overall conclusion Through the Petrol Sniffing Strategy (PSS), the Australian Government has supported initiatives to reduce the incidence and impact of petrol sniffing in remote Indigenous communities since 2005. The...

Overview: Super tax concessions are increasingly being used by high income earners as a way of minimising their tax. This is not their original purpose. They were designed to encourage people to save for their retirement so they would be more self-reliant and less dependent on taxpayers. 80 per cent of those who are of...

Overview: The government has claimed there are no alternatives to its budget vision and called on the senate crossbenchers to stop blocking its budget measures or find alternatives that stack up. This paper aims to do just that. In order to help the government out and shift debate back to good budgetary policy, The Australia...