The value of Melbourne’s foodbowl to the regional economy is significant: Melbourne’s foodbowl accounts for more than 1.7 million hectares of agricultural land, consisting of a mix of enterprises, most notably vegetables, poultry, dairy and livestock production. It contributes $2.45 billion per annum to the regional economy of Melbourne . The value under future scenarios...

Examines the future of domestic gas across the interconnected eastern-Australian gas market. Executive Summary Following on from our research into “domestic gas” demand specific to New South Wales, the University of Melbourne Energy Institute (MEI) have examined the future of domestic gas across the entire interconnected eastern-Australian gas market. Dramatic changes in the eastern- Australian...

Overview The North East Gas Interconnector (NEGI) is a proposed gas pipeline between the Northern Territory and the eastern states. The project is strongly endorsed by gas companies, the Territory government and governments in other states, but analysis is lacking as to the actual benefits to Territorians and the rest of Australia. While there is...

Overview: Poor implementation of a policy to get better value for PBS spending is costing government $320 million a year and raising questions about pharmaceutical industry involvement in drug pricing. The therapeutic group premium policy, introduced in 1998 to stop the government wasting money on over-priced drugs, has been so watered down that it is...

This note provides an elementary introduction to the measurement of welfare gains from the introduction of a new good, based on the concept of the ‘virtual price’ and standard expressions for welfare changes arising from price changes. Introduction Any attempt to measure changes in living standards using an income or consumption based welfare metric faces...