Population growth has been the subject of much public discussion in recent times. However, widespread misconceptions about the pace, characteristics and implications of population growth means that much of this debate has not been as well informed by the facts as the topic deserves. To enhance public understanding, in December 2010 the Commission released a...

The Coalition has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by five per cent on 2000 levels by 2020. It proposes to achieve this target with a "Direct Action Plan": a competitive grant scheme that would buy greenhouse gas reductions from businesses and farmers. Over the past decade various Australian governments have announced more than seven...

In many areas of Australia, demand for groundwater now exceeds sustainable supply rates. Groundwater trading aims to encourage the efficient allocation of scarce water access between competing users. This report sets out a management framework for groundwater trading that provides a structure to establish or develop groundwater markets in a range of situations. It builds...

The annual Australian water markets reports provide statistics that summarise activity in Australian water markets, together with information on water market structures. The aim of this synthesis report is to analyse trends in market activity (how much water is being traded and where), as well as the drivers influencing market outcomes (why is water being...

In this address to the session 'Managing the Growth Shock' at the Economic and Social Outlook Conference in Melbourne on 30 June 2011, Gary Banks discusses the role for policy in the current mining boom. "Australia’s past reform successes have generally been founded on a clear understanding of problems warranting policy solutions. Where policy initiatives...