National affairs
12 May 2015
Tonight’s federal budget will formalise the government’s backdown on indexation of pensions but preserve the impact of lower indexation for many families, writes…
National affairs
5 March 2015
A serious message has been swamped by politics in this latest attempt to model the next forty years, argues Tim Colebatch in Canberra
National affairs
5 August 2014
The post-budget debate reveals two fundamentally different worldviews, writes Peter Whiteford
National affairs
28 April 2014
Would increasing the pension age be fair and effective? Peter Whiteford looks at the Australian and international evidence
National affairs
17 April 2014
If the rumours are correct, the federal government is considering a complex but far-reaching change to pension payments, writes Daniel Nethery
National affairs
9 April 2014
New Zealand has reacted to proposed changes to Australian social security law by raising discrimination concerns with Canberra, writes Peter Mares
National affairs
10 February 2014
Figures from the past two decades challenge the view that the welfare budget is out of control, writes Peter Whiteford, and help us understand the likely impact of future…
National affairs
4 June 2013
Contrary to what many commentators claim, Australia has the lowest level of middle-class welfare in the developed world, writes Peter Whiteford
28 April 2013
The renowned director’s new film, which uses the socialist mood of 1945 to assail the world Margaret Thatcher created, is bad history and worse politics, says David Hayes
National affairs
12 July 2011
Peter Whiteford assesses the government’s package of compensation measures
National affairs
11 July 2011
Australia redistributes more to the poorest fifth of the population than virtually any other OECD country, writes Peter Whiteford
National affairs
12 May 2011
We need to be clear about the nature of the problem before judging the value of new measures, writes Peter Whiteford
National affairs
7 December 2010
Since 1996 Newstart for a single person has fallen from around 54 per cent to 45 per cent of the after-tax minimum wage, writes Peter Whiteford. It isn’t enough to live on
National affairs
6 October 2010
The expanded Education Tax Refund should be on the list of election promises up for reappraisal, writes Daniel Nethery
National affairs
2 March 2010
It’s not so much the size of government spending that counts – it’s the quality, writes Brian Toohey