Senator Stephen Conroy, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, has asked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to review Telstra Corporation Limited’s (Telstra) price control arrangements and has called for public submissions. The ACCC is to report by 12 March 2010 and the ACCC has asked for written submissions by 12

Energy market reform and greenhouse policy are complex areas of public policy. It is unlikely that those who designed the current RET/CPRS set out to encourage coal mines to burn their waste methane rather than use it to generate electricity, but that is precisely what is being proposed. This problem can be simply fixed by

The final report from the Productivity Commission into executive remuneration does not recommend any far-reaching changes that will address the excessiveness of executive pay in Australia. However, various policy options are available to rein in executive pay, including: removing the tax concession on capital gains; increasing the top marginal rate of income tax; and, establishing

We are constantly told that ‘nano’ science and technology are going to revolutionise our lives – but what does this really mean? This paper aims to introduce and engage its audience in the experiment that is nanoscale sciences and technologies, particularly from the perspectives of consumer and environmental protection and occupational health and safety. By

This paper reveals that Australian workers are ‘donating’ more than their annual leave entitlement back to their employers in the form of unpaid overtime. The typical full-time employee in Australia works 70 minutes of unpaid overtime a day. This equates to 33 eight-hour days per year, or six and a half standard working weeks. Something

Australian households are throwing out more than $5 billion worth of food each year, more than Australians spend on digital equipment, and more than it costs to run the Australian Army. In addition to the direct financial costs of this waste, the environmental impact associated with excessive greenhouse gas emissions and water use is substantial.

In its submission to the Do Not Call Register Statutory Review, The Australia Institute argues that the current system of regulating unwanted telemarketing calls needs to be overhauled in recognition of the continued nuisance caused by telemarketing. The Do Not Call Register should be extended to cover all unsolicited telemarketing calls, including those that are

Report analysing Australian tax treatments. The paper concludes with a number of suggestions for reform, principally: · eliminating the 50 per cent discount · incorporating all pre-1986 assets · deemed realisation of assets on death · including owner-occupied housing above a certain value.

This paper aims to explore the efficiency, equity and environmental case for removing upfront costs of car ownership (such as registration fees and stamp duties) and replacing them with ongoing, user-based charges (such as fuel excise and mileage-based insurance).

This piece is a comparison between a phone surveying and an internet surveying, costing $56,000 and $6000, and lasting one month and six days respectively. The participants were common in sex, state/territory, country of birth, working status, highest level of education, household income and area of residence; and only had marginal differences in age. As

Agricultural emissions are a significant source of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions yet they will be excluded from the initial stage of the Rudd Government’s proposed CPRS, with a view to incorporating them from 2015. This paper examines Treasury’s modelling of the likely impact of the CPRS on the agricultural sector and finds it could be

Coal-fired power stations comprise the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Australia, accounting for 36 per cent of total emissions in 2008. Any determined effort to tackle what Prime Minister Rudd has referred to as the ‘moral challenge’ of climate change would presumably seek to reduce emissions from that source significantly. The proposed Carbon

Australians will face longer journeys and more frequent gridlock if some tough decisions are not made to tackle city congestion problems. A number of cities around the world, such as Singapore, London and Milan, have introduced successful pricing schemes to reduce road use. This paper explores the case for a congestion charge, with time-of-day pricing

Since 2005, the great majority of Australian workers have been able to choose their own superannuation fund. While some people have taken advantage of greater choice in super, for many people choice is actually a burden. Widespread lack of engagement with superannuation means that competition in this sector is structured around intermediaries (like financial advisers)

Examines the experience of Australian women during recent recessions in order to construct a framework within which the policy response to the current recession can be assessed and improved. The recessions of the early 1980s and the early 1990s are examined and compared with the brief experience so far of the present recession.

This paper examines Australia’s attitudes to climate change in the region under the two most recent federal governments. The Howard Government’s engagement with the region profoundly influenced understandings of Australia’s role in a climate-changed Pacific. During its time in office, the realities of climate change were largely denied, the Pacific was portrayed as volatile and

While the Commonwealth will receive a windfall of more than $10 billion per year in revenue from auctioning pollution permits, state and local governments will transfer more than $2 billion a year to the Commonwealth Government. In addition, the states will be liable for tens of billions of dollars-worth of expenditure associated with adapting to

The perception of most Australians is that the mining boom delivered unambiguous benefits for the Australian economy, including more jobs, exports, tax revenues and, for the majority of people, higher incomes. But was this the case? This paper looks more closely at the extent to which Australians have, in fact, benefitted from the boom, which

The goal of sustainability has been a dangerous and destructive distraction for both citizens and policy makers concerned with the development of a society that protects our natural environment and promotes the wellbeing of our citizens. This paper argues that the goal of sustainability needs to be abandoned in all but its broadest metaphorical sense.

Short-term capital gains have always been taxed as income in Australia but gains on assets held for more than a year were first taxed in 1986 under the Hawke/Keating tax reforms. Pre-1986 assets were exempted and housing was not included. Gains on post-1986 assets were taxed in full but indexation applied. The Howard/Costello Government abolished

In responding to the release of the recent Productivity Commission (PC) draft report into paid parental leave, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd stated: ‘This Australian Government believes the time has come to bite the bullet on this and we intend to do so’. He did not however commit to addressing the issue before the 2009 Federal

Superannuation tax concessions have long been a bone of contention for the welfare sector, which views them as redistributing scarce resources away from low-income earners towards the secure and privileged well-off. This has created a political battleground, with the welfare groups lining up against the super industry represented most notably by ASFA. Reform options are

The arguments for a higher Newstart Allowance or unemployment benefit include the fact that the unemployed have a low propensity to import and to save and are geographically distributed across the country. There is the added virtue of helping to address an increasing problem of horizontal equity, the notion that those in a similar financial

The international debate on climate change is heavily influenced by notions of fairness and justice. One of the most important principles referred to internationally is that of polluter pays. The most common interpretation of polluter pays is that national targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions should be based on the level of emissions

This Discussion Paper reviews the former Government’s ‘Choice of Fund’ policy and proposes a range of improvements to the way default superannuation funds are chosen.