Australian budget

By Leith van Onselen A fortnight ago, ACCC chairman Rod Sims warned state governments against accepting unsolicited bids for infrastructure projects: “The ACCC considers that state governments should only award new toll road concessions through a competitive bid process, and not following an unsolicited proposal unless there is a truly compelling reason,” Mr Sims said.

By Leith van Onselen As if the extortionate fees charged by Sydney Airport wasn’t bitter enough, NSW taxpayers will now hand over $170 million to the Airport for the privilege of paying $2.6 billion to build the 2 kilometre Sydney Gateway roadway in order to funnel more passengers and parking to said Airport.

Via S&P: Our price assumptions for iron ore are unchanged.

By Leith van Onselen Desperate to keep the East Coast property bubble going, the Turnbull Government last year passed legislation to allow first-home buyers (FHBs) to use up to $30,000 of voluntary super contributions for a housing deposit.

By Leith van Onselen A day after the Centre for International Studies’ (CIS) released ‘research’ lamenting that the top fifth of taxpayers are subsidising the bottom 60%, the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) has warned that lower to middle income earners are facing a big lift in their tax burdens over the next decade.

By Leith van Onselen Robert Carling from the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) has released research lamenting that the top fifth of taxpayers are subsidising the bottom 60%.

By Leith van Onselen Prime Minister Scott Morrison will scrap the Coalition’s policy of lifting the age for accessing the Aged Pension from 67 to 70: “Next week, cabinet will be ratifying a decision to reverse taking the pension – the retirement age – to 70,” he told Chanel Nine’s breakfast program Today.

Cross-posted with permission from Professor Ross Garnaut: The government’s retreat from tax cuts for big business provides an opportunity to take a fresh look at corporate tax reform.

By Leith van Onselen Over recent years, we’ve witnessed a veritable conga-line of Australian politicians going into well-paid private sector jobs after politics – often in the very industries that they used to regulate.

By Leith van Onselen The new South Australian (SA) Liberal Government clearly has plans to turn SA into a ponzi state.

By Leith van Onselen Back in April, Four Corners aired a joint investigation with Fairfax on the Australian Tax Office’s (ATO) alleged bullying of small businesses.

By Leith van Onselen When the National Broadband Network (NBN) arrived in my area in late 2016, residents were greeted with a barrage of junk mail advertisements from all manner of internet service providers offering competitively priced internet at fast speeds.

By Leith van Onselen Late last year, the Turnbull Government implemented university funding reforms to make it harder for students to access the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) for courses that have poor employment prospects, thereby effectively ending the demand-driven university system established by the Gillard Labor Government.