On February 25th, the Australian Institute for Progress hosted a forum with the theme “Queensland: 2015 and Beyond” at the Queen’s Arms in New Farm, Brisbane.
Topic: News
It shouldn’t be too hard to explain why spending must slow
In 1996, when Pauline Hanson was asked on 60 Minutes if she was xenophobic, she replied: “Please explain?” It was an intelligent question from a poorly read person to a smart-arse journalist.
Baird’s asset test
Privatising assets didn’t cost Newman his election. Ignoring basic politics did.
There was no government in waiting in broke Queensland
The real result from the Queensland election is that drovers’ dogs will occupy the Treasury benches for the foreseeable future. There was no government in waiting, just a bunch of kids waiting their turn.
Qld Labor’s Fiscal Strategy
The Queensland Labor Party went to last year’s election without a credible fiscal strategy. This is our assessment at the time. We will update our position after the treasurer delivers his budget on Tuesday, July 14, 2015.
Open letter to Anthony Chisholm
Dear Anthony,
Facts not fictions
Queensland-based policy think tank the Australian Institute of Progress, has called for a truthful election campaign, saying the choices facing Queenslanders were too important to permit political fictions and misinformation.
Activists should pay taxes
The High Court decision 'overturns 90 years of Australian law, swinging the pendulum quite to the other end, in that it recognises that engaging in public debate is a public benefit in itself'.
Memo to G20: trade is the key to beating poverty
Why are we still arguing about this? If “98 per cent” of “climate scientists” agree the climate is changing (not a hard thing to agree on, given the thesis is so vague), why can’t we just accept that trade is the key to poverty decline? Relative poverty, something which only becomes a political issue once a society heads beyond a threshold, is not as important in the third world as absolute poverty. Inequality, pro-growth and other such distractions are noise, which keep the West’s values held high, and the most impoverished and vulnerable within their economic confines.
Queensland’s assets are too important to trust to the government
Next year’s State Election is shaping as a referendum on the LNP Government’s privatisation agenda. But as well as asking whether they want state assets leased, voters should also ask whether last century’s government ownership model is still the best way to deliver services.