September 2024
- Opinion
- Driverless cars
Why is Australia stuck in the slow lane on driverless cars?
Australian regulations put a far higher bar on robot drivers than human ones. That makes little sense when it’s likely that the tech is already safer.
November 2023
- Opinion
- Infrastructure
Fix local roads first, to dodge the infrastructure potholes
Taxpayers would get better bang for their buck if the federal government spent an extra $1 billion on improving local roads rather than building new megaprojects.
October 2023
- Opinion
- Carbon challenge
No matter who collects EV revenue, we have to charge smartly
EVs are clean, cheap to run, and could encourage more driving. That will be a test for state governments, which can no longer set road user charges.
February 2023
- Opinion
- Tax deductions
Overhaul fuel tax credits to put carbon price on burning diesel
The tax orthodoxy of not taxing business inputs shouldn’t apply to an input that harms the community.
November 2022
- Opinion
- Infrastructure Summit
End cherry-picked business cases to level infrastructure playing field
What do Suburban Rail Loop, Inland Rail, and East Coast High Speed Rail have in common? A lenient discount rate that helps them appear to stack up on economic grounds.
August 2022
- Opinion
- Electric vehicles
Feds should pave way for gold standard road user charges
Regardless of what the High Court decides, fuel excise duty should be killed off quickly and give way to a smarter way to pay for roads.
July 2022
- Opinion
- Infrastructure
Anthony Albanese should take his own advice on infrastructure
Both parties are happy to wave off scrutiny of their pet projects by Infrastructure Australia. There are good reasons for that to change.
November 2021
- Opinion
- Rail
High-speed rail dreaming is a fast track to nowhere
Giving a leg up to the numbers on wish-list projects simply sidelines better ideas that might pass the cost-benefit test.
September 2021
- Opinion
- Climate policy
Don’t give electric cars a free ride on road to net zero emissions
State governments should impose per-kilometre road user charges on greener vehicles that still cause harms such as accidents and congestion, and hog public space.
October 2020
- Opinion
- Infrastructure
Big gains from fixing old stuff instead of new mega-projects
Clearing the maintenance backlog is a productivity opportunity neglected because politicians prefer to cut ribbons on major infrastructure initiatives.