This Month
‘This is the speech we’ve been waiting for’: Chalmers lights reform hopes
A new sense of optimism was palpable in Canberra after Jim Chalmers’ speech this week and it’s not just about tax reform.
The family ‘trauma’ behind Ken Henry’s views on native forest logging
The practice is a “dead parrot” costing the NSW budget $30 million a year. The former Treasury boss says it’s time to transition out.
Henry tells Chalmers to stop ‘fiddling’ and launch into tax reform
The Albanese government could raise a $50 billion tax on fossil fuel exports and up the GST to lower company and income taxes, the former Treasury head argues.
Influential or ‘enfeebled’: Has Treasury lost its mojo?
With high government spending, low productivity, and no tax reform in 25 years, an uncomfortable question is being whispered in Canberra.
April
Think you pay too much tax? Not according to this measure
Australia has the fourth-highest income tax in the world, according to the OECD. But adding in other employment taxes puts us is in the middle of the pack.
March
Chalmers rules out any more income tax cuts
The treasurer has rejected giving working-age people further relief from bracket creep and ruled out broader tax reform in the next term of government.
February
Forget rate cuts. Fixing tax could make us much richer
Politicians continue to obsess over the ups and downs of interest rates and neglect the real stuff that could make us materially better off.
‘Punishing’ tax system breaks budget law, ‘mugs’ the young: Henry
The former Treasury secretary has blasted Jim Chalmers and past treasurers for breaking the budget laws by failing to manage financial risks from an eroding tax system.
November 2024
This will be Allegra Spender’s top demand in a hung parliament
A minority Labor or Coalition government should implement serious and lasting changes to the taxation system to help workers get ahead and families own a home, the teal independent says.
Taxing fossil fuels better than Future Made in Australia, Ken Henry says
The proposal backs a similar fossil fuel export tax on commodities such as coal and gas put forward by former Hawke Labor government advisers Ross Garnaut and Rod Sims.
September 2024
How business and economists can become relevant again
A central problem is that good economic policies have not been well communicated and have often been debated in an echo chamber of elites.
August 2024
Welcome to the nature positive investing movement
Institutional investors see natural capital as the next force in corporate governance, with big implications for companies growing and selling food.
June 2024
Treasury is addicted to income tax to fund spending
Virtually everyone is protected by the government from inflation eroding their real incomes, except the humble wage earner.
May 2024
Tax inertia pushes budget towards a black hole
Redesigning the tax system against the principles of fairness, efficiency, sustainability and coherence would deliver us all with an economic dividend.
April 2024
Former Labor minister calls for major tax shake-up
The nation “relies too much on personal income tax and corporate income tax” and “there are limits to the sustainability of that”, the OECD’s tax official and former Labor minister David Bradbury says.
Henry demands billions for nature repair market
The economist wants a public fund to spur corporate involvement in “nature-positive” land protection.
States back demands for tax reform review
State and territories have swung their weight behind a Ken Henry-led push to review and overhaul a “mess” of state and federal spending responsibilities
Tax review to avoid an ‘intergenerational tragedy’
Incremental change is a waste of time. Ken Henry says someone has to grab this thing and get on with it.
‘Young people have been screwed’ on tax: former Treasury boss
Ken Henry has warned the social compact with workers shouldering a rising tax burden faces an “existential crisis”, unless reformers can persuade the public for major changes.
February 2024
The 4½-hour podcast you’re missing out on
Spotify says Gen Z want shorter podcast episodes and more lighthearted content, but that hasn’t stopped others listening to 4.5-hour epics featuring Ken Henry.