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Judith SloanContributing Economics Editor

Judith Sloan is an economist and company director. She holds degrees from the University of Melbourne and the London School of Economics. She has held a number of government appointments, including Commissioner of the Productivity Commission; Commissioner of the Australian Fair Pay Commission; and Deputy Chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

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MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos JUNE 30TH, 2023: The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, is in Melbourne today, visiting the Merri Community Child Care and Kindergarten. Picture : NCA NewsWire / Nicki Connolly

Universal child care would only end up on Labor’s spending pyre

Anthony Albanese has foreshadowed on a number of occasions that universal childcare will be a centrepiece of his campaign for a second term in office. My strong advice is don’t do it.

Judith Sloan

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CANBERRA, Australia - NewsWire Photos - August 12, 2024: Minister for Education, Jason Clare during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

An export industry? Uni chiefs can’t be serious on international students

The education institutions have been only too happy to enjoy the benefits of unrestricted international student numbers while inflicting the external costs on the wider community.

Judith Sloan

commentaryPolitics

CANBERRA, Australia, NewsWire Photos. May 15, 2024: The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese and Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers arrive for Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

On inflation, RBA is right; Albanese is not

The PM and the Treasurer think using massive dollops of taxpayer money to manipulate headline CPI is actually achieving the return to the stated inflation target. The RBA sees through this ruse.

Judith Sloan

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BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos - 31 JULY, 2024: Treasurer Jim Chalmers holds a press conference to address inflation data out today. Picture: NewsWire / John Gass

All care, no responsibility: Jimbonomics is failing to deliver

The one bit of good news for Labor is there is some genuine economic talent, albeit largely untested, among its parliamentarians – in particular Andrew Charlton.

Judith Sloan

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CANBERRA, Australia - NewsWire Photos - July 4, 2024: Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs, Andrew Giles during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

PM’s reshuffle puts the heat on busy Burke

Whatever way you look at it, the Albanese reshuffle was a slap in the face to Clare O’Neil and Andrew Giles. Now Tony Burke faces a huge challenge.

Judith Sloan

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Workplace Minister Tony Burke, former CFMEU Victorian boss John Setka, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

Labor doesn’t have the stomach to rein in rotten CFMEU

If the Albanese government was really seriously committed to eliminating bad behaviour in the construction industry, it would proceed with the deregistration of the CFMEU.

Judith Sloan

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TOPSHOT - BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA - JULY 13: Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he is rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. Butler County district attorney Richard Goldinger said the shooter is dead after injuring former U.S. President Donald Trump, killing one audience member and injuring another in the shooting. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Anna Moneymaker / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Why ‘Trumponomics’ will be nothing to celebrate

The policy agenda of Trump mark I was generally standard stuff. But Project 2025 is an entirely different proposition.

Judith Sloan

commentaryPolitics

A Santos Ltd. pilot well operates on a farm property in Narrabri, Australia, on Thursday, May 25, 2017. A decade after the shale revolution transformed the U.S. energy landscape, Australia — poised to overtake Qatar as the world’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas — is experiencing its own quandary over natural gas. Photographer: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg

Green hot air blows gas out into the cold

This reckless proposal demonstrates two things: the danger of top-down meddling and the fact that the Albanese government’s right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing.

Judith Sloan

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CANBERRA, Australia, NewsWire Photos. June 3, 2024: Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Labor’s FMA gambit nothing more than crony capitalism ‘on steroids’

The ALP’s Future Made in Australia is a cross between Trumpian chest-beating and old-style government picking winners.

Judith Sloan

commentaryPolitics

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 13: Woolworths and Coles supermarket signage on March 13, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. Australia's two major supermarket chains, Coles and Woolworths, have come under scrutiny for their role in the cost of living crisis in the country, with both companies significantly increasing their profits during the pandemic while consumers faced rising living costs, local media reports said. Former cabinet minister Craig Emerson is leading a government inquiry into supermarket pricing practices, while former ACCC chair Allan Fels is conducting a separate investigation in collaboration with the Australian Council of Trade, ABC News said. (Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

Threat of a big stick just might get the job done

The preferred outcome will be for the big companies to see the new provision as a threat and mend their anti-competitive ways well before any court action is needed.

Judith Sloan

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/judith-sloan/page/8