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Archived news for May 2012 | Recent news
Abbott faces stiff challenge in fighting carbon tax
With one month to go before the carbon tax starts, Tony Abbott's effort to repeal it is about to get harder. Following the GST's implementation,...
Voters strain at paying for even small carbon cuts
The carbon tax and similar measures involve us making sacrifices to forestall what the government says will be catastrophic human-induced climate...
The unhappy compromise of European 'austerity'
Has austerity worked in Europe? Well, if "austerity" means savage cuts to government spending, then there has been no austerity. Figuring out...
Great expectations vanish
The federal budget was entirely predictable. The dodgy accounting. The flimsy "surplus". The higher taxes on the wealthy. The bribes to the...
We can't stop climate change - it's time to adapt
The release of the Productivity Commission's draft report into climate adaptation at the end of last month could have been a spark that changed the...
Despite the tough talk, spending is on agenda
Victoria's Budget documents lay into the previous government's spending profligacy. They point out that spending has outpaced state product for...
Nudge nudge, wink wink, nanny soaks the poor to fatten the budget
As the "beer up, cigs up" headlines of yesteryear illustrate, governments have long imposed taxes on consumer products as a quick fix to plug...