Recent publications
The market works
‘If you are offered free fruit and vegetables at the market, you know they will be rotten. If you want fresh produce, then you have to pay for it.' This observation from a Kenyan mother describes in a nutshell why millions of parents in...
Gonski school funding review risks undermining school choice
The recommendations of the Gonski Review of Funding for Schooling released today by the federal government entail great risks for school choice and private investment in education, according to the free market think tank the Institute of Public...
Education and federalism: the last line of defence
One of federalism's great virtues is that it provides a means to smaller government. Demarcated power limits the spending excesses of individual governments and provides a check to overarching state authority. The politics of Australian federalism...
New South Wales should scrap national curriculum, not delay it
The free market think tank, the Institute of Public Affairs today welcomed the decision of the O'Farrell government to delay implementing the Gillard government's national curriculum until 2013. 'This delay is welcome. But the O'Farrell...
A Letter to Peter Garrett
A letter to federal Education Minister Peter Garrett.
Australia's Forgotten Future
Professor Geoffrey Blainey speaking at the launch of Mark Lopez's The Little Black Schoolbook: Vol. 2.
A real education revolution will need (yes, you guessed it...) vouchers
The big education talk started before the 2007 federal election. The opposition, led by Kevin Rudd, said in a discussion paper: ‘Australia needs nothing less than a revolution in education.' Certainly, since November 2007 the Rudd government...
A Real Education Revolution: Options for voucher funding reform
This paper examines key aspects of potential voucher reforms for the Australian school system. The next section will discuss some of the basic mechanics of voucher funding schemes. Some potential voucher options, and their budgetary cost to...
Can free markets be as interesting as regulated markets?
Sinclair Davidson reviews The Best Book on the Market: How to Stop Worrying and Love the Free Economyby Eamonn Butler (Capstone, 2008, 172 pages) Eamonn Butler has written a marvellous little book promoting the free market. The best book on...
The intellectual gap goes to university
Following a campaign by the Australian Liberal Students Federation, a Senate committee is investigating the level of intellectual diversity at Australian universities. It is well-known that academia-and more often than not those who are university...