Recent publications
Misguided Palm Oil Campaigns Won't Help Orang-Utans, But Will Harm Asia's Poor
"Misguided campaigns by the Melbourne Zoo, celebrities and activists lack understanding of why forest and orang-utans are being lost. It isn't palm oil it's poverty", said Tim Wilson, Director of the Intellectual Property and Free Trade Unit at...
The GST is a massive fat tax
Many public health activists claim that a tax on fatty food is necessary to tackle obesity. The critics of this fat tax idea point to a number of studies revealing the limitations of such a scheme. A 2005 US study of a 10 per cent fat tax on dairy...
Organic without redemption
It's official-you aren't being harmed by supermarket food. In July the UK Food Standards Agency released a commissioned report that found there are no additional health benefits from organic foods. The research found only a third of all studies...
Big fat beat up
Arnold Schwarzenegger is obese. He's been obese his entire adult life, including the seven times he won the Mr Olympia bodybuilding title. Despite obesity not impacting his own, clearly excellent, health, Governor Schwarzenegger has introduced...
Who should take the blame for the biofuels tragedy?
In Mexico early last year, 75,000 people took to the streets in protest of the increasing cost of basic grain, in what were branded the ‘tortilla riots.' In March 2008, there were food riots in Egypt. And in April, Haitians rioted over the...
Taking apart Australia
After more than two decades of economic reform there were few truly egregious examples of government sanctioned protection left to greet the incoming Rudd Government. Perhaps the most outstanding was the monopoly granted to a publicly listed...
A new single desk for Western Australia?
Submission to the ACCC interested party consultation in relation to Cooperative Bulk Handling Limited (CBH) exclusive dealing Notification N93439
Gordon Ramsay's Worst Recipes
The problem with Gordon Ramsay isn't his swearing. It's his hypocrisy. Gordon Ramsay, Britain's most notorious celebrity chef has demanded ‘stringent laws-licensing laws-to make sure produce is only used in season.' In a BBC interview in...
The politics of wheat
For purely domestic political reasons, the government takes a strongly protectionist approach to the Australian wheat industry by limiting who can export wheat in bulk, the main form for transport of grain in the international grain trade.
Wheat marketing reform
Submission to the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee Inquiry into the Wheat Export Marketing Bill 2008 and Wheat Export Marketing (Repeal and Consequential Amendments) Bill 2008