Recent publications in IPA Backgrounder
The Easy Guide to the Republic Proposal
On 6 November 1999, the Australian people will be asked whether to amend the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia so as to replace our current constitutional monarchy with a republic with a President chosen by Federal Parliament.
Risk Assessment and Decision Making for Genetically Modified Foods
The introduction of genetically modified foods has been accompanied by a level of concern in Europe which was not seen in the United States. This is seen as reflecting both a different cultural appraisal of risk, sensitised by the 'mad cow'...
Who's ABC? The ABC, Staff Capture and the Obstacles to Accountability
As this IPA Backgrounder shows, the ABC provides a case study of the problems of public ownership.
ABC TV News and the 1998 Waterfront Dispute: Reporting or Barracking?
In 1998, the ABC’s coverage of the MUA/Patrick waterfront dispute—the most contentious political issue of the year—led to allegations of bias, most notably by Senator Richard Alston, the...
The End of the Overpopulation Crisis?
Over the past half century, the ‘population explosion’ has been presented as a grave threat to humanity. But as different apocalyptic predictions have failed to eventuate, the justifications have shifted,...
From Welfare State to Transfer State
The last 40 years have seen great changes in the role of government in Australian life. During that time, expenditure on government transfers— income support, health, education and welfare services—has grown...
Odd Bedfellows: The Economic Nationalists and Why They Are Wrong
Economic nationalism, if adopted in whole or in part, has the potential to do great damage to the Australian economy. It is based on a series of errors and fallacies which would greatly hamper the ability of most Australian households and firms to...
Betraying the Victims: The 'Stolen Generations' Report
The seriousness of the ‘stolen generations’ issue should not be underestimated, and Aborigines are fully entitled to demand an acknowledgement of the wrongs that many of them suffered at the hands of various...
Whither Labor?
This Backgrounder argues that Labor’s drive for economic reform began to stall by 1989 and that the electorate had grown tired of the difficult issues involved in that reform. Consequently, a gap opened up in public dialogue...
Soaking the Poor: Discriminatory Taxation of Tobacco, Alcohol and Gambling
Soaking the Poor is an apt description of the effects of very high taxes on a narrow range of products that tend to represent a greater share of the consumption of the less well-off. The taxes lift fully 10 per cent of the income of the poorest...
Browse by category
- All categories
- Biotechnology
- Civil Society
- Culture & Liberty
- Deregulation
- Economics
- Education
- Energy
- Environment
- Foreign policy
- Governance
- Health Policy
- Housing
- Indigenous affairs
- Industrial relations
- Intellectual Property
- Media
- Political parties
- Political process
- Social Policy
- Technology
- Telecommunications
- Trade policy
- Water
- Work Safety