Pitch Engine

Australia needs a six-month GST holiday

ShutterstockTreasurer Josh Frydenberg has spent billions trying to save us from recession. The winding down of JobKeeper scheduled for September means he’ll have to spend billions more...

Marriage and money help but don't lead to long-lasting happiness

ShutterstockWe live in a culture that values “experiences”. These are often promoted in the media, and by those selling them, as vital to enhancing our well-being. We all know bi...

It's one thing to build war fighting capability, it's another to build industrial capability

ShutterstockAmid fanfare last week at the start of the new financial year the government promised to invest A$270 billion over a decade to upgrade the defence force.It said a side benefit wo...

Big Tobacco's decisive defeat on plain packaging laws won't stop its war against public health

ShutterstockAfter a decade of legal challenges by the tobacco lobby, Australia’s pioneering push to eliminate all tobacco advertising finally has clear air.Its longest stoush, over pla...

Memo to Australia's states: try renovating your tax system before asking for a new one

ShutterstockA major report commissioned by the NSW government has proposed lifting and expanding the goods and services tax and replacing stamp duty with a broad-based land tax.Launched at t...

The market is not our master — only state-led business cooperation will drive real economic recovery

www.shutterstock.comLike the coronavirus itself, joblessness can act as a pestilence on a society. People who would have otherwise gone to their local restaurant, hairdresser, café or...

The spending splurge matters, regardless of what modern monetary theory says

ShutterstockThe Australian government is planning to spend A$190 billion to support the economy in response to COVID-19, according to the latest Parliamentary Budget Office estimate. The tot...

Vital Signs: Stamp duty is an economic drag. Here's how to move to a better system

ShutterstockFor all the things we don’t know about COVID-19 one thing is certain: our economic recovery will depend on boosting productivity. Everyone from the Reserve Bank of Australi...

Politics with Michelle Grattan: two leading economists on Australia's post-COVID economy

With three months before JobSeeker is due to end and calls for billions of dollars in extra spending, there is a growing debate about how Australia’s post-coronavirus economy will actu...

UniSuper take note: there's no retirement on a dead planet

ShutterstockHESTA, the industry super fund for health and community workers, plans to dump its shares in thermal coal mining companies.Beyond that, its Net Zero by 2050 program announced on ...

The sun is setting on unsustainable long-haul, short-stay tourism — regional travel bubbles are the future

www.shutterstock.comUnprecedented border closures and the domestic lockdown have paralysed New Zealand’s $40.9 billion a year tourism industry. In the process, the vulnerability of the...