Grattan on Friday: Albanese leaves grim domestic scene as he flies to the blue Pacific Having a “Pre-COP” meeting in Fiji and Tuvalu is one of those initiatives that seemed a good idea at the time. The Conversation · Oct 1
Losing no-worse-off GST deal would rip 900 teachers' salaries from ACT, Steel says ACT services at risk in unfair deal, Treasurer says. The Canberra Times · Sep 26
Productivity boss hits out at 'schoolyard name calling' Derided as "East Coast clowns", the head of the productivity commission has savaged WA Premier Roger Cook for his "schoolyard" attack. AAP · Sep 23
Danielle Wood’s blunt message to politicians: don’t undermine public trust by attacking institutions Productivity Commission chair Danielle Wood has bluntly warned governments not to undermine public trust by “playing politics with our institutions”. The Conversation · Sep 23
Australia’s female economists have been making history for nearly 150 years. It’s time we knew their stories Some of Australia’s most powerful policy institutions are now being led by female economists. The Conversation · Sep 14
Grattan on Friday: economic life won’t get much better until Australians climb that productivity mountain Treasurer Jim Chalmers would have sighed with relief at this week’s economic growth figures. Despite some preview talk of possible stagnation, we saw modest growth of 2.1% in the year to the end of June. The Conversation · Sep 3
View from The Hill: Pragmatism holds Albanese to bad GST carve up, but Productivity Commission remains burr under saddle Anthony Albanese insists there will be no retreat from his promise that Western Australia’s over-generous slice of the GST will remain intact as long as he is prime minister, regardless of the Productivity Commission’s compelling argument for it to be scrapped. The Conversation · Aug 25
Red tape strangling efforts to tackle housing crisis Removing layers of rules and having the political will to stand up to NIMBYs are among a raft of measures put forward to fix Australia's housing crisis. AAP · Jul 27
Be bold in May budget, roundtable guests urge Chalmers It's too early to tell whether Jim Chalmers' productivity roundtable will result in meaningful change for Australia's economy. The May budget could be crucial. AAP · Feb 21
‘It matters if you have a parent with an expensive house’: how Australia’s great wealth transfer threatens faith in the fair go The massive $5.4tn intergenerational asset shift looming over the next two decades is one of the biggest challenges the country faces. What will it mean? The Guardian - AU · Feb 15
Proposal to allow use of Australian copyrighted material to train AI abandoned after backlash Productivity Commission recommends waiting three years to establish review into technology after furious response from creative industries The Guardian - AU · Dec 19, 2025
Australia’s women remain an untapped resource in the hunt for productivity Female empowerment is more than just ‘nice to have’, as I was once told in the halls of parliament. It’s good economic policy The Guardian - AU · Aug 23, 2025
Grattan on Friday: a laundry basket of reform leaves a lot of washing to be done As Jim Chalmers was navigating his economic reform roundtable, his colleague Mark Butler on Wednesday took a dive from the 10-metre board into the pool of budget repair. The Conversation · Aug 21, 2025
Instead of ‘winners and losers’, why not build an economy that’s good for all Australians? When it comes to policy decisions, too many are too quick to focus on what’s in it for them, instead of what is best for society as a whole The Guardian - AU · Aug 20, 2025
The Guardian - AU · Aug 20, 2025 How do we decide if a tax is good or bad? And which ones are ‘damaging’ Australia’s economy? Experts say stamp duties and income taxes have a much higher burden than more efficient policies, such as GST
The Conversation · Aug 20, 2025 View from The Hill: Everyone wants a slice of the productivity action It’s too early to make a judgement about how productive the government’s economic reform (also known as productivity) roundtable will be, but the fact it’s behind closed doors is making it a rather amorphous affair to follow.
The Guardian - AU · Aug 20, 2025 AI doom, nature laws and solving the housing problem: five takeaways from day two of economic reform roundtable Jim Chalmers says ‘a useful consensus’ is emerging in several key reform areas
The Conversation · Aug 20, 2025 Productivity is the buzzword of the week, but we’re not making the most of half the workforce Productivity is the buzzword at this week’s economic reform roundtable in Canberra. It’s about how effectively we turn our time, skills and resources into goods and services. Who wouldn’t want to get more done with less?
The Conversation · Aug 18, 2025 View from The Hill: Roundtable to grapple with political footballs and regulatory hairballs Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Tuesday will give the diverse collection of participants at the economic roundtable their riding instructions, as he seeks to wring as much substance as possible out of the meeting.
The Guardian - AU · Aug 17, 2025 Morning Mail: European leaders to support Zelenskyy in DC, productivity boss warns of worse-off youth, Terence Stamp dies Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be backed by a support crew at White House meeting, including Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron
AAP · Aug 17, 2025 'It's crunch time': productivity puzzle must be solved Australia must cut unnecessary red tape and boost business investment if young people are to be better off than their parents, the productivity chief says.
AAP · Jul 24, 2025 Workers could be $14,000 ahead under a growth mindset Australia's productivity tsar says Australian workers would be $14,000 better off each year in the long run if the nation treads the right path on reform.
The Conversation · Jun 12, 2025 It took more than a century, but women are taking charge of Australia’s economy – here’s why it matters For the first time in its 124-year history, Treasury will be led by a woman.
The Guardian - AU · Jun 11, 2025 Secret examination of agency running Aukus submarine program handed to government – as it happened This blog is now closed
AAP · May 18, 2025 Renewables, AI rules top productivity reform wishlist Fifteen areas have been identified for reform by the Productivity Commission, including artificial intelligence, tax reform and cheaper renewable energy.