The Queensland Commission of Audit Final Report: A Critical Review
The establishment of a Commission of Audit has been a routine measure for newly elected conservative governments since the election of the Kennett government in Victoria in 1992. Most notably, Peter Costello, Treasurer in the incoming Howard government, appointed a commission headed by Professor Robert Officer, a leading free-market economist. The primary stated task of these Commissions, as implied by the name, is to review the current and forecast condition of public finances and to make recommendations for improvement. In reality, however, the primary function has been to justify cuts in public expenditure and other policy changes. In most cases, these policy changes have not formed part of the platform on which the newly elected government campaigned and, in many cases, they represent a direct repudiation of election promises.
A care union in a time of austerity
In Australia, the community sector has historically been ‘on the edge’ in terms of the challenges that confront it even in good times. The new ‘welfare austerity’ and the ever-growing incursion of the New Public Management have, however, intensified these challenges. As is the case elsewhere in the world, abolition, cost-cutting and outsourcing of government services are forcing private sector care providers to do more with less, impacting negatively on client welfare, service delivery and employees’ pay, conditions and working environments. This article examines challenges facing the care sector in the state of Queensland and their impact on a key ‘care union’, The Services Union. Analysis of these challenges and the union’s responses makes a conceptual contribution to the role of unions in the web of care that binds together citizens – including employees, those who manage care organisations, and care recipients, their families and their advocates.
Complements or Substitutes? Taxation, Social Welfare and Labour Market Regulation: An Industrial Relations Perspective on the ‘Five Economists’ Plan
The purpose of this paper is to critically appraise the assumptions and proposals put forward in the Five Economists' plan to change the balance between social welfare, taxation and labour market regulation. The core theme developed here is that the proposal is based on questionable assumptions about the nature of employment relationships and labour market processes. An alternative framework is advanced. Using the Dutch case, it is argued that a more appropriate balance between these policy instruments, which requires an account of the distribution of risk between workers, firms and the state, provides a better theoretical basis on which linkages between taxation, social welfare and labour market regulation can be recast. ‘Let me say, at the outset, that you should be sceptical of anyone who suggests that there are any easy solutions. Solutions which most economists would agree could enable a return to “full employment” or very low unemployment, are either socially or politically unacceptable, or we do not know how to Implement them. The best solution is to achieve a large increase in the rate of economic growth.’ (Dawkins 1996: 16)