MRC Reports and Submissions

The risk of future exogenous shocks cannot be avoided. On the contrary; experience suggests there will be more, each one unexpected in form and timing. Yet the risk can be lowered though mitigation, adaptation and prudential measures to ensure we have the resources to deal with the next shock when it comes.

By abolishing negative gearing, Labor is imposing a sin tax on thrift. It will significantly increase the tax burden of the middle class while having relatively little effect on wealthy investors.

FROM INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH TO FINANCIAL MUSCLE

How did the union movement become richer while it membership was declining? And how does advent of cashed-up, quasi-incorporated super-unions alter the industrial and political equation? We examine the transformation of the movement’s shape and purpose in the past 25 years. Unions are not, as they portray themselves, champions of the poor. They are powerful special interest groups acting chiefly in the interests of well-heeled professionals.

The trade union movement claims that an increasing number of workers are being forced into insecure jobs, depriving them of workplace rights and the security of a stable pay-cheque. The ACTU’s solution to this imagined crisis is to re-regulate the labour market, reversing 20 years of largely bi-partisan reforms that began in the mid 1980s. Evidence from around the world shows this would be a disaster for the economy, and for workers.

STRIKES UNLIMITED: THE CATASTROPHIC COST OF MILITANT UNIONS

Strikes have a destructive flow-on effect across the economy, diminishing investment and employment prospects in other sectors. This Report explores how Australia’s hard-won reputation as a stable economy would be gleefully trashed in pursuit of better wages and conditions for an elite few.

Does a case exist for a “sugar tax”? The Greens, the Australian Medical Association and various other public health enthusiasts from around the world say it does. The MRC commissioned the economists at Cadence to investigate the veracity of the research behind this proposal. Five papers from Australia and one from Mexico, all published in the past two years, were analysed. Their findings were underwhelming, to say the least. There is little or no evidence that this tax has any effect on either or consumption or public health.

Australia's energy crisis is entirely government made. It is arguably the most expensive policy failure in our lifetime. Fixing this mess will not be easy. It will require federal, state and local governments to focus on the national interest. Most of all, it will require that the market is left alone to balance supply and demand and to pass on the benefits of Australia's abundant sources of energy to consumers. An inefficient energy market puts a handbrake on the economy.

How bad policy drives up the cost of electricity

This statement of national challenges commissioned by the Menzies Research Centre identifies the obstacles in the path of national progress and outlines a range of scenarios as the nation approaches the third decade of the 21st century.

This paper updates the Gender and Politics report released in 2015. It attempts to provide empirical evidence of the extent and nature of the gender imbalance in politics, discuss its consequences and construct an intellectual and philosophical framework to address the disparity based on Liberal principles. This paper draws from the Menzies Research Centre’s Gender and Politics Forum held in Melbourne on 26 June 2015. It was presented to the federal Women’s Committee Conference in Adelaide on 15-16 August 2015, convened to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the establishment of the Committee.

The report recommends mandating a third of independent directors and an independent chair on all superannuation fund boards should be a minimum requirement.

Launched by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on 1 March, the report suggests “specific visa classes be developed to encourage workers from Pacific Island nations to come to Australia to fill skills shortages, particularly in areas such as aged care, tourism and agriculture”. As well as the visa proposals, the report makes three other recommendations: more funding for the Australia-Pacific Technical College to match up graduates with industry sectors in Australia experiencing shortages; accreditation of recruitment and labour agents; and access to Australian welfare for any new permanent visa holders equivalent to what New Zealand citizens receive

Anti-alcohol campaigners have wildly exaggerated the cost of social damage caused by alcohol to justify punitive taxes and stricter regulation. In fact, the widely circulated claim that alcohol costs the community $36 billion a year appears to have no basis in fact. Such wowsernomics, which are subjective rather than scientific, are no foundation on which to base good public policy.  In an independent review of the industry (commissioned by the MRC), Cadence Economics has found that claims such as the enormous financial cost to the community are based on rubbery economics and questionable evidence. The review has revealed the temperance lobby has all but ignored the social, economic and health benefits of moderate drinking.Amongst the review findings are that the alcohol industry contributes an estimated $15.6 billion to the economy (including $2.2 billion in exports), $6.5 billion in taxes and direct or indirect employment for 126,000 Australians.

The billions of taxpayers dollars spent on schools since the original 2012 Gonski Review would have been better targeted at improving teaching standards and directly assisting disadvantaged families, according to a new paper by an influential policy think tank. This paper argues the $30 billion school funding boost committed to by the Gillard Labor government was not capable of lifting Australian education results, as recent international standardised testing had demonstrated.

Restoring Order and Competition into the Construction Industry

This report was prepared by Nick Cater and Nicolle Flint for the Menzies Research Centre as a contribution to the renewed discussion of the gender imbalance in the Liberal Party. It draws on discussion at the MRC Gender and Politics forum in Melbourne on 26 June 2015. It will be presented to the federal Women’s Committee Conference in Adelaide on 15-16 August 2015, convened to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the establishment of the Committee.