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Understanding
State elections: South Australia and Tasmania 2006 [HTML]
[PDF 203KB] The 2006 South Australian and Tasmanian elections were both held on 18 March 2006. This Research Brief looks at each election campaign and result, and discusses several features which are relevant to the analysis of Australian state elections. (22 pages) BACK to Index What's New |
A seasonal
guest-worker program for Australia? [HTML]
[PDF 299KB] Although a pilot scheme was considered and rejected by Cabinet in the context of the 2004–05 migration program, calls have continued for Australia to introduce a seasonal guest-worker program of low-skilled workers from the Pacific region. This brief looks at the issues and the arguments for and against a seasonal Pacific guest-worker program for Australia, and at what can be learned from overseas experience. (29 pages) BACK to Index What's New |
Excise
taxation: developments since the mid-1990s [HTML]
[PDF 506KB] Since the mid-1990s, the Government has made important changes to excises. The Government also proposes major changes to the excise on fuels. This Research Brief examines these changes and comments on them. On 26 March 2006, the Government introduced Bills into the House of Representatives that would give effect to proposals to change some fuel taxes and fuel tax credits that are outlined in the paper. (39 pages) BACK to Index What's New |
Liberalisation
of international passenger airline services [HTML]
[PDF 149KB] Australia's international aviation industry is heavily regulated. Whether or to what extent the segment of the industry that provides scheduled passenger airline services should be further liberalised is again being debated, a particular focus being whether more airlines should be allowed to carry passengers between Australia and the United States. This Brief contains background to the debate, and examines some related economic issues. (13 pages) BACK to Index What's New |
Spy
versus spy: Government control of sensitive information [HTML]
[PDF 186KB] From June to September 2004, government officials ‘cleansed’ computers which held copies of an original manuscript by former Office of National Assessments analyst Andrew Wilkie. Wilkie had agreed with the Government’s instruction to remove some passages from the manuscript of the book Axis of Deceit after a lawyer hired to vet the book for sensitive content handed it over to the Attorney-General’s Department. Recipients of the draft book allegedly consented under some pressure to have their computer hard drive ‘cleansed’. This Brief examines the relevant agency powers and finds the use of consent in this incident raises several issues of concern such as bypassing the need for search or computer access warrants, restricting freedom of speech in relation to publishing and the accountability of Australia’s national security officials. (18 pages) BACK to Index What's New |
An
adequate superannuation-based retirement income? [HTML]
[PDF 323KB] The ability of the current retirement-income system to produce an adequate retirement income is in some doubt. It has been argued that the current rate of superannuation guarantee contributions of 9 per cent of wages is too low for the accumulation of superannuation balances sufficient to provide an adequate retirement income for future generations of retirees. Opinion is divided on how to measure an adequate retirement income. Opinion is also divided over what the level of an adequate retirement income is, no matter how it is measured. (37 pages) BACK to Index What's New |
Developments
in Commonwealth-state financial relations since 2000-01 [HTML]
[PDF 214KB] 1 July 2000 saw major changes to Commonwealth–state financial relations, notably, the introduction of the goods and services tax and the payment of the revenue from this tax to the states. This Research Brief examines developments since the changes were implemented and some issues in Commonwealth–state financial relations. (15 pages) BACK to Index What's New |
Electoral
Systems [HTML]
[PDF 366KB] This is a revision of the well-received paper written in 1989 by Gerard Newman, formerly Director of the Statistics Section of the Parliamentary Library. (26 pages) BACK to Index What's New |
| Directions
in China's foreign relations—implications
for East Asia and Australia [HTML]
[PDF 2266KB] China’s economic dynamism and rising international influence constitute one of the most important elements of international relations in the early 21st century. This paper provides a survey of major issues in China’s foreign relations, with a special emphasis on China’s relations with and role in East Asia. After a brief overview of economic developments and political issues, the paper discusses China’s overall approaches in foreign policy and its relations with the United States, Japan, the Korean Peninsula, Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific. The paper’s final section reviews issues and challenges in Australia’s relations with China. (85 pages) BACK to Index What's New |
| The
Constitution and industrial relations: is a unitary system achievable?
[HTML] [PDF
714KB] This Research Brief examines the extent of the Commonwealth’s power under the Australian Constitution to establish a single national industrial relations system. (79 pages) BACK to Index What's New |
Superannuation,
social security and retirement income [HTML]
[PDF 514KB] The Australian retirement income system is made up of three parts, a means tested age pension, mandated superannuation savings and additional voluntary savings either through superannuation or outside it. The overall aim of the system is to reduce poverty in retirement and produce a higher income in retirement than can be achieved by reliance on the age pension alone. Recently, a third goal has begun to emerge, that of prolonging a person’s workforce attachment. The success of the retirement income system depends on the interaction of the social security and superannuation parts with the taxation regime. This paper seeks to describe that interaction, examine some identified problems with this interaction, describe some recent changes, and consider whether, under a common set of retirement circumstances, the current system provides incentives for those past retirement age to maintain some attachment to the work force. (32 pages) BACK to Index What's New |
| Compulsory
voting in Australian national elections [HTML]
[PDF 406KB] Compulsory voting has been part of Australia’s national
elections since 1924. Renewed Liberal Party interest and a recommendation
by the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters that voluntary
and compulsory voting be the subject of future investigation, suggest
that this may well be an important issue at the next election. This
research brief refers to the origins of compulsory voting in Australia,
describes its use in Commonwealth elections, outlines the arguments
for and against compulsion, discusses the political impact of compulsory
voting and refers to suggested reforms. (33 pages) BACK to Index What's New |
Bogong
moths and Parliament House [HTML]
[PDF 438KB] The Bogong moth (Agrotis infusa) migrates annually to the highest peaks in the Southern Alps where millions spend the hot summer months aestivating in deep, dark crevices in rock caves among granite boulders. Parliament House, built on Capital Hill with its elevated floodlit flagpole and extensive lighting, disrupts the flight of the moths and acts as a giant light trap for moths migrating through the Canberra area during October and November. The moths treat the building as a temporary camp and it is often necessary to reduce the building’s lighting to allow the moths to continue their migration south. (16 pages) BACK to Index What's New |
| Mate!
Citizens, aliens and ‘real Australians’— the High
Court and the case of Amos Ame [HTML]
[PDF 390KB] In Ame’s Case the High Court said that a Papuan man who was an Australian citizen by birth was not a ‘real Australian’ and could be treated as an ‘alien’ under the Australian Constitution, including for the purpose of taking his citizenship away. The case indicates that citizenship in itself does not confer full membership of the Australian community, raising questions about the legal position of the many dual nationals in this country. (30 pages) BACK to Index What's New |
| Superannuation
ready reckoner: taxation, preservation, self-managed superannuation
funds and social security rules for 2005-06 [HTML]
[PDF 296KB] This Research Brief is designed to provide readers with a ‘ready reckoner’—a simple, easy to use summary of superannuation taxation and preservation rules. Matters addressed include superannuation fund choice, superannuation co-contributions, the taxation of superannuation contributions and benefits, the level of superannuation contributions that employers must make, taxation of superannuation fund earnings, rebates, preservation rules, the application of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to superannuation, self managed superannuation funds, the social security assessment of superannuation and the proposed change to the taxation of superannuation that remains outstanding. (25 pages) BACK to Index What's New |
| Issues
encountered in advancing Australia’s water recycling schemes
[HTML] [PDF 1179KB] There is a pressing need to implement sustainable projects that adequately contribute to Australia’s diminishing water supply while protecting public health and the environment. As part of integrated water cycle management in urban and rural contexts, realising the potential of water recycling projects is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. Internationally, non-potable reuse is widely practiced but to what extent will these schemes be implemented in Australia? (45 pages) BACK to Index What's New |
| House
of Representatives by-elections 1901–2005 [HTML]
[PDF 1179KB] The first part of this revised brief discusses the 141 by-elections
for the House of Representatives since Federation, including the
most recent for the New South Wales division of Werriwa. The brief’s
appendices give a full set of by-election figures. (56 pages) |
