In 1995, John Howard, the newly elected leader of the Opposition, reflecting on the Coalition’s loss of the 1993 federal election on the back of the Labor government’s goods and services tax (GST) scare campaign, said ‘never ever’ for a GST. However, a year later, when the Coalition was...

After the tumult of the Whitlam government, the Fraser government (1975-1983) saw consolidation with less reform. The 1975 Asprey report remained largely unactioned, despite the fundamental problems that burdened the Australian tax system. The 1983 election of the Hawke government, however, set...

The nature of Australia’s federation, including its Constitution, means the Commonwealth controls the principal revenue-raising instruments, but large expenditure responsibilities are left to the states, with the consequent imbalance dealt with by fiscal transfers between governments. The...