Thinking points

In these pieces CPD thinkers provide rapid-fire responses to the debates of the day, with an eye to the bigger picture and the decades to come. Subscribe to get Thinking Points by email or grab our rss feed. Thinking Points is released under a Creative Commons license: all Thinking Point articles may be reproduced without permission as long as both the author and CPD are attributed, with a link to the original article on the CPD website. You are also welcome to syndicate our rss feed on your own website. If you republish a Thinking Point article in print we would appreciate receiving a copy at PO Box K3, Haymarket, NSW 1240.

ACOSS National Conference 2012 | 29-30 March 2012

When - 29 – 30 March 2012 Where - Australian Technology Park, Locomotive St, Eveleigh (Redfern), Sydney As part of the ACOSS National Conference ”Sharing the wealth of the lucky country”, there will be a session titled “Poverty and… more

Ben Eltham | Baby Steps on Health Reform

Subjecting the private health insurance rebate to a means test is a good start to more equitable – and cheaper – health policy but there’s a way to go yet, writes Ben Eltham. Subsidising private… more

FAQ Research | Coal Seam Gas – Behind the Seams

Coal Seam Gas – Behind the Seams, is an exciting and extremely necessary project, run by FAQ Research in conjunction with Crikey, examining all aspects of the Coal Seam Gas issue in the lead up to… more

Miriam Lyons | ABC The Drum, 13 Feb 2012

Hosted by Annabel Crabb, Miriam is joined on the panel by The Chaser’s Julian Morrow, and former liberal advisor Richard Muller. The hot topics for debate include the private health insurance rebate, continued bank job… more

Michael Mullins | Means Test Won’t Fix Health Funding

There is little doubt that by introducing means testing for the private health insurance rebate, it will result in a small step toward social inclusion in the health care debate. However, this small step is… more

Mike Steketee | Health Rebate A Very Unfair Plan

The heavy subsidies dished out to private health insurance has increased the equity gap between those who can afford it, and those who can’t. The Howard Government’s goal of an increase in numbers in private… more

What Are We Complaining About? An Analysis of Cost of Living Pressures

Are most Australians really ‘doing it tough’? In response to the widely-held notion that we are all suffering from cost of living pressures, CPD fellow Ian McAuley undertakes a thorough… more

John Menadue | Fraser and Whitlam’s fruitful rivalry

Fred Daly, the irrepressible ALP Member for Grayndler whose first campaign slogan was ‘Give us this day our Daly Fred’, once said that today’s political enemies may turn out to… more

Miriam Lyons | Big Ideas and the Battle of the Think Tanks

Progressives and conservatives don’t agree on much, so what happens when you put four leading figures from each side of the ideological scale in a room and ask them to fight? A Battle of the… more