CPD » CPD in the News

Dr Gunter Pauli | ABC Radio National Big Ideas

CPD — Tue, 15 May 2012 01:02:43 +0000

Gunter Pauli’s goal is to create jobs, achieve multiple benefits and add value to underperforming assets. All with zero emissions and zero waste. Think he’s a dreamer? Think again.

ABC’s Radio National program Big Ideas rebroadcasts inspirational entrepreneur Dr Gunter Pauli’s talk on taking green and sustainable thinking to a new level, with his ‘Blue Economy’. In his talk, co-hosted by Sydney Ideas and the Centre for Policy Development, Pauli outlines his approach to a new type of sustainability that draws heavily from both the natural world and the market place.

The Blue Economy is where the best for health and the environment is cheapest and the necessities for life are free thanks to a local system of production and consumption that works with what you have.

LISTEN to Gunter Pauli’s talk on ABC Radio National Big Ideas

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Christopher Stone | Thinking ahead: a budget for more than this year

CPD — Fri, 04 May 2012 03:29:40 +0000

In his article on ABC’s The Drum, CPD researcher Chris Stone suggests a different way of thinking about the budget, and makes important predictions about budget night media and political commentary which he claims is driving a serious and repeated problem: “A national economy is a lot more like the Titanic than a speedboat; significant changes in direction take a long time. This means that if we think there’s an economic iceberg 30 years ahead, the time to start turning the wheel is now“. Chris goes on to give three examples of issues that probably won’t get a lot of air time on 8 May, but which really should. You can read the article on ABC’s The Drum here.

A number of comments on The Drum’s website raised questions about the assertion that Australians pay less tax than those in the US. Chris responds as follows:

The short answer to this is that the US has a large “social security tax” whereas Australia doesn’t, and so the total amount of tax that Australians pay on their wages is less.

The longer answer is that comparing tax internationally is complex, because every country has a different mix of multiple taxes that apply to wages. For this reason I’m basing my assertion on data from the OECD, which produces some useful reports comparing national taxation. This report gives a good understanding of our position: http://bit.ly/JcKpmc

Because the percent of wage taxes in all OECD countries depends on income and family circumstances, it gives comparative statistics for a number of hypothetical tax payers. Across all these, Australia is in the bottom 8 out of 34 OECD countries in terms of percentage of tax imposed on wages. And in every hypothetical we rank lower than the US.

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Miriam Lyons | ABC The Drum, 26 April 2012

CPD — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:10:15 +0000

In this episode of ABC’s The Drum, Tim Palmer speaks with Miriam Lyons from the Centre for Policy Development, Radio 2UE broadcaster John Stanley and economist and contributing columnist to The Australian Judith Sloan. The panel analyse and discuss hot topics such as the Leveson Inquiry, the Australian auto industry, and the HSU scandal.

WATCH the full program on ABC iview here

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Taegen Edwards on Post Carbon Pathways | BayFM Spin Cycle

CPD — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 04:21:27 +0000

Taegen Edwards speaks to BayFM’s Karin Kolbe on the recently published report Post Carbon Pathways: Reviewing post carbon economy transition strategies. Edwards outlines the key government policies and non-government projects from across the globe that address climate change at the scale and size that is required. In particular, Edwards promotes World in Transition, a report by the German Advisory Council on Global Change as a key solution, as it sets concrete structures for countering the social and political barriers that seem to be the most constricting obstacle in implementing a full-scale post carbon economy.

Listen to Taegen Edwards and Karin Kolbe on BayFM’s Spin Cycle.

John Menadue & Greg Dodds | Deja vu as Australia returns from smoko for Asian century

CPD — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 01:30:02 +0000

Despite appearances, Australia’s relationship with its trading bloc remains superficial, making little progress in 20 years of ”discussions”.

In the mid-’90s we went on smoko, even as we continued to dig up more of our ores and coal for export. Today, 48 per cent of our exports are fuel and mineral products, way more than most comparable countries. We are dependent on a few markets and a few exports.

In business, only four Australian companies in the top 150 bothered to put in a submission to the Henry Review. Far too many see Asia as customers rather than partners, when trade and investment is about relationships of trust and understanding.

Read the full article in The National Times here

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Dr Gunter Pauli & Ian Dunlop | Local Brainpower Can Save Manufacturing Jobs and the Environment

CPD — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 02:42:40 +0000

Dr Gunter Pauli and CPD fellow Ian Dunlop illustrate how Australia can stop sacrificing local manufacturing jobs for cheap overseas labour by looking at local innovation. Pauli and Dunlop examine the ways in which a new, low-carbon economy can deliver a wealth of manufacturing opportunities with a higher consideration for the environment. The evidence is already there for the doubters, with Pauli’s ‘The Blue Economy’ identifying 100 cases covering 100 different sectors in which real businesses in real markets are achieving local, clean growth.

For example, if I am a world leader in instant coffee, and have no business in mushrooms, I may not realise my 3 million tonnes of waste grounds could be converted into 1.5 million tonnes of mushroom protein, generating a potential turnover of $3 billion – as now happens in now happens in Europe, the US and Africa.

For the 21st century, Australia will need a creative new economy, which is low-carbon, uses resources efficiently and competes with conventional industrial processes.

Read the full article in The National Times here

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Ben Eltham | A Kinder, Gentler Mining Tax

CPD — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 04:28:19 +0000

Julia Gillard might not be popular but she’s a very effective legislator. The mining tax might have been watered down, but passing it last night was a big score, writes Ben Eltham.

It’s a funny thing, the Gillard Government. According to most of the opinion polls, and much of the commentary, this government can’t take a trick. You’ve all heard the criticisms before. Gillard is unliked by ordinary Australians. She has a credibility problem. Her speeches are dull. Labor itself is increasingly on the nose. Voters oppose key policies. The Opposition would win an election held this weekend in a canter.

But when it comes to passing legislation, which is the thing that governments are supposed to do, you’d have to say this administration is pretty effective. Julia Gillard may not be the most popular prime minister in modern times — actually, she toppled the most popular prime minister of modern times — but she is certainly one of the most effective legislators.

Read the full article in New Matilda here

Chris Bonnor | Here Comes Another 2020 Vision

CPD — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:24:59 +0000

CPD fellow Chris Bonnor gives us a look at his crystal ball on Australia’s education system in 2020, and it’s not all that promising. The Gonski Report delivered to us the reality that our funding system needed to be revised, in order to attain an equitable solution for all of Australia’s kids. Quoting from his co-authored book ‘The Stupid Country’ with Jane Caro, Bonnor predicts that a system based on reward and punishment funding, testing, and ranking will continue to drive a stake in the gap between those students from well-off backgrounds, and those who are not. The focus required needs to encompass all aspects that affect a child’s education, especially those decisions made outside the school gates, such as funding. A wide scope of evidence is calling for a funding model that adequately reflects the different needs of students to enable resources to be directed to where they are needed most.

So much for almost three decades of constant and often manic school reform seeded by the neo-liberals and driven by successive governments urged on by compliant commentators.

It isn’t working: we are not creating schools which provide even comparable quality and opportunities for all our kids.

Read the full article in Online Opinion here

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Ian McAuley | Can This Man Handle the Economy?

CPD — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 01:45:29 +0000

Joe Hockey’s shortcomings on economic policy were on show again last week. Why do the media give the Shadow Treasurer such an easy run on economic issues, asks Ian McAuley.

It has been an article of faith among conservative economists that monetary policy is to be preferred over fiscal policy. They don’t want governments engaged in direct decisions about spending. Rather, governments should take a back seat and let the “invisible hand” of the financial markets do the job. The only influence the government should exercise is through manipulating interest rates. Low interest rates stimulate business and domestic borrowing, and allow mortgagees to spend more, while high interest rates have a dampening effect.

The shortcoming of that theory is that while it is suitable for an Economics 1 exam question, it doesn’t work in the more complex real world. It has long been known that decision-makers are very slow to react to changes in interest rates. It takes time for businesses to make plans for capital expansions, to get approvals and to arrange finance. Similarly, to take a domestic example, there are long time lags for households contemplating renovations.

Read Ian’s full article in New Matilda here

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Eva Cox | The Feminist Exercise: Achieving Real Gender Equity

CPD — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 03:14:10 +0000

Do we have gender equity in today’s society? CPD fellow Eva Cox asks whether we are truly satisfied with the fact that we have a female PM, Governor-General, a couple of premiers and CEOs as evidence that the glass ceiling can be broken? By attempting to distinguish what are actual feminist ideals in today’s society, Cox calls for a redistribution of power so women and men can share responsibilities as well as rights, without these being limited by gender.

Being the first woman to take on a role is not necessarily progress or a feminist gain. We need to ask: has she made it easier for other women to follow? That disqualifies Thatcher and other female “pioneers” like her. They are useful in showing the possibilities, but only in a very limited way.

Read the full article in ABC The Drum here

Change can happen faster than you think – help us seize the moment and point to the alternatives. Add your voice to ours!