First published by The Courier Mail

After 46 visits to 24 regional cities and towns in Queensland over the past couple of years one thing is clearer to me than ever: they can be winners from economic change, not victims.

First published by The Daily Telegraph

It says so much about the Morrison Government that Gucci and Louis Vuitton pocketed JobKeeper payments they didn’t need because their profits were going up, while working families and small businesses in Western Sydney go without.  

This opinion piece co-authored by Andrew Charlton was first published by the The Guardian

When we started writing this piece, Brisbane was in lockdown. By the time we finished, Sydney, Victoria and South Australia were as well. Millions of Australians have already spent chunks of the last 18 months concerned for their jobs or their business, navigating the new world of remote learning and wearing the emotional strain of being cut off from the comfort of loved ones and familiar routines.

First published by the West Australian

This is a thank you note to the workers and industries of Western Australia. Because without you, Australia’s recession would have been worse and our recovery would be so much weaker. 

First published by The Australian

This Intergenerational Report paints a disturbing picture of an economy smaller than expected, growing slower than before and saddled with at least four more decades of debt and deficits.

First published by The Australian Financial Review.

The strong and welcome jobs numbers released last week were a tribute to Australians who have overwhelmingly done the right thing by each other to limit the spread of COVID-19.

First published by The Australian

The credit for last week’s jobs figures and Australia’s performance during the pandemic and its aftermath belongs to our people, who have done an outstanding job limiting the spread of the virus. But by bungling the vaccine rollout their federal government risks squandering the momentum and opportunities that flow from that achievement.

First published by The Australian

On the first day of May 2003, barely six weeks after the Americans entered Iraq, George W Bush stood on the decks of an aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, dwarfed by an enormous banner that read “Mission Accomplished”.

First published by the Australian Financial Review.

On paper, the economy is expected to return to growth in the September and December quarters, but off an incredibly low base. While a return to growth is obviously necessary and welcome, this won’t be enough to undo the lasting damage that’s been done to the economy and the labour market so far this year.

Originally published by InQueensland.

This week, many thousands of Queenslanders eschewed the time-honoured Australian tradition of queueing in the hot election-day sun – a flurry of political paraphernalia in one hand, democracy sausage in the other – to cast their vote for the next Queensland government in pre-poll stations across the state.