Minister Roxon to meet with stakeholders about the PBS

This morning, Minister Roxon is meeting with peak lobby groups about the recent decision by Government to defer the listing of pharmaceuticals on the PBS. Representatives from Medicines Australia, the Consumers Health Forum, the Australian Medical Association and the Generic Industry Medicines Association have invited the Minister, as well as Minister Wong and Treasurer Swan, to explain the Government’s rationale for this approach. Minister Roxon has previously argued that it is the role of the government to provide health for patients across a range of services and to carefully examine the financial implications of each potential new product to be listed on the PBS.

In contrast, Medicines Australia has suggested that the recent PBS growth figures show that growth in PBS expenditure has slowed to 2.8% in the year to March 2011 and that the recent reforms implemented by the Government are achieving their objective. All stakeholders have raised concerns about access to medicines and the undermining of the role of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC).

For an examination of the issues surrounding the Government’s decision to defer the listing of products on the PBS, see previous blog post.

Regional labour market statistics - March 2011

The March regional labour force data reveal that employment levels have grown and unemployment rates have fallen across most of Australia. However, for some regions things remain difficult as they struggle to provide enough jobs for their local labour force.

Queensland encapsulated the best and worst of the nation’s labour market outcomes. It recorded the lowest unemployment rate of 2.1 per cent in the West Moreton Statistical Region and the highest at 10.6 per cent in the Far North Statistical Region.

Between March 2010 and March 2011 the biggest improvement in the unemployment rate occurred in the Far West Statistical Division (New South Wales); 20.6 per cent to 6.6 per cent. The biggest deterioration occurred in the Murray-Murrumbidgee Statistical Region; 4.7 per cent to 7.3 per cent. However, the huge fall in the Far West Statistical Division does not look so good when the region’s Labour force participation rate is considered. Between March 2010 and March 2011 the participation rate fell from 52.3 per cent to 44.4 per cent; the lowest labour force participation in the country.

Time in Government since Federation

On Monday 28 March 2011 Barry O’Farrell was sworn in as Premier of New South Wales thus ending the Labor Party’s 16-year period in office. The Liberal/National Coalition’s win in NSW brings to three the current number of non-Labor governments in Australia’s nine federal, state and territory jurisdictions (Western Australia, Victoria and New South Wales).

This is the first time since Federation that these three states have been under Coalition control while Labor is in power in the other six jurisdictions. It is quite the norm for there to be a mix of Labor and non-Labor jurisdictions. There have been only six periods when all federal and state governments were of the same political persuasion with non-Labor predominating.

Australia's current debt position

The Parliamentary Library has published an update on Australia’s debt levels—please see Australia’s current debt position – update July 2012.

In recent times a lot has been spoken about Australia’s level of debt. This was no more evident than in the lead up to the last Federal election where it seemed to dominate debate. Terms like net and gross debt were thrown around with no real understanding of what these terms actually mean. Therefore, in this article I aim to not only report on Australia’s current debt situation, both public and private, but also shed some light on what is actually meant by these terms.

Royal Australian Navy to purchase UK ship

The announcement by the Minister for Defence and the Minister for Defence Materiel that Australia has been successful in its bid to purchase the UK Royal Navy vessel the RFA Largs Bay is a significant step on the way to restoring the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) amphibious support capability. The fact that Australia has secured the vessel for $102 million when the book value is said to be in the order of $130 million adds to value of the purchase.

New claims of inappropriate behaviour at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA)

Reports in the Australian media that a male first-year army cadet at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) both filmed and broadcast himself having consensual sex with an 18 year-old female first-year air force cadet have once again raised concerns about the male-dominated environment and culture of the Australian Defence Force, and its acceptance and treatment of women (only 14.5 percent of ADF members are women). It is alleged that the male cadet’s room had been equipped with a number of web cameras and that the feed from these was being watched live via Skype by six other male cadets in a nearby room. The woman was unaware that she was being filmed and that the footage was being watched.

Coalition 'tough love' welfare reform proposals

The Federal Opposition has proposed a number of substantial changes to the welfare system, which it says are designed to encourage more people into work. Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, announced the proposed changes in a speech to the Queensland Chamber of Commerce and Industry on 31 March. Mr Abbott's proposals have been subject to criticism from some commentators primarily on the grounds that they will do little to get people into work. On the other hand, some of Mr Abbott's proposed measures have gained support on the grounds that tougher measures might be required to increase workforce participation.

Disability Support Pension Customers: Statistical Summary

The Disability Support Pension (DSP) is a means tested payment for people with a disability. To be eligible for the DSP a person must be permanently blind or have a permanent physical, intellectual or psychiatric impairment. To qualify for the DSP, a person must be aged 16 years or over but have not reached pension age at the time of claiming (for more information on eligibility see the Centrelink website).

As at June 2010, there were 792 581 DSP customers, this is an increase of 35 463 (4.7 per cent change) from the previous year. As a proportion of the total Australian working age population, DSP customers (aged 15 to 64) made up 5.2 per cent. Of the 792 581, only 20 per cent (158 714) did not received the maximum rate of payment due to the income or assets test.

Making savings from the PBS - is deferring the listing of medicines the answer?

In a recent speech, Prime Minister Gillard warned that there would be ‘painful’ cutbacks in the forthcoming Budget. There was no indication of where these cuts might be but it appears that the Government has already made decisions that will slow government expenditure in some programs. Recently, the Government has deferred the listing of products on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) until ‘circumstance permit’ and imposed a requirement that all pharmaceuticals that receive a positive recommendation from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee(PBAC) must be considered by Cabinet prior to listing on the PBS. This post explains the recent changes to the process for listing medicines on the PBS and discusses some of the implications of the Government’s decision to defer listing of some medications on the PBS.

Asylum trends: Europe and Australia compared

This week the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) released figures showing a fall in the number of asylum claims in the industrialised world over the last ten years. In an accompanying press release, it noted that: 'a total of 358 800 asylum applications were lodged in industrialized countries in 2010, which was 5 per cent fewer than in 2009. The latest number was the fourth lowest in the last decade and almost half (42 per cent) of the 620 000 applications filed in 2001'.

In contrast, while Australia received a relatively small number of applications (8250 from a total of 358 800), there was an increase in the number lodged according to the UNHCR press release: 'Australia received 8250 applications - a 33 per cent increase compared to 2009, but down more than third from 2001'.

This raises the question why would the number of applications increase in Australia, but decrease in Europe?

New government report on non-government school funding

A new Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) report shows that in 2009 the Australian Government provided $6.3 billion to non-government schools. Of this funding, $5.8 billion was made available as recurrent per capita grants under the SES system of funding for non-government schools, which is currently under review as part of the Government’s wider Review of Funding for Schooling. On average, this equated to $4963 per non-government school student.

Getting information on the Japanese nuclear incident

The devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11th led to a crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant that resulted in some radiation contamination of the environment and worldwide media attention and commentary. There are six older-type Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs) at this site that require cooling systems in order to keep their fuel rods from overheating. While the reactors did turn off during the earthquake, their heat and loss of backup power for the cooling systems has led to some extraordinary measures being taken. These have included water-bombing, mobile water pump spraying and the use of boron-enriched seawater. Some explosions also occurred at the site, probably as a result of hydrogen gas generated at high temperatures by a reaction between the nuclear fuel cladding and steam.

Members of the House of Commons salary and expenses

On 21 March 2011 the House of Commons agreed to the motion that means that the 650 MPs will forgo a recommended 1 per cent pay rise effective from 1 April 2011. The proposed pay rise resulted from a determination of the Senior Salaries Review Board released on 19 January 2011. The motion makes provision for MPs' salary and those of chairs of select and general committees to be frozen for two years at the salary level on 31 March 2011, that is at £65,738. The motion passed without a vote. Most Members of the House of Lords do not receive a salary but may be entitled to financial support arising out of their parliamentary duties.

However it has been reported that MPs were unhappy at having to vote on their own pay. It is argued that the measures put in place following the expenses scandal of 2009 meant that such a decision would be made outside the parliament. It also comes at a time when the government has introduced stringent measures to cut the deficit including a pay freeze for the public sector.

Meeting the challenges of cyber-security

Just weeks after the Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, announced the establishment within the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) of a ‘specialist cyber investigations unit to investigate and provide advice on state-sponsored cyber attack against, or involving, Australian interests’, News Limited media reports have claimed that the parliamentary computers of the Prime Minister and several key Cabinet ministers were infiltrated recently in a sustained “hacking” attack.

Distribution of GST to the states

On Wednesday 30 March 2011, the Government announced a review of how the goods and services tax (GST) revenue is distributed to the states. This post looks at how GST revenue is currently distributed using horizontal fiscal equalisation. This post also presents some of the criticisms of equalisation, the role of the Commonwealth Grants Commission (CGC) and the scope of the proposed review.

The Egyptian constitutional referendum of March 2011: a new beginning?

The ousting of the Egyptian Government in February 2011 was followed by a referendum on constitutional changes, held on 19 March. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the interim ruling body following the departure of President Hosni Mubarak on 11 February, suspended the 1971 constitution and dissolved parliament on 13 February. A drafting committee of jurists was appointed to write proposed constitutional amendments, the idea being that once a referendum on the changes was held, parliamentary, followed by presidential elections, could be held.

Members of Parliament salary and entitlements

On 24 March the Special Minister of State, Hon Gary Gray, introduced the Remuneration and other legislation amendment bill 2011. This bill provides, among other matters, for the Remuneration Tribunal to determine MP’s base salary, currently $136 640, and ends the Parliament’s ability to disallow the remuneration determinations, that is senators’ and members’ pay increases. The Bill also requires the Tribunal, an independent statutory authority, to publish its reasons for the determination.

Since 1990 the Remuneration Tribunal has only had an advisory power with regard to the annual allowance (or base salary). After the relevant determinations are tabled, Parliament may resolve to disapprove (disallow) the determinations. In 1974 Parliament disallowed the Tribunal’s determination increasing the annual allowance to $20 000 per annum. In the thirty years since then Parliament has also modified determinations, postponed increases and enacted reduced allowances previously determined by the Tribunal. The most recent example of wage restraint was the pay freeze that occurred from 1 July 2008.

Responding to boat arrivals

A widespread perception in the community that Australia is being swamped by asylum seekers arriving by boat continues to strongly influence government policy and to be an emotive and divisive political issue. As a result, for many years the Labor Government and before it the Coalition Government have been pressured to adopt and maintain effective measures to address border security concerns, combat people smuggling and 'stop the boats'.
Both sides of politics are in agreement on some of the measures in place to deal with these issues (such as mandatory detention for unauthorised boat arrivals), but there are policy differences, some influenced by arguments as to whether 'push factors' or 'pull factors' are the primary determinant of asylum seeker arrivals in Australia. The Labor Government has emphasised that irregular migration is a global challenge and is linked directly to 'push factors' such as conflict and displacement within the region. In contrast, the Coalition attributes the recent increase in irregular boat arrivals (also known as irregular maritime arrivals) to 'pull factors' driven predominantly by domestic policy changes—most notably, Labor’s decision in 2008 to discontinue temporary protection visas, grant refugees permanent residency and discontinue the processing of asylum seekers in Nauru.

Libya and the United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1973

The wave of protests sweeping across the Middle East in recent months has seen demands for democratic reforms and regime change in several countries, including Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain. However, Libya quickly became the focus of international attention as government forces began firing upon their own civilians with heavy weaponry, and bombing population centres from the ground and air. An overview of how the unrest evolved into a humanitarian crisis is covered in more detail in a previous post. As the world’s attention turned to condemnation, calls for UN intervention grew stronger and more insistent. Following the failure of the Libyan Government to heed the warnings issued on 26 February under UNSCR 1970, on 17 March the UN Security Council ultimately passed UNSCR 1973 authorising member states to ‘take all necessary measures’ to protect Libyan civilians. This included the declaration of a no-fly zone over Libya, but specifically excluded a UN-mandated occupying ground force. Outlined below are brief answers in response to some of the frequently asked questions on the issue.

When Garnaut met Henry: the carbon price and welfare reform

Professor Ross Garnaut’s recent update paper no. 6 to the Garnaut Climate Change Review, released on 17 March 2011, found that ‘protecting the most vulnerable is critical to the success of the carbon price’. Professor Garnaut found that while reforms to income taxation would, for most taxpayers, assist in mitigating the effects of a rise in the price of consumer goods resulting from the introduction of a carbon price, those on little or no income could face hardship unless reforms are also made to the social security system.