Government Spending Pokie money can’t buy the love Queensland hands out $60 million a year in pokies-funded grants — and calls it giving back. The incentives tell a different story.
Government Spending Closing the gap takes more than money Australia has commissioned another Closing the Gap review — but the terms of reference may be asking the wrong question entirely.
Government Spending Victoria to pull it’s own statues down Victoria's new Premier has abolished a 25-year-old statue policy and called it fiscal responsibility — the numbers tell a different story.
Government Spending Who wants a 28 per cent pay rise? Victoria just handed specialist health workers a 28% pay rise. The workers may well deserve it — but who pays, and when, is a different question entirely.
Government Spending Specific Future Funded in Australia makes a big bet Australia is pouring $11 billion into specific industries — but is betting on winners the fastest route to lifting a stalling economy?
Government Spending Queensland settles $66m Fortescue dispute in secret, keeps the land Queensland says it kept value from a $66m failed hydrogen bet — but the settlement terms are secret and the assets have never been valued against the original outlay.
Government Spending State gov buys staff loyalty in regional Victoria, one duplex at a time Victoria is building housing for rural doctors and nurses — but is the government now a landlord, a regulator, and an employer all at once?
Government Spending Victoria's $2bn teacher pay bet: can it buy better schools or just make a budget hole? Victoria just promised its teachers up to 32% more pay — but the government hasn't said what it will cost, or what else will give.
Government Spending We all saw what we saw. If the PM can’t see it, then we see a fool A week of genuine legislative wins — gun buybacks, gambling reform, childcare wages — and almost none of it cut through. Here's why that was entirely avoidable.
Government Spending Victoria deploys budget cops to keep station counters staffed Victoria says 400 police reservists will free up 86,000 officer shifts. The training program that qualifies them takes one week.
Government Spending Community’s central role in disaster recovery Community groups are doing the front-line work of disaster recovery in NSW — but the funding model may be quietly destroying what makes them effective.
Government Spending A public equity stake in Tomago Aluminium would make things worse Taxpayer money is flowing into Tomago Aluminium — but would a government equity stake actually protect workers, or make every future decision harder?
Government Spending Government $2.5b power bill A $2.5 billion rescue for one smelter's power bill — and it's not the first. What the Tomago deal reveals about who's really paying for the energy transition.
Government Spending Care worker’s wage ‘justice’ could put other workers in wage ‘jail’ A bill called 'Wage Justice' may deliver exactly that for childcare workers already employed — but what does it cost the ones still trying to get in?
Government Spending Farms are the new billionaire flex When a billionaire buys 1.3 million hectares of sheep country, is it a smart diversification play — or the beginning of something more structural for Australian agriculture?
Government Spending Audit finds government aren’t good at building homes. Australia's flagship $10 billion social housing program is three years in — and 96 per cent short of its target. The ANAO has now put that on the record.
Government Spending Government’s dodgy loan to a dodgy manganese smelter. Administrators say Liberty Bell Bay was insolvent three months before Tasmania handed it $20 million. How did the government miss it — and does it matter?
Government Spending Government keeps feeding KPMG millions despite ethics scandals Australia's ethics rules for government suppliers exist on paper — but $51 million in active KPMG contracts raises the question of whether anyone is enforcing them.
Government Spending National Audit Office worried about Census Cyber Security Australia's biggest data collection is 11 weeks away — and the national auditor has just found its cyber defences weren't built right.
Government Spending Tasmania government organises a brewery Tasmania wants to buy a 145-year-old brewery site — but announced the deal before completing any analysis of what it would cost to clean up or develop.
Government Spending News Flash: The Government Cant Protect You From Being Scammed. Australia has a $2 billion scam problem and a framework designed to fix it — but the auditors just found a critical flaw in how it's being built.
Government Spending Data centre boom masks weakness in broader capital investment Australia's capex figures jumped 14.6% in a year — but almost all of it came from one sector, and what that conceals is the real story.
Government Spending Parliament's Hidden Price Tag: How 38 Extra Seats Will Cost Taxpayers and Dilute Accountability The Parliamentary Budget Office has costed 38 new seats in federal parliament — but who bears the cost, and does a bigger legislature actually deliver more accountability?
Government Spending Budget's Innovation Bet: Who Bears the Cost When Incentives Misfire? Australia is spending $39.1 billion on innovation — but how much of it is actually changing what businesses would have done regardless?
Government Spending Why the ABC is paying to advertise itself — and what that tells us about public broadcasting Why is Australia's public broadcaster spending millions to advertise itself instead of making programs?
