Policy Summer 1991
Vol. 7 No. 4 (Summer, 1991) POLICY Magazine Summer 1991.-
FEATURE: The Tax File Number Scheme: Political Assurances versus Function Creep
| 12 Dec 1991When the Australian federal government withdrew its Australia Card proposal in 1987, it resolved to enhance the Tax File Number scheme, which had been in use within the Australian Taxation Office since the 1930s. An outline of the origins, nature and original and expanded scope fo the enhanced TFN scheme.
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FEATURE: The Tax Commissioner's Discretions and Indiscretions
| 12 Dec 1991
Australia’s taxation law is rendered uncertain by the increasing use of statutory and non statutory discretions. An argument that self-assessment of tax liabilities will fail unless the tax system is simplified by less reliance on discretions and by the establishment of an effective appeal and review procedure.
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FEATURE: Entrenching Monopoly: The Pay-TV Decision
| 12 Dec 1991In October 1991 the Australian government lifted the moratorium on the introduction of pay TV. A criticism of the decision to make Aussat the sole carrier of pay TV and questions other regulatory aspects of the decision.
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FEATURE: Education, Training and Competitive Advantage
| 12 Dec 1991The Australian federal government's creation of a 'unified system' of higher education and its training Training Guarantee Act of 1990 have been inspired by highly questionable assumptions about the link between education and productivity.
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FEATURE: Trans-Tasman Shipping and the 1992 CER Review
| 12 Dec 1991Trans-Tasman shipping is on the agenda of the 1992 review of the Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Agreement (CER). A presentation of some policy reform options.
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FEATURE: At the Frontiers of Free Trade: CER and FTA
| 12 Dec 1991CER and FTA are bilateral free-trade agreements that encompass services as well as goods and provide for the harmonisation of commercial environments. A comparison of the progress and prospects of the two agreements.
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FEATURE: Difficulties of Dying
| 12 Dec 1991An examination of some of the ethical dilemmas that arise from the ability of modern medical technology to prolong life beyond its natural span.
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FEATURE: The New World Order and the 'Right to Intervene'
| 12 Dec 1991The establishment by the UN of a safe haven for the Kurds in Northern Iraq illustrates the emergence of a new doctrine in international politics: a 'right to intervene' in the internal affairs of sovereign states to uphold human rights and promote international security. Tracing the evolution of this doctrine and suggests conditions and guidelines for its implementation.
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REVIEW ARTICLE: Presumptuous and Provocative? Australian Defence Policy in the 1990s
| 12 Dec 1991
The New Australian Militarism: Undermining our Future Security edited by Graeme Cheeseman and St John Kettle (Pluto Press, Sydney, 1990.)
A Coast Too Long: Defending Australia in the 1990s by Ross Babbage (Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1990.)
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BOOK REVIEW: Porter's Path to Prosperity
| 12 Dec 1991Upgrading New Zealand's Competitive Advantage by Graham T Crocombe, Michael J. Enright and Michael E. Porter (Oxford University Press, 1991.)
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BOOK REVIEW: New Ideas for Old
| 12 Dec 1991The Spread of Economic Ideas edited by David Colander and A. W. Coats (Cambridge University Press, 1989.)
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BOOK REVIEW: Wood and Trees
| 12 Dec 1991Trends in Biomedical edited by Hiram Caton (Butterworths, 1990.)
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BOOK REVIEW: The Bork Episode
| 12 Dec 1991The Tempting of America: The Political Seduction of the Law by Robert Bork (The Free Press, 1989.)
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BOOK REVIEW: Liberalism and Minority Cultures
| 12 Dec 1991Liberalism, Community and Culture by Will Kymlicka (Clarendon Press, 1989.)
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BOOK REVIEW: Justifying Liberal Neutrality
| 12 Dec 1991Liberal Neutrality edited by Robert E. Goodin and Andrew Reeve (Routledge, 1989.)
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BOOK REVIEW: Sword-and-Sorcery Wisdom
| 12 Dec 1991Return of the Heroes: The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and Contemporary Culture by Hal Colebatch (Australian Institute for Public Policy, 1990.)
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NOTES AND COMMENTS: The Samaritan's Dilemma and the Welfare State
| 12 Dec 1991A dilemma frequently arises when a modern day Samaritan's actions are generalised a rule of conduct for individuals attempting to assist people in need.
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NOTES AND COMMENTS: Telling the Right from the Left
| 12 Dec 1991The misuse of political terms continues to increase, leading to absurd results.
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SCHOOLS' BRIEF: Floating Exchange Rates: The Australian Experience
| 12 Dec 1991An evaluation of the experience of Australia's floating exchange-rate regime in the light of the hopes and fears expressed when it was introduced in 1983.
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RAFE'S ROUND-UP: Summer 1991
| 12 Dec 1991Rafe's Round-Up for Summer 1991.
