Opinion & Commentary by Author

1. The real solution to poverty: J-O-B-S, J-O-B-S, J-O-B-S

   Andrew Baker, Peter Saunders | 29 Oct 2012 | The Punch

   Moving people off welfare and into full-time jobs would do more to address poverty than increasing the value of welfare benefits.

2. Swan stuck in tired old groove

   Peter Saunders | 02 Aug 2012 | The Australian Financial Review

   There was an unacknowledged tension at the heart of Wayne Swan’s John Button lecture that sheds an interesting light on... Read More

3. Tighten the rules on welfare payments

   Peter Saunders | 08 Jun 2012 | ON LINE Opinion

   There is more to welfare reform than amalgamating the benefits.

4. When Prophecy Fails: The Spirit Level and the Illusion of Scientific Socialism

   Luke Malpass, Peter Saunders | 14 Sep 2011 | KiwiBlog

   When Prophecy Fails: Arguments about redistribution are moral, not scientific ones, and this book does nothing to change... Read More

5. Prophecies of an egalitarian utopia based on false assumptions

   Peter Saunders | 09 Sep 2011 | The Australian

   The Spirit Level aims to break away from these ethical conundrums and to replace them with the authority of science. It says... Read More

6. Brits recoil from teaching respect for authority at home or school

   Peter Saunders | 15 Aug 2011 | The Australian

   Following last week's riots in Britain, politicians and commentators have similarly been asking the wrong question. What... Read More

7. Those who can work must not be paid to sit at home

   Peter Saunders | 01 Jul 2011 | The Australian

   Job seekers with low attachment to the labour force should be required to work for the dole.

8. For the poor, a job must pay better than handouts

   Peter Saunders | 14 Dec 2010 | The Australian

   The British government is taking a gamble with its welfare to work program.

9. Leftist class chatter no longer matters in UK

   Peter Saunders | 01 Dec 2010 | The Australian

   Intellectuals love to peddle the myth of an unfair, privileged society, but they're wrong.

10. Britons brace for age of austerity

    Peter Saunders | 08 Oct 2010 | The Australian

    The British government is looking to the Australian model for welfare reforms.

11. A nation in denial and deeper in debt

    Peter Saunders | 10 May 2010 | The Australian

    There is no silver lining to the cloudy outlook for post-election Britain, says Peter Saunders in The Australian, 10 May... Read More

12. Britain needs new Thatcher but everyone in denial

    Peter Saunders | 29 Apr 2010 | The Australian

    None of the parties will acknowledge the size of the problem the winner of the British general election will face, says Peter... Read More

13. Living off the public teat

    Peter Saunders | 21 Feb 2009 | The Sydney Morning Herald

    Until the 1970s Australians were remarkably self-reliant. Unemployment was low, home ownership was widespread, and wages... Read More

14. Price of money for nothing

    Peter Saunders | 13 Dec 2008 | Online Opinion

    In May last year, four-year-old Madeleine McCann went missing from an apartment in Portugal where her family was on holiday.... Read More

15. Blighty-style re-education

    Peter Saunders | 16 Aug 2008 | The Weekend Australian

    Arriving at Heathrow after nine years living in Australia, we dug out our British passports and joined our fellow German,... Read More

16. Back to work in Brown's Britain

    Peter Saunders | 26 Jul 2008 | The Australian

    It is ironic that the Rudd Government is considering weakening the federal Job Network of employment agencies and its background... Read More

17. EU’s Disdain for Voters

    Peter Saunders | 16 Jul 2008 | The Australian

    Whenever voters reject a proposal put forward by Europe’s political elite, they either get ignored, or they are told to... Read More

18. Cut wages and create jobs

    Peter Saunders | 18 Jun 2008 | The Geelong Advertiser

    The best way to move people off welfare and into jobs is to require them to work. Not everybody can or should be expected... Read More

19. Rudd’s blunder to dismantle Work for the Dole

    Peter Saunders | 12 Jun 2008 | The Australian

    The Rudd government says it supports the principle of mutual obligation in welfare, yet its new policy proposals threaten... Read More

20. Working for welfare

    Peter Saunders | 12 Jun 2008 | ABC News Online

    Mutual obligation requires people receiving welfare benefits to undertake a prescribed activity or forfeit some or all of... Read More

21. The Future Fund - why they can't just give it back

    Peter Saunders | 15 May 2008 | Crikey

    Announcing in his budget speech that $40 billion was to be shovelled into three new government investment funds, Wayne Swan... Read More

22. Means testing doesn’t solve the problems with

    Peter Saunders | 15 May 2008 | The Australian Financial Review

    Yesterday’s budget introduced income tests on two family payments: the Baby Bonus (paid to new mothers) and Family Tax... Read More

23. Throwing the baby bonus out with the bathwater

    Peter Saunders | 25 Mar 2008 | ABC News Online

    As the Rudd 'razor gang' searches for wasteful items of expenditure to cut, a number of commentators have targeted the baby... Read More

24. Would you be happy asking friends for $512.66 every week?

    Peter Saunders | 19 Mar 2008 | The Australian

    Imagine you fall upon hard times and (it’s hard, but try) imagine further that there is no government welfare to fall back... Read More

25. The AFL’s DVD on sexual manners shows that society is in trouble

    Peter Saunders | 29 Feb 2008 | The West Australian

    Worried about the bad press some footballers have been getting of late, the AFL has created an interactive DVD designed to... Read More

26. Cut the minimum wage to expand low skilled employment

    Peter Saunders | 18 Feb 2008 | The Australian Finanacial Review

    The Rudd government has set up a new board, Skills Australia, to spend a billion dollars in four years creating half a million... Read More

27. Saving the long term jobless

    Peter Saunders | 16 Feb 2008 | Online Opinion

    It is ten years since the federal government shut down the Commonwealth Employment Service and replaced it with Centrelink... Read More

28. Raising the school leaving age is not a cure-all

    Peter Saunders | 01 Feb 2008 | The Newcaslte Herald

    Morris Iemma and Education Minister John Della Bosca have announced the NSW minimum school leaving age will be raised to... Read More

29. The writing is on the wall when officialdom overlooks profanity

    Peter Saunders | 12 Jan 2008

    I left Britain nine years ago, but even after nine Australian summers, I still find Christmas in the sun a novelty. This... Read More

30. We should consider allowing the sale of blood and body parts

    Peter Saunders | 21 Dec 2007 | The Geelong Advertiser

    'A kidney specialist in New York said spring was his favourite season because fit young men started to go out on their motorbikes... Read More

31. Forget Auld Lang Syne, let's sing capitalism's praises

    Peter Saunders | 20 Dec 2007 | The Sydney Morning Herald

    Every year, as we mill around the shops buying presents, commentators warn the ‘true meaning’ of Christmas is being eroded.... Read More

32. Training the unskilled doesn’t help them to get jobs

    Peter Saunders | 08 Dec 2007 | The Australian

    Imagine you are Julia Gillard. As new Minister for Education, Training and Workplace Relations, it’s your job to reform... Read More

33. Not everyone benefits from more education

    Peter Saunders | 07 Dec 2007 | The Newcastle Herald

    Kevin Rudd has made education, training and increased ‘economic participation’ key priorities, and Julia Gillard has... Read More

34. Taxation by stealth must top reform list

    Peter Saunders | 04 Dec 2007 | The Australian

    Throughout the federal election campaign, Kevin Rudd boasted of being an ‘economic conservative.’ Now he has the chance... Read More

35. Forget philosophy, have some money

    Peter Saunders | 15 Nov 2007 | Crikey

    Notwithstanding Kevin Rudd’s belated attempt to seize the moral high ground, both major parties are committed to enormous... Read More

36. The welfare lobby is at it again

    Peter Saunders | 29 Oct 2007 | The Australian

    Australia’s welfare lobby is at it again. In a report issued this week, an alliance of welfare groups claimed that over... Read More

37. Pokie in the eye for paternalism

    Peter Saunders | 22 Sep 2007 | The Sydney Morning Herald

    Pokies are soul-destroying. People sit on stools, eyes glazed over, looking like they're dosed up on soma, the soporific... Read More

38. Poor way to detect poverty

    Peter Saunders | 05 Sep 2007 | The Australian Finanacial Review

    Someone at the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) is forgetting their Aesop. You will recall the little boy who... Read More

39. We are evolving into an over-regulated, over-governed, dumbed-down place

    Peter Saunders | 24 Aug 2007 | The Sydney Morning Herald

    Here we go again. This time it's the Wesley Mission telling us we are all too greedy and materialistic and that the government... Read More

40. Elitism should not be a dirty word

    Peter Saunders | 13 Aug 2007 | The Australian

    When 19th century liberals such as John Stuart Mill made the case for extending individual liberties, they argued it on moral... Read More

41. Tax circle good for no one

    Peter Saunders | 10 Jul 2007 | The Australian

    In the past 40 years, our relationship with state and commonwealth governments has been revolutionised. Before the 1960s,... Read More

42. Conditional welfare makes sense

    Peter Saunders | 03 Jul 2007 | The Australian

    Following its dramatic intervention in 60 Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, it is reported that the federal... Read More

43. No real value in tax changes

    Peter Saunders | 10 May 2007 | The Courier Mail

    Real tax reform requires lower, fewer and flatter tax rates

44. None of the Treasurer's budget handouts makes any economic sense

    Peter Saunders | 10 May 2007 | The Australian

    What was the overall rationale driving Peter Costello's 12th budget? What fundamental objectives was he trying to achieve?... Read More

45. We don't need a nanny

    Peter Saunders | 14 Apr 2007 | The Australian

    Towards the end of last year, as he was positioning himself for what turned out to be a successful bid for leadership of... Read More

46. Sit in the corner while we rob you

    Peter Saunders | 10 Apr 2007 | The Australian

    IT has recently come to my attention that some of you are still smacking your children when they are naughty. I do not approve... Read More

47. People should be able to opt out of welfare entitlements in return for tax reductions

    Peter Saunders | 28 Mar 2007 | The Dominion Post

    In 1970, taxes consumed one-fifth of everything New Zealand produced. Today taxes absorb one-third of it. If things go on... Read More

48. Paying idle parents bad for kids Get a job, mum

    Peter Saunders | 21 Mar 2007 | The Geelong Advertiser

    A UN report comparing the well-being of children across the world's 25 richest countries recently produced a spate of disturbing... Read More

49. Paying idle parents is bad for our kids

    Peter Saunders | 20 Feb 2007 | The Australian

    A UN report comparing the wellbeing of children across the world's 25 richest countries produced a spate of disturbing headlines... Read More

50. Stop the churning to extend direct benefits

    Peter Saunders | 30 Jan 2007 | The Australian

    What kind of welfare state should Australia have in 30 years? If the trends of the past 30 years were to continue, we could... Read More

51. Tofu terror added to list of reasons to be fearful

    Peter Saunders | 17 Jan 2007 | The Sydney Morning Herald

    This has been a good week for hypochondriacs. Two new reports have been published warning that behaviour we thought safe... Read More

52. Brough's welfare plan on right track

    Peter Saunders | 04 Dec 2006 | The Canberra Times

    Family Services Minister Mal Brough wants to withhold up to 40per cent of the welfare cash paid to problem families and to... Read More

53. What the Government giveth, the Government taketh away

    Peter Saunders | 27 Nov 2006 | ABC Radio

    The welfare state developed to support people who could not afford to look after themselves: age pensions for elderly people... Read More

54. Tough love for the jobless

    Peter Saunders | 26 Oct 2006 | The Australian

    Human services Minister, Joe Hockey, thinks a majority of unemployed people receiving Newstart Allowance are avoiding taking... Read More

55. Just one value will do fine - live and let live

    Peter Saunders | 20 Sep 2006 | The Newcastle Herald

    The current debate over citizenship and ‘Australian values’ makes me wish our political leaders had learned a little... Read More

56. Charities must support rules

    Peter Saunders | 28 Aug 2006 | The Australian

    The federal Government and the welfare lobby have fallen out yet again over the way claimants are penalised when they fail... Read More

57. Growth in Labor support: it’s academic

    Peter Saunders | 17 Jun 2006 | The Australian

    It used to be the case that, if you knew what somebody did for a living, you could predict with reasonable accuracy how they... Read More

58. The Rise of the Opinionators

    Peter Saunders | 17 Jun 2006 | The Australian

    Labor’s strongest support is no longer in the working class, but among education, arts and social professionals, explains... Read More

59. Polies teach us to pick our own pockets

    Peter Saunders | 02 Jun 2006 | The Age

    Victorian families, rejoice! As a result of John Brumby's latest budget, all parents in the state are to be given $300 for... Read More

60. For decision on childcare mum's (or dad's) the word

    Peter Saunders | 01 Jun 2006 | The Canberra Times

    The Australian Bureau of Statistics has found that one-third of children in formal child care are there for ‘non-work reasons.’... Read More

61. Structural problems unresolved

    Peter Saunders | 11 May 2006 | The Australian Financial Review

    It was a strange budget. The Treasurer addressed almost every concern that critics had expressed about our tax and benefits... Read More

62. Pokie principle a winner

    Peter Saunders | 09 May 2006 | The Australian

    Australia contains one-third of 1 per cent of the world's population. But it contains something like 20 per cent of the world's... Read More

63. Fiddle diddle no more, tax needs an overhaul

    Peter Saunders | 28 Apr 2006 | The Australian Financial Review

    As budget day approaches, the Federal Government is coming under mounting pressure to reform our income tax system, but it... Read More

64. Treasurer has us on longer leash

    Peter Saunders | 25 Apr 2006 | The Australian

    Tax freedom day this year is April 25. This means it is a holiday for most Australians, for April 25 is also Anzac Day. Perhaps... Read More

65. When is a welfare payment not a welfare payment?

    Peter Saunders | 13 Apr 2006 | The Australian Financial Review

    Everyone who earns more than $6,000 per year pays income tax. The zero-rate or ‘tax-free’ threshold has for years been... Read More

66. Scrap child-care concessions - cut taxes instead

    Peter Saunders | 15 Mar 2006 | The Age

    The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that it is no longer normal for mothers to stay at home to look after their children,... Read More

67. Strong case for tax cuts

    Peter Saunders | 28 Feb 2006 | The Courier Mail

    The Government believes we are, by international standards, a "low tax country" and now the Treasurer has announced an inquiry... Read More

68. Don't blame Howard for loss of civility

    Peter Saunders | 03 Feb 2006 | The Australian

    NSW Chief Justice Jim Spigelman has identified a growing tide of incivility in our society. He points to widespread incidence... Read More

69. Tax overhaul long due

    Peter Saunders | 20 Jan 2006 | The Australian

    Despite repeated attempts by the Government to ignore it, the clamour for tax reform just won't go away.

70. Future funds for everyone

    Peter Saunders | 02 Jan 2006 | The Australian

    Last month Treasurer Peter Costello forecast another huge budget surplus for this year. Yet again, individuals and companies... Read More

71. Self-help beats handout state

    Peter Saunders | 06 Dec 2005 | The Australian

    Peter Costello's suggestion that bad parents should lose their welfare payments has provoked a predictable reaction from... Read More

72. A Cinderella story for the modern welfare state

    Peter Saunders | 02 Nov 2005 | The Age

    Ron Howard's new movie, Cinderella Man, tells the true story of American boxer Jim Braddock. After losing everything in the... Read More

73. One rule for all single parents

    Peter Saunders | 03 Oct 2005 | The Australian

    In its May budget, the federal Government announced that recipients of the Parenting Payment will in future be expected to... Read More

74. System not in the finest health

    Peter Saunders | 22 Sep 2005 | The Australian Financial Review

    As the welfare-to-work proposals are made public, Peter Saunders looks at the question of self-funding.

75. Taxing time when we rely on welfare state

    Peter Saunders | 15 Jul 2005 | The Newcastle Herald

    This year, Australians will pay more than $200 billion in tax to the Federal Government. More than half of this will come... Read More

76. No substance to Vinnies' alarmism

    Peter Saunders | 11 Jun 2005 | The Australian

    Last week, the St Vincent de Paul Society released a report warning that Australia is set on "a headlong dash into the chasm... Read More

77. The wrong sorts of tax cuts

    Peter Saunders | 11 Jun 2005 | The Australian Financial Review

    The government has responded to criticism about the high rate of tax levied on low-income earners by arguing that low-income... Read More

78. The super rip-off is unfair, not the tax cuts

    Peter Saunders | 13 May 2005

    The debate over the budget reveals some confused thinking on both sides of politics. Kim Beazley opposes what he calls a... Read More

79. A fair way to reduce dependence on welfare

    Peter Saunders | 12 May 2005 | The Australian Financial Review

    Welfare reform is back on the rails. Budget reforms affecting Parenting Payment, Newstart and the Disability Support Pension... Read More

80. Time we ran our own lives

    Peter Saunders | 09 May 2005 | The Herald Sun

    The Friday before last was Tax Freedom Day -- the day of the year when we finish paying for the Government's spending and... Read More

81. How increased self reliance will result in a lower burden

    Peter Saunders | 08 Apr 2005 | The Canberra Times

    Tax and welfare reform are on the agenda. Given the government’s newly-won control of the Senate, most attention is focusing... Read More

82. Fix policies to make housing affordable

    Peter Saunders | 16 Mar 2005

    The house price bubble has finally burst. While it lasted, the boom added substantially to the wealth of existing home owners,... Read More

83. Welfare shake-up is long overdue

    Peter Saunders | 24 Feb 2005 | The Australian

    Forty years ago, fewer than one in 30 working-age adults relied on welfare payments as their main source of income. Today... Read More

84. We must cut taxes for rich and poor

    Peter Saunders | 08 Feb 2005 | The Australian

    After eight years of Liberal government, federal taxation is more onerous than ever. Last year federal taxes rose another... Read More

85. A fine idea, but it could be unfair

    Peter Saunders | 19 Jan 2005 | The Sydney Morning Herald

    The Australia Institute has proposed that speeding and parking fines should be graduated to reflect the income of offenders.... Read More

86. Loss of categories won't help welfare

    Peter Saunders | 27 Dec 2004 | The Australian

    Welfare reform is back on the Howard Government's agenda. Responsibility for income support payments has shifted to the Department... Read More

87. Fine time for a tax and welfare overhaul

    Peter Saunders | 26 Oct 2004 | The Australian Financial Review

    With the prospect of being able to get its legislation through both houses, the government has a golden opportunity to reform... Read More

88. Howard's obscene spending spree

    Peter Saunders | 29 Sep 2004 | The Australian

    Phillip Adams is right - 'the billions being showered on the electorate belong to the electorate' (Opinion, 28/9). Politicians... Read More

89. Two cheers for Labor's welfare reform

    Peter Saunders | 10 Sep 2004 | The Australian

    Let's give a muffled cheer for Labor's family tax policy - or maybe even two, but no more.  Both Labor and the Coalition... Read More

90. Lies & Statistics

    Peter Saunders | 28 Aug 2004 | The Australian Financial Review

    A report from the Australian Council of Social Service claims the problem of welfare dependency among working-age Australians... Read More

91. Lessons to learn from welfare reform in US

    Peter Saunders | 04 Aug 2004 | The Newcastle Herald

    THE proportion of the working-age population reliant on welfare payments has ballooned from 3 per cent in 1965 to more than... Read More

92. High time to start on the welfare cure

    Peter Saunders | 03 Aug 2004 | The Australian Financial Review

    Fewer than one in 30 working-age adults depended on income support as their main or sole source of income 40 years ago. Today,... Read More

93. Housing wealth holds the key to closing the money gap

    Peter Saunders | 13 Jul 2004 | The Sydney Morning Herald

    Ordinary families becoming rich through real estate is something to celebrate and promote, writes Professor Peter Saunders.  

94. Ramshackle propaganda exercise ignores reality

    Peter Saunders | 13 Jul 2004 | The Australian Financial Review

    Francis Sullivan (chief executive of Catholic Health Australia) says Australia is facing a huge and growing problem of poverty,... Read More

95. High Earners Count Cost Of Tax

    Peter Saunders | 02 Jun 2004 | The Australian Financial Review

    Three months ago on these pages, Professor Sinclair Davidson of RMIT University revealed that the top quarter of income... Read More

96. Welfare for parents increases risk of poverty

    Peter Saunders | 18 Jun 2003 | The Australian Financial Review

    It's time to eliminate the welfare incentives that keep single parents out of the workforce, a strategy most Australians... Read More

97. There's no conspiracy about poverty, there's just the facts

    Peter Saunders | 14 May 2003 | The Age

    It's an old tactic in politics. When you want to drown out your opponent's arguments, don't address what they say, just trash... Read More

98. Tax is the key to welfare reform

    Peter Saunders | 20 Jan 2003 | The Australian Financial Review

    Tony Abbott wants to reform tax and welfare so that it pays to work. His recent speech did not go into detail, but he wants... Read More

99. Working to beat the poverty trap

    Peter Saunders | 11 Dec 2002

    Two misconceptions continually cloud debates about poverty in Australia.  One is that poverty is widespread and getting... Read More

100. Poverty - flawed figures, gloomy estimates

     Peter Saunders | 22 Nov 2002 | The Adelaide Advertiser

     Poverty is a harsh word for harsh conditions. It conjures up images of people sleeping rough and of children going hungry... Read More

101. The poor are not poorer in fact

     Peter Saunders | 26 Oct 2002 | The Age

     The Commonwealth Government has just acceded to pressure from the ALP and the welfare-spending lobby to set up a Senate inquiry... Read More

102. A civil tongue is still crucial in politics

     Peter Saunders | 10 Oct 2002 | The Canberra Times

     Civility has been making the news over the last few weeks. This is heartening, for civility is a crucial social virtue, and... Read More

103. Just give us the figures, we can add

     Peter Saunders | 19 Jun 2002 | The Australian

     The Australian Bureau of Statistics this week released the latest Census findings. Collecting and publishing data about population... Read More

104. Painting by numbers with poor results: Official statistics aren't to be trusted

     Peter Saunders | 04 Jun 2002 | The Australian

     If you are one of those people who never believes official statistics, you will love this. The Australian Bureau of Statistics... Read More

105. Time to care for ourselves: Instead of a welfare state, it would be cheaper and more efficient if we each made our own arrangements

     Peter Saunders | 26 Mar 2002 | The New Zealand Herald

     The welfare state has developed over a hundred years.  In this time, increasing numbers of people have become dependent... Read More

106. For richer or poorer, we're still a lucky country: Don't exaggerate the extent of poverty in Australia

     Peter Saunders | 16 Jan 2002 | The Australian

     The Australian economy experienced remarkable growth during most of the 1990s.  Yet social researchers are still claiming... Read More

107. The great drink-driving scandal: Police road blitzes are wasteful and an affront to our liberties

     Peter Saunders | 13 Dec 2001 | The Age

     Over the last Labour Day weekend in NSW, 106,396 people were apprehended by the police in a major operation lasting 72 hours. ... Read More

108. A clumsy hand is no help: Governments are no good at social policy

     Peter Saunders | 06 Dec 2001 | The Australian

     US founding father and third president Thomas Jefferson was right after all: “The government that governs least is the... Read More

109. How 'liberal' is the Liberal Party?

     Peter Saunders | 14 Nov 2001 | ABC Radio

     Last weekend, Australians re-elected John Howard’s Liberal Party for a third term in government. It was a hard-fought campaign,... Read More

110. Threshold issues for a tax system that creates jobs

     Peter Saunders | 30 Nov -0001 | The Australian Financial Review

     An important debate is taking place in Australia about the future of welfare, taxation and award wages. The outcome of this... Read More