The Stutchbury Sessions

Michael Stutchbury interviews Brett Stevenson about his new CIS paper The Discipline of Profit, which tests the claim that Woolworths and Coles have been raking in megaprofits at the expense of shoppers, suppliers and staff. Stevenson goes to the only place the argument can actually be settled: the companies’ own audited accounts.

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👉 Further reading: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/the-discipline-of-profit-what-supermarket-accounts-reveal-about-profiteering-debate/

Watch here: https://youtu.be/8PZDxDVb1_o

A national survey of more than 370 teachers finds classroom disruption is costing students an average of 12 weeks of learning a year — roughly one-third of instructional time

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👉 Further reading: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/classrooms-in-crisis-australian-teachers-perspectives-on-student-behaviour/

Michael Stutchbury interviews the Hon Graeme Watson, former Vice President of the Fair Work Commission, about how Australia’s workplace relations system is holding back productivity, real wages, investment and business growth.

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👉 Further reading: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/wrong-way-go-back-how-australias-workplace-relations-system-is-holding-back-growth-wages-and-opportunity/

Michael Stutchbury interviews Dr Peter Tulip about new NSW data showing development applications and lodgements rising sharply, with building approvals expected to climb but still falling short of the federal housing target. The conversation explains recent NSW reforms like transport‑oriented development and low/mid‑rise housing, and why supply constraints from local councils matter for affordability.

The episode also reveals a ‘naughty list’ of lagging councils, outlines graduated remedies (naming, inspections, state intervention), and explores the debate between concentrating high‑rise near transport hubs versus spreading townhouses more widely across suburbs.

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👉 Further reading: https://www.cis.org.au/publication/will-nsw-meet-its-housing-target/

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At the Centre for Independent Studies' annual Liberty and Society student conference, 38 students from Australia and New Zealand explored classical liberal philosophy, free markets and social cohesion through talks and debates led by leading scholars and former officials.

Speakers traced the historical shift from Keynesian to pro-market ideas, discussed free speech and the rule of law, and challenged students to lead a renewed classical liberal movement for their generation.

In this Stutch Sessions episode Parnell Palm McGuinness, author of the CIS report Generation Trapped, explains how young Australians (18–34) split into six distinct 'tribes' all still aspire to homeownership, family, meaningful work and financial security, but feel blocked by high housing costs and limited agency.

The conversation covers the political fallout from recent tax changes (capital gains and negative gearing), young entrepreneurs' resentment at perceived penalties on risk-taking, rising distrust in government spending, and the broader implications for policy: boosting opportunity and agency rather than punitive measures.

Watch here: https://youtu.be/NpXfg20UPWg

Hosted by CIS Executive Director Michael Stutchbury, this roundtable brings together Robert Carling (CIS Senior Fellow, former Treasury and IMF official), Professor Richard Holden (UNSW Business School), and Chris Richardson (Principal, Rich Insight and Australia's most cited budget economist) for a frank, wide-ranging conversation on the fiscal pressures facing Australia.

They discuss rising inflation, a productivity slowdown, a housing crisis, a federal debt approaching $1 trillion, and whether Chalmers' promises on savings, tax reform, and intergenerational equity stack up.

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CIS promotes free choice and individual liberty and the open exchange of ideas. CIS encourages debate among leading academics, politicians, media and the public. We aim to make sure good policy ideas are heard and seriously considered so that Australia can prosper.

As much as anything, the Centre for Independent Studies’ first 50 years has been dedicated to restraining the growth in the size, reach and financing of government to provide room for private enterprise and individual choice. 

Now, as in the mid-1970s, the size of government has been ratcheted up. And politicians are increasing taxes to pay for it.  

This week, CIS senior fellow Robert Carling has delivered an important corrective to the mantra that taxes aren’t really much of a burden in Australia. 

Grim reality of the NDIS leviathan

“It will start big and get bigger and grow to become the new leviathan of the Australian welfare state,” CIS scholar Andrew Baker further predicted of Labor’s National Disability Insurance Scheme in his 2012 policy monograph.

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The hard lesson of Australia’s protectionist past is that propping up uncompetitive and high cost industries invariably poses a burden on other sectors, including on the mining, gas and farm exporters that actually support our prosperity.  

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