Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Tuesday 31 May
6:15 PM - 7:15 PM
In the middle of the election campaign, Question Time goes fiscal – with a focus on all things economic. Series host Madeleine Morris will lead a full hour of audience questions, covering the budget’s winners and losers, election promises and tax reform – from superannuation and negative gearing to the GST, personal income tax and tax avoidance laws.
How does the government plan to rationalise Australia’s spending, and what are the likely effects on the household hip pocket? What does a fair tax system look like? What are the costs and benefits of economic reform … and, with both parties promising spending cuts, how will voters respond?
Nut out the nation’s pecuniary progress – and untangle the complexity of public money – with our user-friendly cadre of experts: Econobabble author and Australia Institute chief economist Richard Denniss, economics professor and former government advisor John Freebairn, and esteemed political journalist Michelle Grattan.
Featuring
Madeleine Morris
Madeleine Morris is a Melbourne-based reporter for ABC television’s 7.30. She was formerly a presenter for the BBC in London and reported from dozens of countries before returning to her native Australia. She is the author of Guilt-Free Bottle-Feeding: Why Your Formula-Fed Baby Can Grow Up To Be Happy, Healthy and Smart, published by Finch.
Michelle Grattan
Michelle Grattan AO is one of Australia’s most respected and awarded political journalists. She has been a member of the Canberra parliamentary press gallery for more than 40 years, during which time she has covered all the most significant stories in Australian politics.
As a former editor of The Canberra Times, Michelle Grattan was also the first female editor of an Australian daily newspaper. She has been with the Australian Financial Review, the Sydney Morning Herald and Political Editor of the Age since 2004.
Michelle currently has a dual role with an academic position at the University of Canberra and as Associate Editor (Politics) and Chief Political Correspondent at The Conversation.
She is the author, co-author and editor of several books and was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2004 for her long and distinguished service to Australian journalism.
Richard Denniss
Dr Richard Denniss is Chief Economist at The Australia Institute, Australia’s foremost public policy think tank. Richard is renowned for his ability to clearly explain complicated economic ideas and develop creative new solutions. A prolific writer, Richard regularly contributes to The Guardian, The Australian Financial Review, The Saturday Paper and The Monthly.
He has written or co-written six books, including the bestselling Affluenza: When too Much Is Never Enough and Econobabble: How to Decode Political Spin and Economic Nonsense.
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John Freebairn
John Freebairn holds the Ritchie chair in economics at the University of Melbourne. He has degrees from the University of New England and the University of California, Davis. Prior to joining Melbourne in 1996, his preceding career includes university appointments at the ANU, LaTrobe and Monash, and periods with the NSW Department of Agriculture and the Business Council of Australia. John is an applied microeconomist and economic policy analyst with current interests in taxation reform and environmental economics. In addition to academic publications he has been a consultant for the commonwealth and state governments, and is a regular contributor to media discussions of economic policy.