The Australian Welfare State and the Neoliberalism Thesis
This paper uses Australian Bureau of Statistics fiscal incidence figures to track trends in the Australian welfare state across the period 1984 to 2004. Its general aim is to assess the proposition that recent governments have been ‘grave-diggers’ of the welfare state in Australia. More specifically...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Routledge Publishing, Taylor & Francis Group
2012
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/27191 |
| _version_ | 1848752194807922688 |
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| author | Fenna, Alan Tapper, Alan |
| author_facet | Fenna, Alan Tapper, Alan |
| author_sort | Fenna, Alan |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This paper uses Australian Bureau of Statistics fiscal incidence figures to track trends in the Australian welfare state across the period 1984 to 2004. Its general aim is to assess the proposition that recent governments have been ‘grave-diggers’ of the welfare state in Australia. More specifically, it tracks the overall level of social expenditure at the household level and the degree of vertical redistribution between households. Since the period in question covers twelve years of Labor and eight years of Coalition government in Canberra, the authors also seek evidence of political effect in welfare state trends. Their general conclusion is that far from succumbing to neoliberalism, the Australian welfare state became if anything even larger over this period. Neither bipartisan economic liberalisation, nor competing party welfare policies, made much difference to the welfare state when viewed through a fiscal incidence lens. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:04:45Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-27191 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:04:45Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publisher | Routledge Publishing, Taylor & Francis Group |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-271912017-09-13T16:07:45Z The Australian Welfare State and the Neoliberalism Thesis Fenna, Alan Tapper, Alan Taxation Social Policy Fiscal Policy Neoliberalism Redistribution Welfare State Inequality Fiscal Incidence This paper uses Australian Bureau of Statistics fiscal incidence figures to track trends in the Australian welfare state across the period 1984 to 2004. Its general aim is to assess the proposition that recent governments have been ‘grave-diggers’ of the welfare state in Australia. More specifically, it tracks the overall level of social expenditure at the household level and the degree of vertical redistribution between households. Since the period in question covers twelve years of Labor and eight years of Coalition government in Canberra, the authors also seek evidence of political effect in welfare state trends. Their general conclusion is that far from succumbing to neoliberalism, the Australian welfare state became if anything even larger over this period. Neither bipartisan economic liberalisation, nor competing party welfare policies, made much difference to the welfare state when viewed through a fiscal incidence lens. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/27191 10.1080/10361146.2012.677007 Routledge Publishing, Taylor & Francis Group restricted |
| spellingShingle | Taxation Social Policy Fiscal Policy Neoliberalism Redistribution Welfare State Inequality Fiscal Incidence Fenna, Alan Tapper, Alan The Australian Welfare State and the Neoliberalism Thesis |
| title | The Australian Welfare State and the Neoliberalism Thesis |
| title_full | The Australian Welfare State and the Neoliberalism Thesis |
| title_fullStr | The Australian Welfare State and the Neoliberalism Thesis |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Australian Welfare State and the Neoliberalism Thesis |
| title_short | The Australian Welfare State and the Neoliberalism Thesis |
| title_sort | australian welfare state and the neoliberalism thesis |
| topic | Taxation Social Policy Fiscal Policy Neoliberalism Redistribution Welfare State Inequality Fiscal Incidence |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/27191 |