menu_open Columnists
Melissa Bray

Melissa Bray

Financial Review

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Time is over for tinkering with how we divide the GST pie

Time is over for tinkering with how we divide the GST pie

Increasing the rate and broadening the base would open up opportunities for broader tax reform, including addressing our over-reliance on income...

yesterday 10

Financial Review

Melissa Bray

Labor has broken the tax reform ice. Now it must keep going

There is a big list of tax reforms Australia needs to tackle, including company tax, pricing natural resource extraction and dealing with the...

14.07.2026 10

Financial Review

Melissa Bray

The budget could add another Townsville to the economy. Here’s how

Reforms agreed to under a revised national competition policy agenda could permanently add another Townsville-sized economy to Australia

29.06.2026 20

Financial Review

Melissa Bray

Are men taking too many risks – or women too few?

Research by Alison Booth shows risk-taking is not biologically innate, showing how environments can be altered to push talented women into elite...

15.06.2026 30

Financial Review

Melissa Bray

The new KPI for public servants: Avoiding a viral Senate moment

With questions on notice more than tripling since 2022, the growing administrative burden of parliamentary scrutiny must be diverting vital resources...

10.06.2026 20

Financial Review

Melissa Bray

Did Chalmers take women economists’ advice on the budget?

One way to assess the budget is to look at how it stacks up against what three leading female economic experts called for in the week before it was...

19.05.2026 30

Financial Review

Melissa Bray

Our debt problem is structural – and getting more costly

Owing more money today means that the federal government will have less flexibility to deal with whatever is coming our way next.

12.05.2026 30

Financial Review

Melissa Bray

Treasury insider on what you really need to look for in budget

The government has failed to include specific and measurable targets in its fiscal strategy. I’ll be looking to see if it’s been updated.

05.05.2026 40

Financial Review

Melissa Bray

What I learnt about fuel prices driving from Canberra to Perth

A 3600-kilometre drive reveals the stark lack of price transparency outside WA, as fuel prices rocket despite the government’s excise intervention.

20.04.2026 20

Financial Review

Melissa Bray

How healthy is our democracy? The answer might worry you

As our environment grows more uncertain, pressure on government will grow, and cracks in key parts of our transparency framework will be further...

06.04.2026 30

Financial Review

Melissa Bray

3 budget traps Jim Chalmers must avoid (and one move he can’t ignore)

The government should not feel pressured to put together an under-considered package of reforms that would likely be abandoned.

23.03.2026 50

Financial Review

Melissa Bray

Women in economics have come a long way in a decade

Despite all the progress, we still have a way to go. And a female treasurer is still to come.

09.03.2026 40

Financial Review

Melissa Bray

Sunken budget honesty rules need a facelift

If we want more honesty in budgeting, effective fiscal guardrails, and improved fiscal policy outcomes, it’s time for an independent review of the...

23.02.2026 30

Financial Review

Melissa Bray

Want lower income taxes? Start with the GST

The last comprehensive review of tax in Australia, the Henry review, was specifically excluded from considering the GST.

10.02.2026 40

Financial Review

Melissa Bray

Dangerous love affair with personal income tax will leave us poorer

Revenue from individuals forms our biggest tax base, but there are risks if we overload it. It’s time for a national conversation about...

27.01.2026 30

Financial Review

Melissa Bray

Is our tax system fit for purpose? The $200b costing the budget

Imagine what the government could do if it chose to cut back on some of the 300 taxation expenditures, or even just stopped adding to the number of...

12.01.2026 40

Financial Review

Melissa Bray

Stop tinkering, start serious tax reform in 2026

If the PM and treasurer want to be remembered for leading Australia’s next reforming government, their New Year’s resolutions should include...

28.12.2025 30

Financial Review

Melissa Bray

5 things to look out for in MYEFO (and where to find them)

Previous treasurers set quantitative fiscal rules for themselves against which the government’s performance could be measured. Not this one.

14.12.2025 30

Financial Review

Melissa Bray