University of Melbourne experts available to comment on the release of the Federal Budget

Media Release, Tuesday 13 May 2008

University of Melbourne economics experts, Neville Norman and John Freebairn will be available for comment following the release of the latest Federal budget this evening.

Professor John Freebairn is an applied microeconomics and policy analysis expert from the Department of Economics in the Faculty of Economics and Commerce. Associate Professor Neville Norman is an economic theorist working in the same faculty.

Journalists please note: Professor Norman is available after 4.30pm this afternoon, Professor Freebairn after 3pm tomorrow. Contact details are listed below.

Today’s budget, the first from Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan, is the government’s biggest economic statement for the year. Tax reform is predicted to be one of the central focuses of this year’s budget, as will changes to the Medicare surcharge, and new initiatives in welfare, climate change and water.

Professor Freebairn is a former Chair in Economics at the Melbourne Institute for Applied Economics and Social Research. He has most recently been awarded a grant by the Australian Research Council to investigate the ‘Effects of Private Health Insurance on Health Care Usage and Health Outcomes in Australia’. He has also done research into tax reform and Labour market policy in Australia. More information on Professor Freebairn is available here: www.findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/researcher/person14508.html.

Associate Professor Norman is a long standing member of The Age’s Economic Forecasting Panel. He has been a regular commentator on microeconomics and economic theory over the past 20 years, and most recently contributed a chapter on the Australian economy in “Regional Surveys of the World: Australasia and the Far East.” More info on Neville Norman here: www.findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/researcher/person12829.html.