This paper analyses various aspects of the economics of logging high conservation value native forests. After outlining the multiple uses of these forests, evidence is reviewed that suggests that subsidisation of logging is extensive. Next the paper reviews work that indicates that when account is taken of the environmental values lost due to logging (including the value of water with alternative uses) there are net social costs from logging high conservation native forests. Finally, changes to the structure of the wood products industry are analysed and it is argued that the growth of plantation timber, although rapid, has been constrained by subsidisation of native forests logging. Despite this, the data show that plantation-sourced wood will capture most of the market for sawn timber and pulp within a decade. There is thus the opportunity for Australia to have its timber needs met without the environmental costs associated with logging of native forests.

This paper examines the predicament of timber workers in the woodchipping industry, with particular reference to Western Australia, but existent throughout Australia. Of distinctive interest is the conflictual situation, and on occasion violent confrontation, which has arisen between timber workers and conservationists. It is concluded that continuing conflict between timber workers and conservationists will, at best, simply displace the environmental problem of logging old-growth forests by the creation of another problem of inequitably distributed resources. Resolution of the conflict requires these two main players to achieve empathetic communication and a negotiated settlement - if, given their very different world views, it is feasible.

The question of how often to log is examined applying two different methods – one optimizes over time the value of its timber harvested and the other considers the forest as a multi-use resource. The former, applied to data for the Eden area given an optimal rotation period of 25 years, the latter suggests that it is optimal never to harvest pristine native old growth forests.

To what extent have wages recently increased in Australia? Have these increases been excessive? There are a myriad of wage data series produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. These series reflect different questions and different perspectives about wages. In the context of the previously centralised wage determination process the dissection and analysis of aggregate wage series was an important exercise for industry and academic economists. However, the analysis and interpretation of aggregate wage data has become more difficult in the light of a number of developments: (a) falling award coverage, (b) the development and uneven spread of enterprise bargaining, (c) the industrial and demographic restructuring of the workforce, (d) the growth in non-wage benefits, (e) the growth in non-standard employment What are the available options for measuring aggregate wages growth in the light of these above developments? To what extent has recent wage growth been excessive?

Women continue to lag some distance behind men in the Australian labour market - in relation to pay differentials, recognition of their skills, award coverage and their concentration in part-time and casual work. This article examines the implications of Labor and Coalition industrial relations policies in relation to women with a focus on three issues; the level of decentralisaton of the system; the strength of the safety net underpinning enterprise industrial relations; and the role of unions. The article concludes that while women are further disadvantaged by some aspects of Labor’s current enterprise bargaining processes, they would be much more damaged by the coalition’s proposals.

The Minimum Wage, in various variants, has been an important part of Australian wage determination for over a century. This paper documents the development of the minimum wage and in so doing highlights the pivotal role of the Sunshine Harvester case. That case left a number of legacies which are examined in other parts of the paper. These include the bifurcated nature of wage determination, consideration of family size, the sexual division of labour and wages, the conflict between needs and capacity to pay, wage adjustment indexes and the role of minimum wages in a decentralised wages system.

Collective bargaining can be of benefit to both employees and employers. Nevertheless, there is growing interest in individual contracts, as part of a broader agenda for labour market flexibility. In particular, individual contracts are being pursued by some companies as part of a human resource management strategy to increase productivity by reducing the role of third parties and promoting ‘common purpose’ between the firm and its employees. There is some evidence that individual contracts can indeed contribute to higher productivity. The challenge for policy makers is to provide sufficient flexibility in the area of individual contracts while preventing employers from using them to reduce wages and conditions.