Alan Moran

Alan Moran is the Director of Deregulation unit at the right-wing think tank the Institute of Public Affairs. He works to end most government regulation and he is a climate change skeptic, opposing the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.

A biographical note states that "worked as a market analyst in the automobile manufacturing industry" in the United kingdom before moving to Australia in 1974. "In Australia, he has worked in a range of positions with the Federal Departments of Trade and Industry and Commerce. He headed up the Commonwealth's Business Regulation Review Unit and in 1990 joined the Industry Commission. He then joined the Tasman Institute as Research Director where he worked on privatization and environmental economics, before joining the Victorian Department of Agriculture, Energy and Minerals, where he was Deputy-Secretary of Energy."

Between 1984 and 1987 he was Deputy Secretary, Department of Treasury.

In September 2005, Moran endorsed the concept of Australia establishing a dump for global nuclear waste. "It poses no threat, there have been no mishaps since 1944, but Australia could provide a permanent solution to other countries' problems," he said.

The Deregulation Unit of the IPA
This unit of the IPA was set up in Melbourne, Victoria, with funding by the Australian tobacco company WD & HO Wills, which is a subsidiary of British-American Tobacco. The agreement to fund the establishment of this unit was made between Martin Riordan, BAT/Will's Manager of Corporate Affairs and John Hyde (WA Liberal politician and Director of the IPA) in a letter dated 10th June 1994. 

The letter shows that the IPA was also fronting a luncheon club in Melbourne to be called "OverRuled" which would become a recruiting ground for business executives opposed to government regulations. They were supported in this by journalist Dennis Pryor, and Geoff Drucker, the head of the Victorian PR firm, Corporate Kudo. Corporate Kudo had recently warehoused Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett's advertising company (KNF Advertising) when he ran into conflict-of-interest problems with having his family company (run nominally by his wife, Felicity) involved in government business.

David Kemp, the Liberal politician and son of the founder of the IPA was also involved, as was Geoff Hogbin, [misspelled] who worked for the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney (effectively an associate company of the IPA) -- and later ran a project for the tobacco industry to tour an American 'risk analysis expert' W. Kip Viscusi (actually W Kevin Viscusi) around Australia to promote industry propaganda. Hogbin's involvement suggests that the intention was to expand these operations into New South Wales. Hogbin had previously launched a "Regulatory Review Unit" in the offices of the CIS in Sydney (6 December 1993).

Climate Change "Dirty Dozen"
In a talk given in Australia on 20 February 2006, Clive Hamiliton (director of The Australia Institute) identifies Alan Moran as one of Australia's climate change "dirty dozen" (these include: Hugh Morgan, John Eyles, Ron Knapp, Alan Oxley, Peter Walsh, Meg McDonald, Barry Jones, Chris Mitchell, Ian MacFarlane, Alan Moran, Malcolm Broomhead, and John Howard):
 * "As the head of the Regulatory Unit at the Institute for Public Affairs, a right-wing think tank with close ties to greenhouse sceptics, Moran's role has been to support the Government and the fossil fuel corporations with anti-environmental opinions about climate science, the costs of emission reductions and the pitfalls of renewable energy. As a bureaucrat in the Kennett Government he played a major role in stopping, for a time, the national adoption of energy performance standards for home appliances that had been agreed by all the states. The IPA has assisted the anti-wind lobby in Victoria, a move that appears to be driven by hatred of environmentalists and a relentless scepticism about climate change."

Public Transport
Alan Moran is a frequent commentator on public transport, opposing any government spending. Ironically, despite his beliefs for the free market and minimal government intervention, he is not opposed to similar (or greater) spending by governments on roads. He is purported to have completed a doctorate in public transport economics, however, his early employment is limited to the automative industry prior to becoming a lobbyist for deregulation and privatisation. His views on public transport are considered by many to be outdated and inaccurate to begin with.

As an example for the comments made by Moran, he often argues that because most people travel by car they have a preference to do so. He takes little consideration for the fact that car usage is the result of poor planning and lack of public transport provision to new suburbs. He also argues that because most trips are made by car, government spending on transport should be limited to roads, thus ensuring that most trips continue being made by car. In addition, his claims are often inconsistent. For example, in a debate on the ABC's Difference of Opinion (Thursday 26 July 2007), he makes the claim that people presently only use public transport because it's because paid for by the government. However, he later makes the claim that even if public transport were free, people won't use it. Some claims are unsubstantiated, such as his claim that the private car is equivalent to an infinite on-demand frequency (The Age, December 14, 2007). However, clearly this is impossible as road capacity is far from infinite.

Related SourceWatch Artciles

 * think tanks

Opinion Articles By Moran

 * "Alan Moran:Director, Deregulation Unit", accessed January 2005.
 * Alan Moran, "Hazelwood trumps the politics", The Age, September 13, 2005.
 * Alan Moran, "Time to dump anti-dumping regime", Herald Sun, October 22, 2005.
 * Alan Moran, "Planning red tape the real culprit", The Age, October 27, 2005.
 * Alan Moran, "Putting a tax on our parks", The Age, November 17, 2005.
 * Alan Moran, "Maintaining some balance in power", The Age, December 15, 2005.
 * Alan Moran, "Regulation proves Hydra-headed", Australian Financial Review, January 11, 2006.
 * Alan Moran, "Quixotic tax tilting at windmills", The Age, February 3, 2006.
 * Alan Moran, "Don't be too transported with delight", The Age, March 30, 2006.
 * Alan Moran, "Yes, minister, it takes ages, costs more", The Age, May 24, 2006.
 * Alan Moran, "Government is just getting in the way", Australian Financial Review, May 30, 2006.
 * Alan Moran, "All hail to the new godless religion: environmentalism", The Age, November 24, 2006.
 * Alan Moran, "Planning rules price more people out of housing market", The Age, January 23, 2007.
 * Alan Moran, "Rudd's broadband plan doomed to commercial failure", The Age, March 23, 2007.
 * Alan Moran., "Carbon tax or trade? It's all academic", The Age, March 29, 2007.
 * Alan Moran, "Nuclear, not solar, power is brown coal alternative", The Age, June 20, 2007.
 * Alan Moran, "Government should leave photovoltaic panels in the shade", The Age, July 10, 2007.
 * Alan Moran, "Impact statements drag us through the mill", Herald Sun, September 8, 2007.
 * Alan Moran, "Wheels have fallen off transport debate", The Age, December 14, 2007.
 * Alan Moran, "More land, lower prices - guaranteed", The Age, March 13, 2008.
 * Alan Moran, "Melbourne's public transport is on a road to nowhere", The Age, April 7, 2008.
 * Alan Moran, "Wong right to put off our targets", The Australian, December 02, 2008.
 * Alan Moran, "Ease the squeeze on power utilities", The Age, February 2, 2009.
 * Alan Moran, "A chance to cut our losses", The Australian, January 21, 2010.

General Articles

 * Gerard McManus, "Hawke's cash-for-waste idea", Herald Sun, September 28, 2005.
 * Stephen Martin, "Wind farm economics: a drain on funds or a boost of energy?", ABC (South West Victora), 16 February 2006. (Interview with Moran on his windpower report).
 * Clive Hamiliton, "The Dirty Politics of Climate Change", Speech to the Climate Change and Business Conference, 20 February, 2006.
 * Mitchell Hooke, "Narrow take on MCA advocacy", Letter to the Editor, Australian Financial Review, April 28, 2006. (This letter is in response to an opinion column by Moran).
 * Phin,"How on earth did Alan Moran get a PhD in 'public transport economics'?", Blog posting by an economics student about the flaws in Alan Moran's claim to holding a PhD in "public transport economics" and the holes in his general arguments, December 19, 2007.