The Australia Institute Feed Items

Australia’s higher education system is broken. University Vice-Chancellors – the CEOs of today’s corporatised higher education system – are among the highest paid in the world. Meanwhile, students suffer from expensive degrees, expanding debts and meagre income support, and staff are subjected to job insecurity, casualisation, hours of unpaid work and even outright employment law contraventions.

None of this is inevitable. Government choices matter, Australia created the current system, and Australia can create a better system that prioritises students and workers. Other countries have shown that this can work. In the words of Australia Institute Executive Director Richard Denniss

“…just consider the fact that in Norway, they tax the fossil fuel industry and give kids free university education, in Australia we subsidise the fossil fuel industry and charge kids a fortune to go to university.”

On this episode of Follow the Money, Democracy & Accountability Director Bill Browne joins us to discuss the latest political donations data and why tens of thousands of Australians are concerned about the Government’s proposed electoral changes.

This discussion was recorded on Tuesday 4 February 2025 and things may have changed since recording.

Order What’s the Big Idea? 32 Big Ideas for a Better Australia now, via the Australia Institute website.

Guest: Bill Browne, Director, Democracy & Accountability, the Australia Institute // @browne90

Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, the Australia Institute // @ebony_bennett

Show notes: 

Electoral Reform Bill analysis by Bill Browne and Joshua Black, the Australia Institute (February 2025)

SIGN NOW: Protect our elections!, the Australia Institute

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions

On this episode of After America, Associate Professor Clare Corbould joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss the relentlessness of the new Trump administration and the media coverage of his first two weeks in office.

This discussion was recorded on Friday 31 January 2025 and things may have changed since recording.

Order What’s the Big Idea? 32 Big Ideas for a Better Australia now, via the Australia Institute website.

Guest: Clare Corbould, Associate Head of School, Research, Faculty of Arts and Education, Deakin University // @clarecorbould

Host: Emma Shortis, Director, International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute // @EmmaShortis

Show notes:

Presidency Pending hosted by Clare Corbould and Zim Nwokora, Deakin University

Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism by Yanis Varoufakis (September 2023)

On this episode of Dollars & Sense, Greg and Elinor discuss the December quarter inflation figures, the political battle over the economy, and Dutton’s appointment of Jacinta Nampijinpa Price to an Elon Musk-style ‘government efficiency’ position.

This discussion was recorded on Thursday 30 January 2025 and things may have changed since recording.

In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14.

Order What’s the Big Idea? 32 Big Ideas for a Better Australia now, via the Australia Institute website.

Host: Greg Jericho, Chief Economist, the Australia Institute and Centre for Future Work // @grogsgamut

Host: Elinor Johnston-Leek, Senior Content Producer, the Australia Institute // @elinorjohnstonleek

Show notes:

‘No more excuses: the time has come for the RBA to cut interest rates’ by Greg Jericho, Guardian Australia (January 2025)

It might surprise most Australians to know that Australia’s Vice-Chancellors – the ‘CEOs’ of the today’s corporatised university sector – are among the highest paid in the world.

This was not always the case. In 1985, Vice-Chancellors were already paid quite generously, over $300,000 per year in today’s terms (all salary figures are adjusted for inflation to 2024 dollars). At this time remuneration for Vice-Chancellors was partially regulated through the Academic Salaries Tribunal. In the late 1980s, the Hawke government implemented the ‘Dawkins Revolution’, a range of reforms to the higher education system which included replacement of free university education with HECS and the deregulation of Vice-Chancellor salaries. By 1995, remuneration for Vice-Chancellors in the Group of Eight (Go8) universities had more than doubled, to about $660,000.

By 2023, generosity had become absurdity, and remuneration for Go8 Vice-Chancellors reached nearly $1.3 million per year, more than quadrupling since 1985.

This exorbitant remuneration for Vice-Chancellors is not however improving the learning experience of students. There is no strong relationship between Vice-Chancellor pay and student satisfaction – and if anything those universities with higher paid vice-chancellors are more likely to have lower student satisfaction.

As Australia enters a new school year, a submission from The Australia Institute highlights the growing disparity between public and private school funding, revealing that taxpayers are helping fund lavish private school facilities and the high salaries of private school principals.

In a submission to a New South Wales inquiry into private school profits, the Institute reveals that tax-deductible donations to private school building funds cost the Australian government millions of dollars annually in lost revenue. These funds often go toward extravagant facilities that only benefit wealthy school communities. Examples include:

• Cranbrook School in Sydney, which spent $125 million on a five-story sandstone building featuring an Olympic-sized pool and 267-seat theatre.
• The Scots College, which spent $29 million to renovate its library into a Scottish Baronial-style castle.
• The King’s School paid $15 million for land near Lane Cove National Park for staff and student camps.

The report also exposes the massive pay gap between public and private school principals. While public school principals in NSW earn between $140,000 and $216,000, elite private school principals in Sydney can earn an average of $687,000 annually.

Key Recommendations:

Today’s inflation figures revealed the official CPI is well within the Reserve Bank’s target range of 2% to 3% and underlying inflation is coming down at a solid pace. These figures will have Australians looking forward to a rate cut, but the RBA is making them wait longer than they should.

Every other year before now, the Reserve Bank board would have been meeting next week on the first Tuesday of February. For some apparent reason that has not been shared with the public, the RBA board will only meet in 3 weeks time on the 17th and 18th of February. This will mean that the RBA board will not have met for 2 months since its last meeting – crucially at a time when inflation has been falling and households are dealing with interest rates set at levels that were put in place when inflation was 4.1%, not the current level of 2.4%.

The December quarter inflation figures reveal just how behind the times is the RBA. In the final three months of 2024, overall prices grew just 0.2% – that would annualise to just 0.8%! We are at a point where prices are rising slower than the Reserve Bank aims for them to rise.

Australia’s inflation has also fallen faster than in the USA. This is mostly because Australia’s inflation problem has been helped by government policy.

While some conservative economists have attempted to argue that government spending has fuelled inflation, today’s figures show government policy has directly led to inflation falling.

On this special crossover episode of After America and Follow the Money, Dr Emma Shortis and Ebony Bennett discuss the role of Elon Musk, Trump’s pause on all US foreign aid, his ability to ‘flood the zone’, and just how much better he is at it this time around.

This discussion was recorded on Tuesday 28 January 2025 and things may have changed since recording.

Get your tickets for the Australia Institute’s Climate Integrity Summit 2025 now.

Order What’s the Big Idea? 32 Big Ideas for a Better Australia now, via the Australia Institute website.

Host: Emma Shortis, Director, International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute // @EmmaShortis

Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, the Australia Institute // @ebony_bennett

Show notes: 

New findings released today reveal alarming trends in firearm ownership across Australia, showing that the number of guns in private hands has grown significantly since the Port Arthur massacre, and regulation across states and territories is failing to keep pace with community expectations.

Key Findings:

• There are more guns in Australia than there were before the Port Arthur massacre.
• Firearms are not confined to rural areas, with a third of guns in New South Wales located in Sydney, Newcastle, and Wollongong.
• All states and territories are failing to meet key criteria for effective gun control, including data transparency and limits on the number of firearms a person can own.
• On average, a firearms licence holder owns more than 4 guns, with two individuals in suburban Sydney each owning over 300 firearms.
• Three-in-four Australians support limits on the number of firearms an individual can possess.

The report found gun ownership in Australia varies significantly across states. Western Australia is the only state with a cap on the number of firearms a licence holder can own, while New South Wales is the only state making comprehensive data on gun ownership publicly available. This inconsistency across the country has facilitated access to new weapons that are illegal in one place but not another.

Allowing public hearings whenever in the public interest

The NACC can only hold public hearings in “exceptional circumstances” and when “it is in the public interest to do so”. The Hon Robert Redlich was the head of the Victorian anti-corruption  watchdog, which is also only permitted to hold public hearings in “exceptional circumstances”. Redlich argues there is no need “to require ‘exceptional circumstances’”.

The NACC should instead be allowed to hold public hearings whenever it is in the public interest, regardless of whether the circumstances are exceptional or not. Public hearings would build trust and allow the commission to demonstrate that it is investigating corruption effectively and appropriately. They would also discourage corruption by showing the consequences for such behaviour.

Two in three Australians (67%) agree the NACC should be able to hold public hearings whenever they are in the public interest.

The Wrap with Amy Remeikis

If seeing the new world order sitting in the front row of Donald Trump’s inauguration didn’t send a chill down your spine then there may not be a lot of point reading beyond this line.

Much has been said about the oligarchy threatening America’s democracy.  But this is not an oligarchy we are facing.  It’s a plutocracy.

The difference is money.  An oligarchy is a small group of people who have amassed power, while a plutocracy is a small group of wealthy people who have amassed power.

And you might think it is just semantics, but in this case, it matters.

These plutocrats own the public square.  We carry around their devices in our pockets, they own our personal information, they know who we talk to, and who we listen to. We drive their cars, we fill our homes with their products, we shop on their platforms. American journalist Ken Klippenstein calls them the ‘appistocracy’ and they now have the ear of the ‘leader of the free world’ because their apps helped support his path to power.

Elon Musk has since turned his attention to UK politics, laying the groundwork through his ownership of one of the biggest social media platforms in the world to elevate his own beliefs and sew the seeds of discontent. No democracy is immune from the immense reach of the richest people on earth who are currently in a race to become the world’s first trillionaire, without care of who or what they crush to do it.

While it is state laws that impose these draconian penalties, the Federal Government could secure the freedom to protest by legislating federal protections for peaceful protest, in line with Australia’s obligations under international agreements.

Whether it is women’s suffrage, the eight-hour workday or saving the Franklin River from being dammed, protest movements have been responsible for some of Australia’s most significant advances in human rights and environmental protection.

However, in recent years, governments across Australia have responded to peaceful protests, such as blockades to protect native forests or to stop fossil fuel infrastructure damaging natural environments, Indigenous heritage and farmland, by rushing through draconian anti-protest laws.

Research from The Australia Institute has found the introduction of a government-funded cultural pass could revitalise Australia’s struggling live music sector.

The proposal, discussed in a recent inquiry into the challenges facing the Australian live music industry, aims to subsidise concert ticket costs for young people, encouraging greater participation in cultural events.

Key Findings:

• 80% of young Australians would attend more live music events if a $200 government-funded voucher were available.
• European countries (including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland) have successfully implemented similar initiatives, offering youth vouchers for cultural events.
• Evidence from France shows that 66% of pass holders discovered new cultural venues, which more than 55% revisited after their pass expired.
• The Australian live music industry is still recovering from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with many venues and festivals facing ongoing financial challenges.
• Investing in cultural passes could provide a much-needed boost to the sector, supporting Australian artists and increasing access to live music for young Australians.

“The evidence from Europe shows that cultural passes are an effective way of getting young people to engage with the arts,” said Morgan Harrington, Research Manager at The Australia Institute.

“For a small investment, the Commonwealth could give live music a huge boost.

On this episode of Dollars & Sense, Greg and Elinor discuss fearful grandmas, angry farmers and the political fight over superannuation reforms.

This discussion was recorded on Thursday 23 January 2025 and things may have changed since recording.

Order What’s the Big Idea? 32 Big Ideas for a Better Australia now, via the Australia Institute website.

Host: Greg Jericho, Chief Economist, the Australia Institute and Centre for Future Work // @grogsgamut

Host: Elinor Johnston-Leek, Senior Content Producer, the Australia Institute // @elinorjohnstonleek

Show notes:

‘Misleading fear campaigns may kill Labor’s superannuation changes. But here are the real numbers’ by Greg Jericho, Guardian Australia (January 2025)

“Much-needed” super changes should pass, the Australia Institute (January 2025)

On this episode of Follow the Money, Australia Institute Executive Director Richard Denniss joins Ebony Bennett to examine the year ahead in federal politics and how the Trump presidency could impact Australia.

This discussion was recorded on Tuesday 21 January 2025 and things may have changed since recording.

Order What’s the Big Idea? 32 Big Ideas for a Better Australia now, via the Australia Institute website.

Guest: Richard Denniss, Executive Director, the Australia Institute // @richarddenniss

Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, the Australia Institute // @ebonybennett

Show notes:

LA fires add to climate insurance crisis, the Australia Institute (January 2025)

Rate cut already overdue: RBA should meet in January, the Australia Institute (December 2025)

Theme music: Pulse and Thrum; additional music by Blue Dot Sessions

On this episode of After America, Allan Behm and Dr Emma Shortis discuss Trump’s inauguration, his radical agenda to reshape American life and the United States’ role in the world, and how Australia can respond.

This discussion was recorded on Tuesday 21 January 2025 and things may have changed since recording.

Get your tickets for the Australia Institute’s Climate Integrity Summit 2025 now.

Order What’s the Big Idea? 32 Big Ideas for a Better Australia now, via the Australia Institute website.

Guest: Allan Behm, Special Advisor in International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute

Host: Emma Shortis, Director, International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute // @EmmaShortis

Show notes:

‘Trump promises a second term focused on immigration and nationalism – as well as revenge and retribution’ by Emma Shortis, The Conversation (January 2025)

The changes would double the tax on super balances of $3m and over, from 15% to 30%.

The vast majority of Australians can only dream of retiring with a super balance of $3 million. Most people end their working lives with just a fraction of that.

While the superannuation system has enabled the likes of farmers and small business owners to place assets such as farms and properties into their super, the number of those who do that is small and most – if not all – do so as a way of reducing the amount of tax they pay.

This is not what the superannuation system was designed to do.

In the most recent financial year, the Treasury Department estimated the concessions of superannuation earnings and contributions cost the government $51.7bn in foregone revenue. This compares to the cost of the Age Pension of $58.9b.

If these companies were adequately taxed, federal and state governments would have more money to spend on healthcare, education, infrastructure and more money to spend on the arts.

When a local author publishes a book, they sign an agreement with a company for their work to be edited, designed and published, then sold to readers.

For each book sold, the author is entitled to a royalty or a share of the total revenue the publisher received for selling the book.

If they’re lucky, the rights will sell internationally, and the book will be available around the world. In each territory, on each sale, the author will receive a small cut.

When Australia allows fossil fuel companies to extract resources without paying royalties or even any tax, it would be like local authors giving their finished manuscripts to companies such as Penguin Random House or Allen & Unwin and not expecting to see any money from the sales of books sold locally.

It would be like those companies, who profited off local book sales not paying any tax.

Aside from failing to collect adequate tax, Australia also offers generous subsidies – including over $14 billion in fossil fuel subsidies across state and territory governments in 2023.

Meanwhile, Australia provides a fraction of the funding which organisations and individuals need to make art.

Mr. Assange was released from custody in June following a 14-year legal battle which only ended when he was forced to plead guilty to a charge of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified documents.

The signatories to the letter say Mr. Assange’s conviction should be set aside, and he should be granted a Presidential pardon, a power often exercised by US Presidents in their final days in office.

“Mr. Assange’s recent conviction under the United States Espionage Act sets a deeply troubling precedent for press freedom globally,” the letter states, adding that the deal which forced him to plead guilty in exchange for his freedom sets a “dangerous precedent (and) endangers journalists worldwide, whilst simultaneously undermining both Australia and the United States’ longstanding commitment to press freedom and democratic accountability.”

The signatories include independent MPs Zoe Daniel, Helen Haines, Monique Ryan, David Pocock, Kylea Tink and Andrew Wilkie, as well as senior members of the Human Rights Law Centre, the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance and The Australia Institute.

Last year, the Biden administration brought the pursuit of Julian Assange to an end. But his prosecution still sets a dangerous precedent for press freedom globally,” said Dr Emma Shortis, Director of the International & Security Affairs Program at The Australia Institute and a signatory to the open letter to President Biden.

As natural disasters grow more and more frequent, causing devastating destruction, and making cost-of-living more expensive, the two major parties in Australia seem happy to be talking about the nuclear nothing-burger, while sweeping coal mine extensions under the rug. This week on Dollars & Sense, Greg and Elinor discuss what the next election might look like in the face of climate change.

This discussion was recorded on Thursday 16 January 2025 and things may have changed since recording.

Order What’s the Big Idea? 32 Big Ideas for a Better Australia now, via the Australia Institute website.

Host: Greg Jericho, Chief Economist, the Australia Institute and Centre for Future Work // @grogsgamut

Host: Elinor Johnston-Leek, Senior Content Producer, the Australia Institute // @elinorjohnstonleek

Show notes:

‘Australians should be angry about another year of climate inaction. But don’t let your anger turn into despair’ by Greg Jericho, Guardian Australia (December 2024)

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions

On this Summer Book Club episode of Follow the Money, renowned journalist and author David Marr joins Ebony Bennett to discuss Killing for Country, his award-winning account of politics and power in colonial Australia.

This discussion was recorded on Wednesday 24 January 2024 and things may have changed since recording.

To join our free Australia’s Biggest Book Club webinars live, register via our website.

Order What’s the Big Idea? 32 Big Ideas for a Better Australia now, via the Australia Institute website.

Guest: David Marr, journalist and author

Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, The Australia Institute // @ebonybennett

Show notes:

Killing for Country: A family story by David Marr, Black Inc. (October 2023)

Theme music: Pulse and Thrum; additional music by Blue Dot Sessions

On this episode of After America, Dr Emma Shortis and Alice Grundy discuss Trump’s empire pantomime, the devastating California fires and the death of Jimmy Carter.

This discussion was recorded on Monday 13 January 2025 and things may have changed since recording.

Get your tickets for the Australia Institute’s Climate Integrity Summit 2025 now.

Order What’s the Big Idea? 32 Big Ideas for a Better Australia now, via the Australia Institute website.

Host: Emma Shortis, Director, International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute // @EmmaShortis

Host: Alice Grundy, Managing Editor, Australia Institute Press, the Australia Institute // @alicektg

Show notes:

‘Australia leases US firebombing aircraft in the northern winter. So what happens when LA burns in January?’ by Mike Foley, The Sydney Morning Herald (January 2025)

In less than 20 years, the average student loan debt for people in their 20s has more than doubled.

Over the last four decades, the price of tertiary education has risen faster than the price of other everyday items. Today Australia collects far more from student debt repayments than it does from the gas industry through the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT)—a fact that reveals the priorities of the multiple governments since 1989, when university course fees were introduced.

The HECS-HELP System

For domestic undergraduates, university fees are covered partially by a government subsidy. The remainder, for which the student is liable, is known as a “student contribution”, and is usually funded through a HECS-HELP loan. Student contributions are government-regulated through a price cap known as the “maximum student contribution amount”.

The repayments on a HECS-HELP debt are deducted once a debtor’s income reaches $54,435. The government has announced plans to raise this threshold. Debts are subject to indexation each year, which is interest charged at the rate of inflation or wage growth, whichever is lower.

On this Summer Book Club episode of Follow the Money, Bri Lee, the award-winning author of Eggshell Skull, Beauty and Who Gets to be Smart, joins us to discuss The Work, a stunning story of art, power, love and money.

This discussion was recorded on Tuesday 7 May 2024 and things may have changed since recording.

1800RESPECT is the national domestic, family and sexual violence counselling, information and support service. Call 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732, chat online or video call via their website.

To join our free Australia’s Biggest Book Club webinars live, register via our website.

Order What’s the Big Idea? 32 Big Ideas for a Better Australia now, via the Australia Institute website.

Guest: Bri Lee, author of The Work // @bri_lee_writer

Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, The Australia Institute // @ebonybennett

Show notes:

In recent years, insurance costs facing Australian households have surged much faster than inflation, driven by a string of natural disasters, like the 2022 floods in northern New South Wales.

Natural disasters are leaving vulnerable areas virtually uninsurable – or making insurance coverage unaffordable.

Global ratings agency, Moody’s, has found that global insured losses from natural disasters have averaged about US $100 billion over the past five years. FitchRatings reports that insured natural catastrophe costs were “47% above the 20-year average” in the first half of 2023.

The Insurance Council of Australia’s Catastrophe Resilience Report 2022-23 concludes that “global events have cost impacts in Australia, too. The impact of Hurricane Ian in Florida made last year the third-costliest hurricane season on record, contributing to global pressures in the reinsurance market.”

The Wrap with Amy Remeikis

It says something about these mnemonic political times how noteworthy it is when a politician tells the truth.

Which is why it’s usually left to former politicians.

Christopher Pyne did exactly that when he belled the cat about what the Coalition’s nuclear plan is actually about in a recent opinion piece published in the Sydney Morning Herald.

During his 26 years in parliament, Pyne was a master at obfuscation. He would deploy it with charm, but one of his main strengths, at least for his political allies, was muddying the waters. Give someone a line, repeat it with confidence and before you knew it, the conversation was over what Pyne actually meant, rather than the policy itself.

Here’s a classic example:

But freed from the shackles of politics, and more obviously in the business of lobbying, Pyne is now free to pull back the curtain and gleefully point at the distractions behind it.

In his column, written at a time when most people are still attempting to shut out politics and enjoy life, Pyne spells out what he considers the genius of Peter Dutton’s nuclear ‘policy’.

Greg and guest host Adam Gottschalk discuss the media panic over the falling Aussie dollar, what it means for Greg’s Vegas blackjack losses, and how markets are responding to the incoming Trump administration.

This discussion was recorded on Thursday 9 January 2025 and things may have changed since recording.

Host: Greg Jericho, Chief Economist, the Australia Institute and Centre for Future Work // @grogsgamut

Host: Adam Gottschalk, Anne Kantor Fellow, the Australia Institute // @adamchalksitup

Show notes:

‘Don’t panic – despite the headlines, the Aussie dollar isn’t crashing’ by Greg Jericho, Guardian Australia (January 2025)

Image: Gage Skidmore/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions

In a coalition government, parties make a formal agreement to share power.

In a minority government, the government relies on the ongoing support of crossbenchers.

A hung parliament is where no party or coalition has a majority of seats in the lower house (the House of Representatives)

Power sharing is common

Minority and coalition governments reflect the will of voters, are usually stable and constructive and are commonplace – including the very first Australian Government.

Minority and coalition governments make the conditions under which power is shared particularly visible and accessible. These forms of power-sharing government occur when a government must negotiate with MPs on the “crossbench” between the Government and the Opposition.

Australians have not given one party or coalition a majority of the vote in a federal election since 1975. All Australian states and territories have had minority/coalition governments in the last 20 years, and three have them now. After the last Tasmanian election, then Opposition Leader Rebecca White predicted,

It is very likely that Tasmania will continue to elect minority governments.

Power-sharing parliaments are also common internationally: New Zealand has not had a single-party government since 1994; Canada, Croatia, France, Portugal, Spain, Taiwan and the Nordic
countries, among others, currently have power-sharing governments.

On this Summer Book Club episode of Follow the Money, Lech Blaine joins Ebony Bennett to discuss the rise of Peter Dutton, the evolution of the Liberal Party, and his Quarterly Essay, ‘Bad Cop: Peter Dutton’s Strongman Politics’.

This discussion was recorded on Friday 12 April 2024 and things may have changed since recording.

To join our free Australia’s Biggest Book Club webinars live, register via our website.

Order What’s the Big Idea? 32 Big Ideas for a Better Australia now, via the Australia Institute website.

Guest: Lech Blaine, author of Australian Gospel, Top Blokes and Car Crash // @lechblaine

Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, The Australia Institute // @ebonybennett

Show notes:

‘Bad Cop: Peter Dutton’s Strongman Politics’ by Lech Blaine, Quarterly Essay 93 (March 2024)

Theme music: Pulse and Thrum; additional music by Blue Dot Sessions

On this Summer Book Club episode of Follow the Money, climate scientist and author Dr Joëlle Gergis joins The Australia Institute’s Polly Hemming to discuss Australia’s climate policy inertia and the impact of rising temperatures.

This discussion was recorded on Friday 28 June 2024 and things may have changed since recording.

To join our free Australia’s Biggest Book Club webinars live, register via our website.

Order What’s the Big Idea? 32 Big Ideas for a Better Australia now, via the Australia Institute website.

Guest: Dr Joëlle Gergis, climate scientist and author // @joellegergis

Host: Polly Hemming, Climate & Energy Director, The Australia Institute // @pollyjhemming

Show notes:

‘Highway to Hell: Climate change and Australia’s future’ by Joëlle Gergis, Quarterly Essay 94 (June 2024)

Theme music: Pulse and Thrum; additional music by Blue Dot Sessions

Taxes and royalties

Mining company tax payments make up less than three cents in every dollar of government revenue on average. Over the last decade the mining industry paid $254 billion in tax, while total
government revenue reached almost $6.8 trillion.

The mining industry often conflates tax payments and mining royalties in its public relations materials. Royalties are not a tax; they are essentially a payment for the use of mineral resources that belong to the public. Describing royalties as a tax is like a builder describing the cost of the bricks they use as a tax.

It should also be noted that even if royalties are included, the mining industry’s contribution to Australia’s finances remains relatively small, comprising just 6% of total government revenue.

In 2023–24, Australian governments provided $14.5 billion in subsidies to coal mines, oil and gas operations and major fossil fuel users. This is equal to $27,581 for every minute of every day of the year, more than is spent on the army or the air force.

Economists and scientists have long called for fossil fuel subsidies to be stopped, as have international forums like the International Energy Agency, the G20 and the Organisation for Economic  Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Examples of fossil fuel subsidies

There are a range of different fossil fuel subsidies in Australia. These are provided in different ways—some are direct payments, some involve governments building infrastructure for coal and gas companies, and others take the form of tax breaks.

Direct payments

Examples of payments made to fossil fuel companies include:

Santos pleaded guilty in the Karratha Magistrates Court over a spill off the Pilbara coastline which saw around 25,000 litres of oil released into the Indian Ocean.

It was fined $10,000 and ordered to pay $9,700 in court costs.

This fine is an insult to all Australians struggling through a long-running cost-of-living crisis.

“The average Australian household paid more income tax last year than Santos had to pay for a massive oil spill, one which it allegedly covered up,” said Mark Ogge, Principal Advisor at The Australia Institute.

“Meaningless fines for serious offences aren’t the only way Santos gets a great deal operating in Australia. According to ATO Company Tax Transparency data, Santos LTD has paid no company income tax from 2015 to 2023, despite declaring $38 billion of income.

“The fine was less than the average Australian household paid for groceries in 2024, and around one-third of the average HECs debt for young people in their twenties.

“This is a serious oil spill. Dead dolphins were found within 200 metres of the slick 17 hours after the leak, according to WA government regulators. Allegations of a cover-up by Santos by an anonymous whistleblower were tabled in Federal Parliament.

“The message Santos gets from this is that there are no real consequences for harming our environment. But there are potentially devastating consequences for Australians, as oil spills can devastate fishing, tourism and local communities.

While the proposal for the enormous Adani coal mine had been around for a few years, it was in 2015 that the mine’s federal approval was overturned because of the little-known yakka skink.

The small reptile’s court victory, assisted by humans at the Mackay Conservation Group and the Environmental Defenders Office, not only propelled the skink into the headlines and political cartoons but also sent the Abbott government berserk, from the PM down.

The Australian government proceeded to not only work around the court loss but, in treasurer Joe Hockey’s words, to do “everything we can to help get the Adani mine open”. The mine produced its first coal in late 2021.

As 2024 drew to a close, the name Adani was back in Australian headlines, this time because authorities in the United States issued an arrest warrant for company founder Gautam Adani, accusing him of bribing Indian government officials with hundreds of millions of dollars. The US accusations come on the back of major allegations of fraud and stock market manipulation, not to mention a long history of environmental, human rights and tax scandals.

Over the past decade, successive governments swept Adani’s record of scandals under the carpet. But with the FBI now involved, it seems like a good time to look back at 10 years of powerful Australians doing favours for a company accused of some very serious offences.

Vulnerable people include those living below the poverty line, who also have at least one long-term health issue, and/or who are 65 years and older.

Our report finds that vulnerability to heat is unevenly distributed across Australia.

In most states and territories, coastal areas tend to be cooler and have lower concentrations of vulnerable people than inland and rural areas.

This means that extreme heat poses a greater threat to outer-urban and rural areas than inner-urban areas, especially those near the sea.

The states and territories most vulnerable to extreme heat are the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia.

Her claim that more gas is needed to help with climate change is contradicted by reports from the International Energy Agency, the CSIRO and the Australian Energy Market Operator.

Key facts:

• Foreign-owned gas companies export 80% of Australia’s gas
• Nurses and teachers pay more tax than the gas industry
• To date, not a single LNG project has paid a cent in Petroleum Resource Rent Tax

“With Christmas here and a cost-of-living crisis on, Minister King decided to write a piece supporting multinational gas companies,” said Rod Campbell, Research Director at The Australia Institute.

“Oddly for a Christmas piece, Minister King makes no mention of the gift that Australians give to gas companies, year in, year out – free gas.

“Australia got literally nothing for the gas that companies like Chevron, Exxon and Inpex sold for $149 billion over the last four years.

“Gas companies have tripled prices for Australians in recent years, by exporting the majority of the country’s gas. This has contributed directly to the tough Christmas many Australians are about to have.

“It is strange that while Australians are paying more money for their own gas, the Minister wants to write about gas somehow being good for the climate.

“More gas is bad for the climate. More gas exports are bad for Australian gas prices. Australians are being ripped off by the gas industry and they know it.

This month, the Australian economic debate was hijacked by a report from the world’s most powerful consulting firm: McKinsey & Co. The consulting firm apparently found that declining living standards represent a “national emergency” – and the care economy, regulations and Australia’s corporate tax rate are to blame for low productivity growth.

The only problem? The report is secret; McKinsey has only shared it with a select group. This is a well-known tactic used by consulting firms to keep their assumptions and conclusions from being scrutinised and criticised.

Not that you would know it from the uncritical reception the report has received from some politicians and journalists, particularly the Australian Financial Review which used the report to attack the government and advocate for its own policy wish list: to cut corporate taxes, encourage industrial relations ‘flexibility’ (in other words, wind back worker and union rights), and cut public spending. The report has been similarly used by the Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor, to criticise the government.

The approvals were made on 19 December, just before Australia shuts down for the Christmas break.

The three mines are already so large that they would almost cover greater Sydney, or most Australian cities.

“Today’s approval is yet another example of the Australian Government deciding to create more climate change rather than less. Another time that Minister Plibersek was on the side of coal companies, not the environment,” said Rod Campbell, Research Director at The Australia Institute.

“Putting this out just before Christmas is a classic ‘taking out the trash’ tactic. While Australians are trying to enjoy the end of the year, the Minister is doing the bidding of multinational coal companies.

“With every heatwave and every bushfire this summer, Australians should remember that their government is making this problem worse, not better.”

The post Minister’s early Christmas gift to coal companies appeared first on The Australia Institute.

It’s official: the Reserve Bank of Australia will have its board split in two, and two new appointees will join the reconfigured monetary policy board, whose job it is to make decisions on interest rates. The move was recommended by an independent review panel in 2023. The new members of the monetary policy board, one a former top banker and the other a senior academic economist, were chosen after bipartisan consultation.

In making his announcement, the treasurer Jim Chalmers said that Marnie Baker and Renee Fry-McKibbin would balance the experience of existing members with “fresh perspectives”. That the RBA needs fresh perspectives is surely not in doubt.

The Wrap with Amy Remeikis

We have made it to the time of year when we all think that if we can just get to the end, that things are going to be better.

It makes sense – we turn over calendars, set resolutions and embrace the potential of a new year.

It’s almost like an extreme, universal experience of the doorway effect, the psychological phenomenon of short term memory loss while crossing from one boundary to another (if you have ever walked into a room to get something and then immediately forgotten why you were there, you have experienced the doorway effect).

But just as we eventually remember what we wanted from the other room, so too do we remember the unfinished business of the year before.

Opening up a new calendar is just the turning of a page. Nothing has fundamentally changed before or after that moment beyond being faced with a blank sheet. And no matter how much we may wish it, the turning of one year to another does not put a full stop on the issues we experienced in the year before.

The world is going to continue to be a complicated, sometimes horrifying, often confounding place. But with that comes the beauty and the simple moments of joy and delight, pleasant surprises and everything in between. Changing the calendar doesn’t change the world. But you, working to bring about change, does.

And so why this time of year would often mean we reflect on the wins – and there have been those – it can be more productive to look at what still needs to be done.

After acknowledging that economic growth is at its lowest level since the 1990s, the RBA chose not to cut rates in December, leaving Australians to wait months for a potential rate cut.

“Economic management is a full-time job yet the RBA is taking a two-month summer holiday,” said Greg Jericho, The Australia Institute’s Chief Economist.

“Michele Bullock and Jim Chalmers constantly tell us they’re ‘fine tuning’ the economy. That can’t be done with the RBA board all at the cricket.

“With so many Australians suffering, the RBA should cut short its holiday and come back to work in January.”

“The board is currently scheduled to meet on February 17 and 18. It should meet on January 20 and 21,” said Matt Grudnoff, Senior Economist at The Australia Institute.

“If it’s good enough for most Australians to be back at work by then, it’s good enough for the RBA.

“Christmas is a busy time for the economy. Its certainly a difficult, expensive time for consumers. There would be plenty to discuss in January.

“Mortgage holders shouldn’t have to wait one day longer than necessary for an interest rate cut which, let’s face it, is already long overdue.”

The post Rate cut already overdue: RBA should meet in January appeared first on The Australia Institute.

Key points:

• 80% of gas produced in Australia is exported, mainly by multinational corporations, mostly royalty-free and paying zero Petroleum Resource Rent Tax.
• The Coalition’s policy appears to place no limits on exports, no gas reservation policy and may even “de-fang the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism”.
• Without addressing exports, or how to reduce household gas use, there will be no reduction energy bills.

“It beggars’ belief that the Coalition would propose cutting energy bills by making Australians more dependent on gas and the multinational gas companies that dominate the Australian gas market”, said Mark Ogge, Principal Adviser at The Australia Institute.

“If the Coalition is elected and revives the Morrison Government’s Gas Fired Recovery, Australians will be even more exposed to global gas prices, which will lead to higher energy bills in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis.

“Gas is already a far more expensive way of producing electricity than renewable energy. Making Australians even more dependent on gas will drive up energy bills for Australian households and businesses.

On this Summer Book Club episode of Follow the Money, journalist and author George Megalogenis joins Alice Grundy to discuss the rise of independents and minor parties, Australia’s changing political landscape, and his latest Quarterly Essay, ‘Minority Report: The new shape of Australian politics’.

This discussion was recorded on Friday 6 December 2024 and things may have changed since recording.

To join our free Australia’s Biggest Book Club webinars live, register via our website.

Order What’s the Big Idea? 32 Big Ideas for a Better Australia now, via the Australia Institute website.

Guest: George Megalogenis, author and journalist // @GMegalogenis

Host: Alice Grundy, Managing Editor, Australia Institute Press // @alicektg

Show notes:

‘Minority Report: The new shape of Australian politics’ by George Megalogenis, Quarterly Essay 96 (November 2024)

Theme music: Pulse and Thrum; additional music by Blue Dot Sessions

Remember when BHP threatened that Queensland was going to “rue the day” that coal royalties were changed to get more money for Queenslanders? How mining companies were going to desert the state?

New data from the Queensland Government shows that there are more coal mines in the state now than ever before, with 58 operating in 2024. Production is also up – 224 million tonnes this year compared to 218 million in 2022, although down from the record of 249 million in 2018.

This is obviously terrible news for the world’s climate, the Great Barrier Reef and most life forms on earth.

It also demonstrates that BHP and other mining companies will blatantly lie in their attempts to pay less to governments and communities.

The post Queensland has more coal mines than ever before appeared first on The Australia Institute.

The letter – published in Australian newspapers today – points out the hypocrisy of successive Australian leaders, who have made promises about climate action to the faces of Pacific leaders but do the opposite when they return to Australia.

The letter points out some stark facts about how Australia is a terrible neighbour to its Pacific family.

Key points of the open letter:

• Australia’s fossil fuel project approvals undermine the survival and security of Pacific Island communities.
• In September, Australia approved three coal mines which will create 1.4 billion tonnes of emissions, equivalent to the combined emissions from 12 Pacific Island nations for over 250 years.
• In December, Australia refused to reconsider three more coal mines, paving the way for their approval, which could add a further 850 million tonnes of emissions.
• Australia’s actions do not match its commitments to its Pacific neighbours and are contrary to its support as signatory to various Pacific Island Forum Leaders’ communiques.

“Pacific Island nations are already feeling the impact of climate change, with rising sea levels threatening their very existence,” said Leanne Minshull, Strategic Director at The Australia Institute.

“Intense cyclones, king tides and droughts are putting their coast lines, food chains and water supplies in danger.

“Prime Minister Albanese constantly refers to our ‘Pacific family’, travelling the Pacific and ensuring leaders he’s committed to climate change action.

The people of Australia collectively own all the resources under the ground. This means that the coal in NSW is the property of the Australian people too.

Because of this, mining companies have to pay the NSW Government a “royalty” if they want to dig up and sell coal.

Royalties are not taxes. They are a payment for a resource. Just like a builder has to pay for the bricks used to make a house and pay tax when they sell the house, mining companies have to pay royalties for coal and then pay tax once they sell it.

If NSW were a country, it would be the third-largest exporter of coal in the world, smaller only than Queensland and Indonesia. With all that coal production, the mining industry and politicians frequently claim that coal royalties are large enough pay for services like schools, hospitals, teachers and nurses.

Here’s one quote from former NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro:

“[Coal] is the state’s largest export commodity, and is a major source of revenue, which the NSW Government uses to help fund essential services and infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, roads and transport.”

But do royalties really fund all these things?

The short answer is no.

Japan and Australia enjoy a long-standing relationship when it comes to energy trade. According to Japan, “(t)he energy and resources sector is the bedrock of the Japan-Australia economic partnership”. But the two countries’ efforts to decarbonise their economies to reach their respective emissions reduction targets have been threatening to jeopardise this gas-fuelled obsession. Japan has been lobbying hard against any change to fossil fuel regulation in Australia. Now, under the guise of Japan’s Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC), Japan and Australia have found a new way to keep the relationship going.

On paper, AZEC serves as a platform to support achieving net-zero emissions across the Asia-Pacific region. AZEC allows its 11 partner countries to benefit from Japanese funding for energy projects. Through AZEC, Japan aims to lead the energy transition across Asia. Research by Zero Carbon Analytics shows that, since AZEC was launched in March 2023, 158 project agreements have been signed across the Asia Pacific. Prime Minister Albanese took part via video message in the inaugural AZEC leaders’ summit in December 2023.

The Albanese government’s attempt to rush through major changes to Australian elections has been delayed in the Senate – at least until February, perhaps forever.

As Australia Institute research identified serious flaws, risks and loopholes in the legislation, delay is welcome – but bittersweet, because electoral reform is needed to increase confidence in politics and democracy.

Good electoral reform would include transparency around political contributions, especially “cash- for-access” payments from vested interests to get exclusive access to politicians; truth-in-political-advertising laws to prevent political players from misleading the public; and upper limits on billionaire and corporate spending on political campaigns.

But the government proposed changes that are flawed in process and substance. Though Special Minister of State Don Farrell has had almost three years to prepare the bill, the 200-plus page behemoth was presented to Parliament with just days for consideration.

The research will be sent to the NSW Treasury, as a pre-budget submission ahead of the 2025-2026 state budget. Submissions close today.

Key points:

• Coal royalties have averaged only 2.4% of NSW Government revenue over the last decade.
• In 2023–24, coal royalties were 4.2% of total NSW Government revenue, with global coal prices pushed up by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• All coal resources in NSW are publicly owned, and royalties are the price that mining companies pay the public to extract the resource.
• Royalties do not fund specific programs — they are grouped with the rest of government revenue. This means that over the last decade, coal royalties have funded only 2.4% of every teacher or nurse.
• No money has yet been spent from the Royalties for Rejuvenation Fund, the NSW Government program which theoretically redirects royalties back to coal-producing regions.

“Coal companies and politicians keep telling us that coal royalties are huge, and that they fund schools, hospitals, and regional communities all across the state. This report shows that these claims simply aren’t true,” said Rod Campbell, Research Director at The Australia Institute.

“Coal royalties fund a tiny proportion of every school, hospital or regional community. They are not propping up the economy.

“The NSW public owns coal resources, but they aren’t getting their fair share of coal mining revenue. The real money is flowing into the pockets of big corporations.

In late November, at the start of Parliament’s last – and busiest – sitting week, the Australia Institute and community organisation Grow it Local launched a report showing that Australians simply love growing food.

Our organisations partnered to conduct a national survey on Australians’ food growing habits and attitudes towards food waste. The results show that a whopping 45% of Australians—around 9 million people—are growing food at home, and even more are interested in starting edible gardening. And it’s not just a passing trend: a decade ago, the Australia Institute conducted a similar survey which found that one in two Australian households were growing food – to produce healthier food, to save money, and simply because they enjoy it. These results show that growing food is a lifestyle choice driven by the desire for healthier food, to save money, and to live more sustainably.