The Australia Institute Feed Items

Integrity experts, academics and parliamentarians gather in Canberra today for the Australia Institute’s Transparency Summit: Secrecy is not security, held in collaboration with the Human Rights Law Centre, Whistleblower Justice Fund, Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom and Transparency International Australia.

The Transparency Summit connects those have been stonewalled – and explain why open government and public access to information is more important than ever in a world of AI-generated deepfakes, election denial and democratic backsliding.

New Australia Institute analysis shows that Woodside’s North West Shelf (NWS) Extension proposal represents a major threat to WA’s domestic gas market.

The proposal is seeking approval from WA Environment and Energy Minister Reece Whitby.

Today The Australia Institute is joined by two former WA premiers, Carmen Lawrence and Peter Dowding, and oil and gas industry expert Tim Forcey to highlight the threat posed by Woodside’s proposed export expansion.

Woodside has not identified sufficient new gas supply to meet the export capacity of the LNG facility. The resulting shortfall could see further WA domestic gas diverted to export markets.

On this episode of After America, award-winning author, journalist and screenwriter Richard Cooke joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss the state of this extremely close campaign.

This discussion was recorded on Monday 14 October 2024 and things may have changed since recording.

Guest: Richard Cooke, author, journalist and Contributing Editor for The Monthly // @rgcooke

Host: Emma Shortis, Senior Research for International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute // @EmmaShortis

Show notes:

Tired of Winning: A Chronicle of American Decline by Richard Cooke (March 2019)

‘Dark Star: Elon Musk’s Political Turning’ by Richard Cooke, The Jewish Quarterly (February 2024)

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions

The Wrap with Ebony Bennett

To coincide with the Australian Government’s Nature Positive Summit this week, we published a full-page ad in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times to highlight that beneath the spin, current government policies are overwhelmingly “nature negative”.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has talked a big game — she recently claimed that Australia has made “good progress” towards becoming nature positive. However, just two weeks before the summit she approved three giant new coal mine extensions that will cover an area almost the size of Sydney. That makes seven new coal mines and over 200 new gas wells approved under this government.

Polly Hemming, Director of our Climate and Energy Program, appeared on the 7am podcast to explain that so long as the government keeps doing more harm, it won’t even be “nature neutral”, let alone “nature positive”. And Richard Denniss, our Executive Director, appeared on ABC News Radio to reiterate that we’re not going to be “nature positive” until we stop logging native forests and approving new coal and gas projects.

A report by the National Anti-Corruption Commission into payments to a former Department of Home Affairs official by a company with a lucrative contract with Home Affairs raises more questions than answers.

Bill Browne, Director of the Australia Institute’s Democracy and Accountability Program, says the report is disappointing when it comes to transparency and public expectations.

Parliamentarians, academics and former whistleblowers will be among those meeting at the Australia Institute’s Transparency Summit next week to discuss how to address Australia’s culture of secrecy, including how to strengthen the NACC.

A survey of 1,005 Australians was conducted by Dynata between 21 and 23 May, 2024, about the circumstances under which the National Anti-Corruption Commission should be allowed to hold public hearings.

The rock is Israel’s intransigence and the implacability of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s coalition partners.

The hard place is the immense suffering of the Palestinian and, now, the Lebanese people.

“Acceptance” of Israel’s extreme brutality in the assertion of its right to national security and “concern” at the slaughter of 30,000 non-combatants, including over 10,000 children, are irreconcilable.

Trying to steer between the two results in the impotence and timidity that distinguishes the procession of state leaders and foreign ministers now talking at the UN General Assembly.

Its repeated claims to indispensability and world leadership notwithstanding, the US is as impotent as its allies.

Despite its repeated efforts at brokering, it has been little more than a bystander since 1948.

Netanyahu dismisses President Joe Biden’s suggestions and Anthony Blinken’s advice with scorn, preferring instead to take the Middle East to the brink of war, sure in his belief that the US is powerless to apply sanctions, cut off arms and demand a ceasefire.

Israel is certain that the US will not permit it to fail.

But driving Hamas and, now, Hezbollah further underground – literally – while reducing neighbourhoods to rubble will only increase the desperation of the Palestinian and Lebanese people and encourage further acts of terrorism and missile assault by both.

It will thus diminish rather than strengthen Israel’s long-term security.

An academic report released today outlining the failure of carbon offsets has found Australia’s biggest carbon credit method is barely removing any greenhouse gas from the atmosphere.

The report adds to the significant body of independent analysis demonstrating that Australia’s carbon credits are not effectively storing or avoiding carbon emissions, and when used as carbon offsets they are increasing emissions.

Making traffic fines proportional to drivers’ incomes, as is done in Finland, is a fairer system according to a new report from The Australia Institute, supported by Uniting Vic Tas and Financial Counselling Victoria.

With cost of living already pushing many Australians into financial difficulties, traffic fines can force low-income people into choosing between essential spending and paying fines. By contrast, traffic fines are a minor annoyance for Australia’s high-income earners.

A new report from The Australia Institute outlines a more equitable model for speeding fines based on a Finnish proportional fine system.

Key points:
●        Finland has a minimum fine amount but otherwise calculates a fine based on a driver’s income and whether they have dependents
●        This is better for equality, and sometimes catches headlines when really big fines are issued to billionaires
●        Australian states are already moving in this direction: in NSW there is already a Centrelink discount.

Lower-income drivers would see average speeding fines decrease in every state and territory, while people with the highest income bracket would see their speeding fines increase.

“For a person on a low income, speeding fines can be crippling,” said Alice Grundy, an Australia Institute research manager and report co-author.

“Having a billionaire pay the same $200 speeding fine as a low-income earner is unfair.

On this episode of Dollars & Sense, Greg and Hayden discuss the government’s ‘Nature Positive’ summit, Australia’s housing debate, and a new push to end youth award rates.

Greg Jericho is Chief Economist at the Australia Institute and the Centre for Future Work and popular columnist of Grogonomics with Guardian Australia. Each week on Dollars & Sense, Greg dives into the latest economic figures to explain what they can tell us about what’s happening in the economy, how it will impact you and where things are headed.

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

Host: Hayden Starr, Digital Media Manager, the Australia Institute // @haydenthestarr

Show notes:

‘On the climate crisis, housing and more, politicians avoid clarity because it demands action’ by Greg Jericho, Guardian Australia (October 2024)

On this episode of Follow the Money, Margaret Beavis, Co-Director of Quit Nukes, and Adam Gottschalk, Anne Kantor Research Fellow at the Australia Institute, join us to discuss how some superannuation funds invest Australians’ retirement savings nuclear weapons.

This discussion was recorded live on Friday 4 October 2024 and things may have changed since recording.

Guest: Margaret Beavis, Co-Director, Quit Nukes // @margaretbeavis

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

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

Show notes:

Risky Business: An update on super funds and nuclear weapons by Rosemary Kelly and Margaret Beavis (September 2024)

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

Non-government organisations from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have signed an open letter urging Australia to stop new fossil gas projects.

The letter was published as a full-page advertisement in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times, coordinated by The Australia Institute.

The groups say that Asia’s energy systems are shifting to use more renewable energy and less gas. They highlight that new gas projects will exacerbate the climate crisis, undermine regional security and work against the interests of both Asia and Australia.

Key points in the open letter:

• Japan can achieve 90% clean electricity by 2035 and already on-sells Australian gas to third countries.
• Solar and wind are already cheaper than gas-fired electricity in Korea, with energy storage costs also declining quickly.
• Taiwan is implementing a carbon price and already has a rooftop solar mandate, policies that will reduce the role of gas in its energy system.

“This letter is about telling Australians that Asia is serious about climate action and phasing out fossil fuels,” said Yasuko Suzuki of Japan’s Kiko Network of community-based climate groups.

“The science is as clear in Asia as it is in Australia — real climate action means no new fossil gas.”

“The dirty gas projects proposed by Japanese companies in Australia will damage communities in Australia, Japan and around the world,” said Ayumi Fukakusa from Friends of the Earth, Japan.

On this episode of After America, Allan Behm, Director of the International & Security Affairs program at the Australia Institute, joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss the situation in the Middle East and the sense of helplessness creeping into American policymaking.

This discussion was recorded on Friday 4 October 2024 and things may have changed since recording.

Guest: Allan Behm, Director, International & Security Affairs program, the Australia Institute // @Mirandaprorsus

Host: Emma Shortis, Senior Research for International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute // @EmmaShortis

Show notes:

The Odd Couple: the Australia-America relationship by Allan Behm (2024)

‘In a largely uneventful and inconsequential US vice presidential debate, no one can claim victory’ by Emma Shortis, The Conversation (October 2024)

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions

A full-page advertisement published this morning by the Australia Institute warns that government policies and actions are overwhelmingly “nature negative” despite the NSW and Federal governments co-hosting the world’s first “Global Nature Positive Summit” in Sydney today.

Published this morning in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times, the advertisement highlights that Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek approved extensions to three major coal mines covering an area almost the size of Sydney just weeks before the summit.

Helen Clark ONZ joins Dr Emma Shortis on this episode of After America to discuss the US-China relationship and how Australia and New Zealand can play a constructive role in the Asia Pacific.

This discussion was recorded on Wednesday 2 October 2024 and things may have changed since recording.

Join President José Ramos-Horta at 6pm AEDT, Tuesday 8 October for an evening of conversation at the Sydney Opera House, presented by the Australia Institute as part of its 30 Years of Big Ideas.

Guest: The Rt Hon Helen Clark ONZ, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and United Nations Development Programme Administrator // @HelenClarkNZ

Host: Emma Shortis, Senior Research for International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute // @EmmaShortis

Show notes:

‘In a largely uneventful and inconsequential US vice presidential debate, no one can claim victory’ by Emma Shortis, The Conversation (October 2024)

It’s no secret that Australia’s music festivals are in crisis. In the past twelve months, major festivals, including Splendour in the Grass, Groovin’ The Moo, and Falls Festival have either folded or gone on hiatus. There are several reasons why these all-day (or all weekend) parties, which were once a summertime staple, are dropping like flies.

The first is that live music has struggled to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns – about a third of Australia’s live music venues have closed since then. The live music scene is so dire that the Commonwealth government is holding an inquiry into what’s gone wrong.

A major survey of music festival organisers released earlier this year found that the most significant barrier to running a music festival is rising operational costs (fuel and electricity etc for lights, sounds, transport etc).

And then there is the impact of climate change – the increasing incidence of extreme weather has made hosting events harder and substantially increased the insurance costs.

On this episode of Dollars & Sense, Greg explores the impact of the government’s coal mine extensions on the housing market and our climate.

Greg Jericho is Chief Economist at the Australia Institute and the Centre for Future Work and popular columnist of Grogonomics with Guardian Australia. Each week on Dollars & Sense, Greg dives into the latest economic figures to explain what they can tell us about what’s happening in the economy, how it will impact you and where things are headed.

Join President José Ramos-Horta at 6pm AEDT, Tuesday 8 October for an evening of conversation at the Sydney Opera House, presented by the Australia Institute as part of its 30 Years of Big Ideas.

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

Host: Hayden Starr, Digital Media Manager, the Australia Institute // @haydenthestarr

Show notes:

Findings released today from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) align with existing research from the Australia Institute that tax concessions are distorting Australia’s housing market.

The IMF noted that “tax breaks, including from capital gains tax discount and superannuation concessions, could be phased out to generate a more equitable and efficient tax system”.

Supporting the view of the IMF, Australia Institute research has shown that:

Some people are worried that the next election could lead to a “hung parliament”, requiring power sharing arrangements between parties and independents. But Parliaments always involve power-sharing: between interest groups, communities and political movements; across the upper and lower houses; within parties (via factions); and between parties.

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,

On this episode of Follow the Money, Greens Senator Nick McKim, Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Grocery Prices, joins us to discuss regulating the major supermarkets and his famous grilling of the former Woolies CEO.

Join President José Ramos-Horta at 6pm AEDT, Tuesday 8 October for an evening of conversation at the Sydney Opera House, presented by the Australia Institute as part of its 30 Years of Big Ideas.

This discussion was recorded live on Tuesday 1 October 2024 and things may have changed since recording.

Guest: Senator Nick McKim, Greens Economic Justice and Treasury Spokesperson and Senator for Tasmania // @NickMcKim

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

Show notes:

‘ACCC Suing Supermarkets as Price Gouging Drives Inflation, Rate Hikes’, The Australia Institute (September 2024)

A new report has found that despite claiming not to invest in ‘controversial weapons’ 13 of the top 14 Australian super funds are still investing in nuclear weapons companies, in some cases even in an option described as ‘responsible’, new research from The Australia Institute and Quit Nukes has found.

Key results

• At least $3.4 billion of Australian retirement savings are invested by these 14 super funds in companies involved in making nuclear weapons.
• One of the 14, Hostplus, has excluded nuclear weapons companies across its portfolio since December 2021.
• The report analyses financial returns and finds that the exclusion of nuclear weapon companies from portfolios has an immaterial impact on returns.

“It’s frankly unconscionable to sell super fund members a responsible investment option and then use their money to invest in nuclear proliferation,” said Rosemary Kelly, Director at Quit Nukes.

“The thing that makes this baffling is that investing in nuclear weapon companies is just completely unnecessary in the broader scheme of things.

“Superannuation funds should divest immediately from weapons manufacturers who produce nuclear weapons. If you’re a member of 13 of these 14 leading funds you can request that your fund divest or threaten to take your savings elsewhere.

Restricting negative gearing and scrapping the capital gains tax discount would make housing more affordable and increase home ownership rates, the Australia Institute has said in a recent submission.

Key Findings:

A major cause of rising house prices has been increased demand from investors.

• Restricting negative gearing to newly built housing and scrapping the capital gains tax discount would reduce speculation in the housing market and allow more first home buyers to get into their own home.
• Reducing tax concessions would also raise billions of dollars of revenue that can be used to build more housing.
• Negative gearing and the CGT discount cost the budget around $20 billion per year, more than twice the $8.4 billion state and territory governments spent on public and community housing in 2022-23.
• Macroprudential policies such as restricting finance for investment properties would also slow housing price growth.
• Increasing housing supply is not the only solution. Over the last 10 years, the supply of housing has increased faster than the population, but house prices have still increased 75%.

“The Labor Government is right to look at options to reduce tax concessions for property investors,” said Matt Grudnoff, Senior Economist at the Australia Institute.

Shortly after the Minerals Council warned the government to undermine mining “at your peril”, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek approved three new coal mine extensions. This nature-destroying decision has come just a few weeks before the government is set to host the Global Nature Positive Summit. The government is clearly pursuing a small target strategy but, in avoiding conflict, it risks offering voters a small and unexciting platform at the next election.

The government is all over the place with mixed messaging. To avoid angering the gambling industry, bigots and the mining industry, the government made a series of unforced errors that angered some of its key constituencies. It balked at implementing an outright ban on gambling ads, fumbling a policy with almost universal public support. And, in trying to avoid a “nasty” debate over census questions to capture data about Australia’s queer community, it succeeded only in alienating gay and gender diverse citizens.

But in appeasing the mining industry by approving new fossil fuel projects, the government is not just fuelling climate change that is damaging nature, it is contributing to the extreme heatwaves, floods, bushfires and extreme weather events that are driving up the cost of living – every new coal mine that’s approved means some other sector of the economy has to reduce its emissions even more.

Labor gearing up for a change?

28 September 2024

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The Wrap with Ebony Bennett

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek approved three new coal mine extensions this week, completely undermining the government’s credibility on climate change.

At the same time Foreign Minister Penny Wong was at the United Nations General Assembly talking about sea level rise being a threat to the Pacific, Plibersek was granting approval for three massive coal mine extensions – one of the key sources of sea level rise – to operate until nearly 2070. Together, the three coal mines approved will produce more than 1 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over their lifetimes.

As world leaders are gathered in New York for Climate Week, let’s remember the United Nations, the International Energy Agency and the world’s scientists have been clear about what’s required to avoid dangerous climate change: no new gas and coal mines or extensions.

That’s why the Australia Institute united a group of Australia’s leading climate and environment organisations to publish an open letter in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times this week. The letter calls on the federal government to tell Australians when it will stop approving new coal, oil and gas projects and end native forest logging.

On this episode of Dollars & Sense, we discuss the allegations of dodgy conduct against the big supermarkets and the government’s apparent interest in negative gearing and capital gains tax reform.

Greg Jericho is Chief Economist at the Australia Institute and the Centre for Future Work and popular columnist of Grogonomics with Guardian Australia. Each week on Dollars & Sense, Greg dives into the latest economic figures to explain what they can tell us about what’s happening in the economy, how it will impact you and where things are headed.

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

Host: Hayden Starr, Digital Media Manager, the Australia Institute // @haydenthestarr

Show notes:

‘Inflation may be falling but business’ drive to maximise profits fuelled Australia’s cost-of-living nightmare’ by Greg Jericho, Guardian Australia (September 2024)

Coles and Woolworths seem to take turns offering items on sale, showing that they are more concerned with protecting their market power than competing against each other, Australia Institute research has revealed.

The ACCC this week launched legal action against Coles and Woolworths for misleading consumers through discount pricing claims on hundreds of products at a time when inflation was at its highest. However, this is not the only way the two major supermarkets work to keep their profit margins high.

On this episode of Follow the Money, George Monbiot, Guardian columnist and co-author of The Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism, joins the Australia Institute’s Polly Hemming to discuss the impact of neoliberalism on our climate, the folly of carbon offsets, and why “bollocks” incrementalism won’t lead to systemic change.

Join President José Ramos-Horta at 6pm AEDT, Tuesday 8 October for an evening of conversation at the Sydney Opera House, presented by the Australia Institute as part of its 30 Years of Big Ideas.

This discussion was recorded live on Thursday 19 September 2024 and things may have changed since recording.

Guest: George Monbiot, author, columnist and environmental campaigner // @GeorgeMonbiot

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

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

Show notes:

The Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism by Peter Hutchison and George Monbiot (June 2024)

The approval of three new coal mines in the Hunter Valley, during a rapidly escalating climate crisis, is shocking given the federal government’s stated commitment to climate action, the Australia Institute has said.

Key Points:

• The federal government has approved three coal mines in the Hunter Valley
  • Whitehaven Coal’s Narrabri Underground Mine Stage 3 Extension Project
  • MACH Energy Mount Pleasant project
  • Glencore and Yancoal’s Ashton-Ravensworth Underground extension
• The lifetime carbon equivalent emissions from these three projects are expected to be 1.357 billion tonnes.
• This decision will extend the operating life of these coal projects into the 2060s.
• The Australia Institute’s Coal Mine Tracker shows that these are the fifth, sixth and seventh coal mine projects to be approved in this term of government.

“These approvals are inconsistent with Australia’s climate goals and reinforces our country’s reputation as one of the world’s major fossil fuel exporters,” said Rod Campbell, Research Director at the Australia Institute.

A group of Australia’s leading climate and environment organisations have signed an open letter, coordinated by the Australia Institute and published today in the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times, calling on the federal government to tell Australians when it will stop approving new coal, oil and gas projects.

The open letter comes as world leaders convene this week at the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, to accelerate efforts to prevent the most dangerous impacts of climate change.

To ensure Australia is doing its fair share for a safe climate, the open letter signatories are calling on the government to:

• Tell Australians and the rest of the world when Australia will stop approving new coal, oil, and gas projects.
• Stop offsets being used to justify new fossil fuel projects.
• End native forest logging.

“Even though the world’s climate scientists and the UN Secretary-General have all declared that new fossil fuels are incompatible with a safe climate future, the Australian government is stubbornly continuing to approve new coal, oil and gas projects” said Rod Campbell, Research Director at the Australia Institute.

“Just yesterday, the federal government approved three new coal mines out to the 2060s, which will produce over 1.3 billion tonnes of emissions.

“To approve huge new coal mines while world leaders meet to discuss the most dangerous impacts of climate change is absurd, but also consistent with Australia’s disappointing track record on the issue.

Don Watson joins Dr Emma Shortis on this episode of After America to discuss the cult-like support Donald Trump has manufactured, the “mad” AUKUS agreement, and his latest Quarterly Essay, ‘High Noon: Trump, Harris and America on the Brink’.

This discussion was recorded on Friday 20 September 2024 and things may have changed since recording.

Guest: Don Watson, author of ‘High Noon: Trump, Harris and America on the Brink’

Host: Emma Shortis, Senior Research for International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute // @EmmaShortis

Show notes:

‘High Noon: Trump, Harris and America on the Brink’ by Don Watson, Quarterly Essay (September 2024)

American Journeys by Don Watson (January 2018)

‘Enemy Within: American Politics in the Time of Trump’ by Don Watson, Quarterly Essay (September 2016)

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions

The ACCC launching legal action against Coles and Woolworths today for misleading consumers reinforces the findings of Australia Institute and Centre for Future Work research, that showed inflation is higher because of big businesses price gouging.

Key Points:

• The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has launched legal action against Coles and Woolworths for misleading consumers through discount pricing claims at a time when inflation was at its highest.
• The ACCC alleges the misconduct involved 266 products for Woolworths at different times across 20 months, and 245 products for Coles at different times across 15 months.
• This covers the period when inflation rose to a peak of 7.8% at the end of December 2022 and led to the Reserve Bank raising interest rates 13 times in 19 months.

“Today’s announcement reinforces our research that has shown the inflation that led to the Reserve Bank raising interest rates was caused overwhelmingly by companies abusing market power to raise prices,” said Greg Jericho, Chief Economist at the Australia Institute.

“The ACCC does the best they can, but the drop in competition over recent decades has shown that the current system is failing us.

“The ACCC clearly needs stronger powers, including a competition and prices commission and divestiture powers to break up uncompetitive industries.

“Australia is dominated by uncompetitive markets. The threat of divestiture would lower prices, better service and more innovation and growth in productivity.”

Tomorrow the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is discussing his plans to introduce nuclear power with anti-renewable energy commentator, Chris Uhlmann. No doubt we will hear the same claims about renewable energy causing electricity prices to be high and the need for nuclear power to keep prices down that both men have said in the past.

And just as was the case in the past, such claims will again be wrong.

The increased use of renewables in supplying electricity is not the cause of higher retail electricity prices – and it is clear that more renewables will lead to lower prices.

Research and data from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) and the CSIRO all make it abundantly clear that renewables are the cheapest form of electricity, and that the high cost of energy is driven by the cost of gas and coal produced electricity.

It is not surprising that people can be misled about the cause of electricity prices. Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) is a complex market stretching to 1,925 pages of rules and regulations such that any explanation of price determination will be greatly simplified.

So let us set out the two key issues to understanding retail electricity prices:

1.      The cost of generating electricity (the wholesale price) is a surprisingly small component of the many costs that contribute to household electricity prices.

On this episode of Dollars & Sense, Australia Institute Senior Economist Matt Grudnoff and Research Fellow Adam Gottschalk discuss the spin around productivity and why paying workers more – not less – might hold the key to a more productive economy.

Join President José Ramos-Horta at 6pm AEDT, Tuesday 8 October for an evening of conversation at the Sydney Opera House, presented by the Australia Institute as part of its 30 Years of Big Ideas.

Host: Matt Grudnoff, Senior Economist, the Australia Institute // @MattGrudnoff

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

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions

We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to podcasts@australiainstitute.org.au.

Australia is one of the lowest-taxing countries in the developed world. While it is sometimes suggested that Australian governments spend too much, the reality is that Australia raises very little tax revenue compared to similar countries. Insofar as Australian governments have a problem balancing revenue and spending, that problem lies in the level of revenue collected, not the amount it spent.

Tax is good

This graph shows the 38 economies in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in order of tax revenues as a percentage of their economy (GDP). Only eight have lower tax to GDP ratios than Australia, and these include relatively low-income countries like Türkiye and Mexico, as well as tax havens like Switzerland and Ireland.

If the graph does not display, click here.

If Australia were to increase the level of revenue it collects from taxation to the OECD average—a level similar to that collected by Canada or New Zealand—the Commonwealth would have had an extra $140bn in revenue in 2023–24.

The Western Australian Government’s changes to the state’s domestic gas policy give companies more opportunities to export gas and further reduce domestic gas supply, said The Australia Institute.

Key Findings:

• Exports of gas are threatening the stability of WA’s gas market.
• The policy changes announced today allow more of WA’s domestic onshore gas to be exported, not less.
• The cause of the problem is Woodside’s North West Shelf Extension proposal, which has not identified supply sufficient for its export capacity.
• “The barbarians are at the gates of the WA domestic gas market and the WA Government is throwing them the keys,” said Rod Campbell, Research Director at The Australia Institute.

“Today’s changes to the WA domestic gas policy allow more of WA’s domestic onshore gas to be exported. Onshore gas that had been set aside for the domestic market is now allowed to be exported.

“This benefits Woodside, which is desperate to take more gas for its North West Shelf Extension export facility. It also benefits gas companies that would rather sell WA’s domestic onshore gas to Woodside than Western Australians.

“This is a disaster for Western Australian gas users because it more closely links the domestic market and the export market.

“This is the east coast gas policy mess all over again.

“If anything, this is worse than the east coast because more WA gas (over 50%) is given away royalty-free and no gas exporters have ever paid Petroleum Resource Rent Tax.

On this episode of Follow the Money, Australia Institute Executive Director Richard Denniss joins Ebony Bennett to discuss mining’s latest PR offensive and why politicians shouldn’t fear standing up to the industry.

Join President José Ramos-Horta at 6pm AEDT, Tuesday 8 October for an evening of conversation at the Sydney Opera House, presented by the Australia Institute as part of its 30 Years of Big Ideas.

This discussion was recorded on Tuesday 17 September 2024 and things may have changed since recording.

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

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

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

Join Australia’s Biggest Book Club

Register for Black Witness by Amy McQuire

11:00am Friday 27 September 2024

This book was written with one overarching message: that the Black Witness should be believed.
There is a silence engulfing Australia in which the Black Witness must battle. We already have the weaponry. It is contained in the voices of our elders around campfires and kitchen tables, in community meetings and in the stories we tell our children. It is in poetry, in song, in art and in journalism. But we struggle to overcome the voice of the White Witness. The White Witness speaks above us and for us, and it is always the White Witness who is heard most clearly, because they speak the language that has been enforced on us through violence. It is violence that has enacted the silence, that has made the Black Witness an ‘unreliable’ one, a ‘threatening’ one, a ‘violent’ one in itself. It’s not just the violence of the original massacres, but the violence of the education, justice, health, child protection and political systems. The Black Witness is often told they must be legitimised by the White Witness. But this book is here to tell you that the Black Witness should be believed.

First, it’s not true.

Second, the gas expansion the industry wants would come at the cost of other things we need.

Australia already produces an abundance of gas — far more than we could use. The only reason there’s even a remote risk of a shortfall is that we allow gas companies to export as much as they want.

More than 80 per cent of the gas produced in Australia is exported or used to liquify gas (a hugely energy intensive process) so that it can be shipped overseas.

Australia exports about 35 times more gas than would be needed to cover any potential shortfall of supply on the east coast in coming years.

And the gas giants use more gas each year to liquify gas for export than the gas used by Australia’s entire manufacturing industry.

Government could ensure supply at home by requiring gas companies to set aside gas to meet domestic needs, using laws and policies already in place.

Instead, gas companies want to develop new, expensive gas for the domestic market so they can sell gas that’s cheaper to extract overseas.

Professor Terri Givens joins Dr Emma Shortis on this episode of After America to discuss race in American politics and whether the country is ready to elect a Black female president.

This discussion was recorded on Friday 13 September 2024 and things may have changed since recording.

Guest: Terri Givens, Professor of Race, Ethnicity and Politics, University of British Columbia

Host: Emma Shortis, Senior Research for International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute // @EmmaShortis

Show notes:

‘Race, gender and politics: Is the United States ready for a Black woman president?’ by Terri Givens, The Conversation (July 2024)

‘Is America ready to elect a Black woman president?’ by Emma Shortis, The Conversation (September 2024)

The Roots of Racism: The politics of white supremacy in the US and Europe by Terri Givens (January 2022)

One of the biggest economic myths is that Australia is dependent upon mining for our prosperity. Yes, mining accounts for around 10% of Australia’s GDP, but almost all of that is its profits – and most of those either head overseas – especially so in the case of gas companies – or are delivered to the very wealthiest in Australia. The vast majority of Australians do not rely on mining at all.

This reality was made clear when BHP boasted last week that it paid “$5.6bn in wages, incentives and benefits paid to employees, $10.5bn in dividends to Australian shareholders”

But let’s be clear about who gets those dividends and profits – mostly it is the richest in Australia.

According to the latest taxation data from the ATO, just under 50% of the value of all dividends went to the richest 2.4% of Australians – those earning more than $250,000. Around 0.2% of Australians earned more than $1m a year, and yet that minuscule number received a quarter of all the dividends paid out by Australian companies. So while it might sound like that profit is helping “Australia” in reality, it’s mostly making the rich richer.

On this bonus After America, Nick Bryant, acclaimed author of The Forever War: America’s Unending Conflict with Itself and former BBC journalist, joins Dr Emma Shortis to reflect on the Harris-Trump debate.

This discussion was recorded live on Thursday 12 September 2024 and things may have changed since recording.

Guest: Nick Bryant, author and former BBC United States correspondent // @NickBryantNY

Host: Emma Shortis, Senior Research for International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute // @EmmaShortis

Show notes:

‘Are you ready for it? What a Taylor Swift endorsement means for Kamala Harris’ by Emma Shortis, The Conversation (September 2024)

The Forever War: America’s Unending Conflict with Itself by Nick Bryant (June 2024)

When America Stopped Being Great: A History of the Present by Nick Bryant (August 2020)

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions

Australia Institute research has shown that there is no shortage of gas in Australia, in either the short or medium term, and that it is gas exports that are putting pressure on domestic supply.

Continued attempts by the gas industry to claim a domestic shortage while expanding gas exports show that there is no shortage of either gas or corporate greed from the sector.

Key Findings:

• Australia is one of the biggest exporters of gas in the world, alongside Qatar and the USA.
• Around 80% of Australia’s gas is exported as liquefied natural gas (LNG).
• 90% of the gas processed in WA is either exported as LNG or used in LNG export processing.
• Over half (56%) of gas exported from Australia attracts zero royalty payments, effectively giving a public resource to multinational corporations for free.

“The gas industry is talking out both sides of its mouth — it is saying there will be domestic shortages if we don’t start opening up new gas fields, while at the same time advocating to expand export facilities like the North West Shelf proposal,” said Rod Campbell, Research Director at the Australia Institute.

“We produce, burn and export a staggering amount of gas in this country. The gas industry itself is the biggest user of gas in Australia due to the gas it burns to process LNG exports. To suggest there will be a gas shortage is absurd.

The mining industry is now surely the biggest whinger in the Australian economy.

This week it launched an all-out assault on the federal government at Minerals Week in Canberra, with chief executive of the mining industry’s chief lobby group the Minerals Council, Tania Constable, warning the government: “Undermine it at your peril.”

Relative to its size, the mining industry pays nowhere near enough tax in Australia and, perhaps unsurprisingly, they want to keep it that way. It’s obvious the mining industry is trying to cow the federal government into ruling out any policy changes before the election. It wants cuts to taxes and royalties, and IR laws that make it easier to cut wages and fire people. And it would prefer to remove any environmental restrictions preventing mining companies from polluting or opening new gas and coal mines wherever and whenever they want.

But more than that, the mining industry demands Australians all bow at its feet in gratitude. BHP wants praise for paying its taxes, insinuating the public hospital system would collapse without it, while mining billionaire Gina Rinehart asked: “Where is the red carpet for the BHPs and Rios?” As if mining companies aren’t some of the most powerful and profitable companies on the planet, let alone in this country.

Like a toxic boyfriend who wants thanks for doing the dishes (when you remind him), the mining industry demands Australians be grateful for the taxes and royalties they pay.

The Wrap with Ebony Bennett

Mining lobbyists descended on Canberra for the annual Minerals Week. On Thursday morning, the Minerals Council CEO Tania Constable described on Radio National what she sees to be the problem – policy interventions and the looming ‘threat’ of onerous environmental approvals:

We’re seeing major changes in royalties at a state level…That’s a huge impost on the industry.

Let’s be clear, royalties are the price mining companies pay to mine and sell the resources like iron ore, gas and coal that Australians collectively own. Complaining about paying royalties as an ‘impost’ on the mining industry is like a baker complaining he doesn’t get his flour for free.

It’s obvious the mining industry is trying to cow the federal government into ruling out any policy changes before the election. And they are smart enough to make the Minerals Council and BHP front their campaign. Much harder for the gas industry to argue to cut taxes and royalties when the Tax Office has labelled your entire industry “systemic non-payers” of tax and over the half of LNG exports attract zero royalties.

What is the Australia Institute’s Policy School?

The Australia Institute’s Policy School, is a new webinar series designed to equip policymakers, campaigners, NGOs, and public servants with the tools to advocate for change. Learn from experts about key public policy issues, persuasive messaging, and effective communication strategies to help create a fairer, more sustainable society.

It’s FREE, but registration is essential.
You can sign up once on Zoom and attend any session.
The first class will be “Australia is a low taxing nation and it costs us with Greg Jericho”, Thursday 19 September at 11am.

Each fortnight, you will hear from policy experts from the Australia Institute, who will take you through the key things you need to create change on critical public policy issues – like fair tax reform, electoral reform, the Australia/USA relationship, the housing crisis, or reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

You will learn about:

If you’ve ever flicked off an email before bed, texted your boss out of hours, or received an ‘urgent’ work call after clocking off, you’ll be glad to hear some respite is just around the corner.
A new right to disconnect from work, for employees in businesses with 15 or more staff, comes into force across Australia from Monday 26th August. This is a welcome response to the growing problem of ‘availability creep’, where work demands spill over into workers’ leisure time.
The new right means most employees can now refuse to monitor and respond to unreasonable contact from their employers about work matters outside of paid work hours.
Many of us are now online and digitally connected to our workplaces 24/7. This constant connectedness can make it hard to escape work calls, texts, and emails when not actually at work.
As we are now so easily contacted anywhere and anytime, our leisure and family time has become very susceptible to interruptions from work, leading to unpaid overtime, an inability to ‘switch off’, and blurred boundaries between work and non-work time. Gone are the days of 8 hours work, 8 hours rest, and 8 hours play.
The consequences are stark. Research has shown these work practices lead to increased stress, health problems and a poor work-life balance.

On this episode of Dollars & Sense, Greg and Elinor talk about the government’s new international university student caps and the latest house price data.

Greg Jericho is Chief Economist at the Australia Institute and the Centre for Future Work and popular columnist of Grogonomics with Guardian Australia. Each week on Dollars & Sense, Greg dives into the latest economic figures to explain what they can tell us about what’s happening in the economy, how it will impact you and where things are headed.

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

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

Show notes:

‘A terrace house is for sale in Sydney for $22m. The grotesquely unfair capital gains discount is partly to blame’ by Greg Jericho, Guardian Australia (September 2024)

Last year the government announced it was considering removing its statutory power to overrule the Reserve Bank. Thankfully it has now reconsidered that move, and the actions of the RBA over the past year serve to remind everyone that it is far from infallible.

In its May Statement on Monetary Policy the RBA looked ahead one month and estimated that in June the annual growth of household consumption would be 1.1%. When the national accounts were released last week, the actual growth was revealed to be just 0.5%.

Now obviously economic forecasting is a bit of a mugs game, but household consumption makes up half of Australia’s economy and accounted for around 45% of all the growth in the economy over the past decade so it is pretty important. It is also the area of the economy most directly affected by interest rate rises. This error of forecasting suggests that the Reserve Bank has rather poorly misread just how greatly households had been impacted by the 13 rate rises that had taken the cash rate from 0.1% in April 2022 to 4.35% in November 2023.

This error is crucial because the main reason the RBA raises rates is to reduce the ability of households to spend. Because you can’t tell your bank that you don’t really feel like paying your mortgage this month, interest rate rises force households to divert money that would have been spent on goods and services to paying your mortgage.

Claims from the mining industry that they are significant funders of public services in Australia are overblown, ignore the fact that their profits are made off the back of public resources, and are heavily publicly subsidised, the Australia Institute has said.

Key Points:

• Taxes and royalties paid by the mining industry make up just 5 cents in every dollar of state and federal government revenue in Australia.
• 95% of Australia’s public services are paid for by other industries.
• Mining is also heavily subsidised in Australia, receiving the vast bulk of the $11 billion fuel tax credit scheme.

“Relative to its size, the mining industry pays nowhere near enough tax in Australia and, perhaps unsurprisingly, they are keen for that to remain the case,” said Rod Campbell, Research Director at The Australia Institute.

“Australia Institute research shows that Australians dramatically overestimate the economic value of fossil fuel mining to the country.

“If Australia really did rely on the low-employing, tax-avoiding, high-polluting, and largely foreign-owned mining industry for its economic security, we would be in serious trouble.

“Other countries charge far more for their natural resources, while in Australia we subsidise their extraction.

“The fact that the Government collects more money from HECS than it does from the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax is a wake-up call for those in charge.”

On this episode of Follow the Money, Greg Jericho and Matt Grudnoff join Ebony Bennett to discuss the latest GDP figures, the real drivers of inflation and how the Reserve Bank misread the state of the economy.

This discussion was recorded on Tuesday 10 September 2024 and things may have changed since recording.

Guest: Greg Jericho, Chief Economist, the Australia Institute // @GrogsGamut

Guest: Matt Grudnoff, Senior Economist, the Australia Institute // @MattGrudnoff

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

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

We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to podcasts@australiainstitute.org.au.

On this episode of After America, Dr Emma Shortis and Alice Grundy reflect on the presidential campaign so far and on the dynamics of the Australia-United States relationship ahead of the third anniversary of the AUKUS deal.

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

Join our webinar with Nick Bryant, former BBC United States correspondent and author of The Forever War, at 11am AEST on Thursday 12 September. Tickets are free, but registration is essential.

Host: Emma Shortis, Senior Research for International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute // @EmmaShortis

Host: Alice Grundy, Research Manager, Anne Kantor Fellows, the Australia Institute // @alicekgt

Show notes:

‘Is America ready to elect a Black woman president?’  by Emma Shortis, The Conversation (September 2024)

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions