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Dr Emma Shortis and Ebony Bennett, host of the Australia Institute’s Follow the Money podcast, reflect on Joe Biden’s legacy, his endorsement of Kamala Harris and what it could mean for the election campaign.

This discussion was recorded on Monday 22 July 2024 and things may have changed since recording.

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

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

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions

You can see Professor Joseph E Stiglitz speak live in several cities across Australia as part of the Australia Institute’s 30th anniversary celebrations. Tickets are available online.

The United Nations and the IEA have been clear that there can be no new coal, oil or gas projects if we are to avoid dangerous climate change. There is no ‘clean energy transition’ while governments keep approving highly polluting new fossil fuel projects

Key Points:

• A series of new offshore gas and sea dumping exploration permits have been granted by the Federal Minister for Resources, The Hon Madeleine King, today.
• The projects are off the coast of Western Australia and Victoria.
• Sea dumping (described by the gas industry as CCS) increases emission by enabling new fossil fuel projects. Just three Australian coal fired power stations emit more carbon pollution than the entire world’s current CCS capacity.

“This government was elected to take action on climate change and reduce emissions, but they are opening new fossil fuel projects instead,” said Mark Ogge, Principal Advisor at The Australia Institute.

“Expanding Australia’s gas production in the middle of a climate emergency is not just short-sighted: it treats our Pacific Island neighbours and future generations with contempt.

The deepfake, which is marked as “AI-generated content”, depicts Premier Miles dancing, to make fun of Miles for posting a video of himself making a sandwich.

Effective truth in political advertising laws already exist; they have operated in South Australia since the 1980s, were legislated in the ACT in 2020, and been proposed in other jurisdictions – including by Queensland Labor rank-and-file.

“Even when political ads are marked as AI-generated, political parties and candidates should be wary about running them. No one benefits from a race to the bottom where fake content is used to ridicule political rivals,” said Bill Browne, Director of the Australia Institute’s Democracy & Accountability Program.

“Queensland saw the use of one of the first political deepfakes in Australia, at the 2020 state election. It looks like the trend is continuing.

“While this deepfake was marked as AI-generated, it shows how easy it has become to create fake content – and there is no guarantee that other fake content in the Queensland election will be clearly identified. In Queensland, it is perfectly legal to lie in a political ad, and it shouldn’t be.

“Elections elsewhere around the world have seen deepfake images and videos used with the deliberate intent to deceive.

“Truth in political advertising laws in Queensland, along the lines of those already in place in South Australia and the ACT, would help ensure that voters are not misled.”

To do so, Australia will need to abandon its conciliatory deference to the U.S.A and instead begin advocating strongly in our own national interest.

Australia has power and agency in the US-Australia relationship. With a second Trump Presidency remaining a real possibility, Australia also has a significant stake in the survival of US democracy and global leadership.

“Biden had nowhere to go, and that’s where he went,” said Dr Emma Shortis, Senior Researcher for the Australia Institute’s International & Security Affairs Program.

“Biden has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, which was the only logical choice. Harris is now an experienced Vice President, accustomed to the national stage and particularly strong on the issue of reproductive rights.

“While American politics has been preoccupied with recent events, this issue is one that motivates voters to turn out. It did in the 2022 mid-terms, and it likely will do again.

“There is a long way to go until November, but Trump currently remains ahead in the polls.

“What Australia does matters on the world stage, and we can no longer blindly rely on the United States to defend us.

“Instead of considering how Australia can accommodate America under Trump, we can instead focus on standing up for what matters to us and push hard for our interests and values. It’s time that we learned to work with America, not just for it.”

A loophole in Australia’s tax law effectively subsidises large utes such as Ram and Chevrolet pick-up trucks by avoiding the Luxury Car Tax (LCT) that other imported vehicles pay, regardless of if the vehicles are used for work, recreation or just commuting.

The $250 million cost of this subsidy is more than ten times the Federal Government’s Active Transport Fund for the construction and upgrade of cycle paths every year.

Key Findings:

• Luxury car tax is paid on the sale or importation of most cars valued above $81,000.
• However, any vehicle that can carry twice the weight in payload that it can carry in people, is exempt regardless of what it is used for.
• Non-luxury utes, used by most tradies, sit below this threshold and would be unaffected by the removal of the luxury ute loophole.

“The Australian public is subsidising big, dumb utes by hundreds of millions of dollars each year,” said Rod Campbell, Research Director at the Australia Institute.

“These vehicles are damaging roads, reducing safety and increasing emissions, yet they are given a massive tax break.

“Removing the luxury car tax exemption will not affect most ute drivers, particularly tradies.

“Instead it targets those buying large luxury vehicles, worth sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars, for personal use.

Even though the transport sector is the third largest source of Australian emissions and accounted for 21% of national emissions in 2023, the Australian Government continues to incentivise the sale of big utility vehicles (utes) relative to other car options. Over the last twenty years, the number of utes on our roads has grown much faster than the number of passenger vehicles.

While utes are necessary to a range of occupations, their proliferation, particularly of larger heavier models, damages the environment, damages roads, and incurs a range of other costs on society. A key example of this incentivisation is an exemption from Luxury Car Tax (LCT), which applies to essentially all utes.

Large vehicles impose considerable costs on society, from their higher carbon emissions and rates of road damage to serious safety concerns. The Australian Government should ensure that these costs are accounted for by properly taxing and regulating these vehicles, starting with removing the LCT exemption for utes. These policies would curb the growth in expensive and damaging vehicles in Australia and limit the use of utes to legitimate commercial purposes rather than personal luxuries.

The post Luxury Car Tax and the Ute Loophole appeared first on The Australia Institute.

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