The Australia Institute Feed Items

Senator David Pocock will explore the ethical responsibility of current leaders and policymakers to prioritise long-term policy solutions relating to environmental protection, distribution of resources, and governance structures that ensure a healthy environment for future generations.

Drawing from international principles and his Duty of Care Bill, Senator Pocock will discuss the specific concept of intergenerational equity in climate action and its potential to drive more ambitious and effective climate policies for the benefit of all.

Presented by Senator David Pocock, Independent Senator for the Australian Capital Territory

The post Intergenerational Climate Equity – Senator David Pocock | Climate Integrity Summit 2025 appeared first on The Australia Institute.

They see “discount” signs on products they know were cheaper only months ago.

They know polluters claiming to be carbon neutral are pulling the wool over their eyes.

But they feel helpless to stop them. Apart from reporting lies and rip-offs, what can they do? Take their business to the multi-national over the road which does exactly the same thing?

The Australia Institute welcomes the latest move to give the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) more resources to take on these companies, on our behalf.

“An extra $30 million in funding will help the ACCC to continue its oversight of the grocery sector,” said Greg Jericho, Chief Economist at The Australia Institute.

“Coles and Woolworths have long dominated the sector and our research has shown that they are less interested in competing against each other than working together against smaller operators.

“Both Coles and Woolworths have higher profit margins than supermarkets chains in the UK, USA and Europe. Australian shoppers are paying for those profits.

“Even while inflation is coming down, Australians deserve a better supermarket sector – one where companies actually compete on price rather than do all they can to ensure their duopoly remains strong.”

On this crossover episode of Follow the Money and Dollars & Sense, Greg Jericho and Ebony Bennett discuss what’s going on with inflation, the performance of the Reserve Bank and whether the Government deserves the credit for setting the economy on a better course.

This discussion was recorded on Wednesday 19 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: Greg Jericho, Chief Economist, the Australia Institute // @grogsgamut

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

Show notes: 

Corporate profits increase inflation, the Australia Institute (December 2024)

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions

Changes to Australian law should come from public debate and democratic will, not deals to appease corporate interests ahead of an election.

“Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s overriding of government processes and his own Environment Minister recalls the ‘captain’s picks’ of Tony Abbott – like knighting Prince Phillip and scrapping the proposed paid parental leave scheme,” said Bill Browne, Director, Democracy & Accountability Program at The Australia Institute.

“The NSW gambling industry used ‘MoUs’ with politicians to prevent action on gambling harm for a decade. Albanese’s pledge to change environmental laws if they do not suit polluters is just as disappointing.

“In Australia’s Westminster system of government, ministers are responsible for their portfolios – and Tanya Plibersek is Minister for the Environment. It is Ms Plibersek, not Mr Albanese, who promised zero extinctions under a Labor government and who is accountable to Parliament.”

“The salmon industry cannot rely on the Prime Minister’s pledge to make Australia’s environmental laws “appropriate” for the industry: it is Parliament that makes Australia’s laws, and the Labor Party has not controlled both houses of Parliament since World War 2.”

It is still unclear whether the salmon industry has the necessary approvals under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

Like all borrowers, The Australia Institute welcomes the 0.25% cut in the official cash rate. It should have happened months ago.

History tells us that interest rate cuts never happen as a one-off.

Whether or not we are in an election campaign, even if we’re just days out from an election, on April 1, the RBA should cut again.

“To suggest there should be no cut in April because it would appear political is absurd,” said Greg Jericho, Chief Economist at The Australia Institute.

“Treasurer Jim Chalmers constantly reminds us the Reserve Bank is independent of government.

“A rate cut in April would have nothing to do with politics. In fact, it would be political not to cut just because we are in an election campaign.

“Home owners should not be denied the next cut because of politics. It should be a purely economic decision.

“Today, the RBA has finally recognised that with inflation in the bottom half of its target range, with wage growth slowing and unemployment remaining steady and with the government subsidising energy prices to keep inflation down that the time has come to cut rates.

“The 25 basis point cut will save households around $100 a month on a $600,000 loan. It is small but necessary drop that has been long overdue but it better late than never.”

On this episode of After America, Senator David Shoebridge, the Australian Greens Spokesperson for Defence and Veterans Affairs, joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss cultural cringe, the Australian Government’s response to Trump’s tariffs and why the AUKUS submarine deal makes Australia less safe.

This discussion was recorded on Tuesday 11 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: David Shoebridge, Senator for New South Wales and the Australian Greens Spokesperson for Defence and Veterans Affairs // @davidshoebridge

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

Show notes:

Standing up to Trump with Malcolm Turnbull, After America (November 2024)

No such letter has been sent to others in the local and broader community, ensuring the safety of the endangered Maugean skate, the health of the harbour, the tourism industry or recreational fishing.

If legislation, reportedly proposed by the PM, does not take in to account a long-awaited review of the damage being wreaked upon Macquarie Harbour, it could undermine Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s commitment to no extinctions under her watch.

One third of the harbour is World Heritage listed and the only home of the endangered Maugean skate, recognised for its world heritage values, which date back to the dinosaur era.

Scientific evidence shows salmon farming operations in the harbour are “almost certain” to be “catastrophic” for the skate.

“Special legislation for foreign-owned companies that is likely to condemn the Maugean skate to extinction should not be rushed through in the dying days of this government,”  said Eloise Carr, Director of The Australia Institute Tasmania.

“If the reports are true, the Prime Minister is willing to introduce special new laws that will protect companies which employ only a handful of Australians and send the profits overseas.

“Introducing special legislation to protect the salmon industry would be highly unorthodox. It raises concerns that science could be ignored and due process undermined.

Trump’s administration is hostile to checks and balances and the rule of law. He has already pardoned the January 6 insurrectionists and signed various executive orders that are unconstitutional.

Trump’s plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza is horrifying. Making the announcement while standing beside Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for whom the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, is nauseating. It’s in direct violation of international law. Many world leaders condemned Trump’s remarks publicly, including UK Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer, but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese repeatedly avoided the opportunity to reject Trump’s plan, saying he would not be giving a “daily commentary” on remarks by the US President.

On one hand, that’s a sensible strategy. Albanese is trying to make sure Australia is exempt from Trump’s tariffs and avoiding stepping on any landmines in the lead-up to our federal election. And Donald Trump is nothing if not a firehose of chaos. He makes announcements and then backtracks, sometimes within the same sentence. There is no way leaders can respond to every last policy brain fart from him or his administration.

The report identifies three key areas where the climate crisis is directly driving up costs for Australians: insurance, food, and energy.

These sectors combined have accounted for over a fifth of the consumer price inflation experienced in Australia since 2022.

Key findings:

• Insurance premiums have soared due to an increase in natural disasters, with some households now spending over seven weeks of gross income just to cover home insurance
• Food prices have risen by 20% since 2020, with climate-related disruptions wiping out harvests and making it harder for some regions to grow food
• Energy costs remain high due to a reliance on fossil fuels, underinvestment in renewables, and fossil fuel exports forcing Australians to compete with the global market for Australia’s resources
• The impacts of the climate crisis are disproportionately affecting lower-income and regional households, who are already feeling the financial strain more severely

The report underscores the need for urgent climate action to protect Australian households from these escalating costs. Addressing the root causes of climate change is essential to lowering future risks and alleviating the economic strain that millions of Australians are facing.

“Insurance costs keep on rising and, while competition across big business sectors is needed, the thing that is driving insurance costs is climate change,” said Richard Dennis, Executive Director at The Australia Institute.

The Australia Institute’s detailed analysis of the bill identifies several loopholes the major parties could exploit; unfair treatment of new entrants and independent candidates; and the danger that tens of millions of dollars of new taxpayer funding are spent on misleading advertising.

Labor’s compromises with the Coalition have made a bad bill even worse:

Last night, Liberal Senator Jane Hume announced they’d done a deal with the Albanese Labor Government on electoral laws – and some twelve hours later, it became law, having been rushed through both houses of Parliament.

Labor’s compromises with the Coalition have worsened the bill even further:

On this episode of Dollars & Sense, Greg and Elinor discuss the bogus claims made by American officials about Australia flooding the US market with aluminium, the latest housing data (still no house for Elinor *sadface*) and Australia’s urban-rural divide.

This discussion was recorded on Thursday 13 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.

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:

‘Trump’s latest tariff bid shows the old rules of trade no longer apply. Scraps of paper will not save us’ by Greg Jericho, Guardian Australia (February 2025)

The latest figures from the Bureau of Statistics today reveal that the size of the average home loan over just the past 5 years has increased by more than $198,000 in Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales.

Everyone knows Australian house prices are high and putting home ownership out of reach for many new home buyers. These most recent mortgage figures only serve to remind people just how expensive it is to buy a home.

While often the media commentary is about Sydney house prices, the home loan figures show all states are affected. For example, the average new home loan in South Australia in just five years has gone from $372,000 to $580,000 – a 56% increase at a time when the average full-time earnings in South Australia have increased only around 18%.

But while the current situation is dire, if the pace of the past 20 years continues, owning a home will not so much be the Australian dream, but a ludicrous fantasy unavailable to everyone except to the very richest.

One clear way to demonstrate just how unaffordable housing is now compared to the past is to compare dwelling prices with average earnings. If average earnings went up at the same pace as house prices, then housing now would be just as affordable as it was before.

The problem, as you can see from the first graph above, is that is not the case.

The Australia Institute’s Democracy Agenda for the 48th Parliament proposes reforms aimed at strengthening Parliamentary debate, increasing government accountability, and enhancing the integrity of our political institutions.

Joined by Greens Senate Leader Larissa Waters and independent MPs Kate Chaney, Zoe Daniel, Helen Haines, Sophie Scamps, Monique Ryan, Andrew Wilkie, the Australia Institute’s Director of Democracy & Accountability Bill Browne launched the report today with a press conference at Parliament House.

Key proposals include:

On this episode of Follow the Money, Senior Economist Matt Grudnoff joins Ebony Bennett to explain how tariffs work, Trump’s 25 per cent levy on steel and aluminium imports, and how big a deal this will be for Australia.

This discussion was recorded on Tuesday 11 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: Matt Grudnoff, Senior Economist, the Australia Institute // @mattgrudnoff

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

Show notes: 

After America, the Australia Institute

‘Trump’s latest tariff bid shows the old rules of trade no longer apply. Scraps of paper will not save us’ by Greg Jericho, Guardian Australia (February 2025)

The supposedly large campaigns run by community independents have been used to justify the Albanese Government’s rushed changes to electoral laws. Labor Special Minister of State Don Farrell explicitly linked the laws to an attempt to limit funding for community independents, saying “if you can’t get your message across after spending $800,000, then maybe you shouldn’t be in politics”.

Liberal MP Paul Fletcher claimed that “[t]hese amounts being spent on campaigns in individual electorates are without precedent in the Australian political system”.
Since these claims are being used to justify sweeping changes to Australian electoral law, they warrant close scrutiny.

The data reveals that the line being pushed by the two major parties does not stack up.

Despite what the Labor and Liberal parties might wish to suggest, million-dollar campaigns were not uncommon before the 2022 election.

In a letter, published in newspapers today, CEOs, investors and academics have called for governments to stop subsidising and approving fossil fuel projects and to implement policies that will drive investment in decarbonisation.

Signatories include business leaders and investors across a range of sectors including resources, retail and superannuation.

According to the letter Real Zero means:

• Setting a deadline for ending fossil fuel use, rather than relying on offsets.
• Rapid reduction in fossil fuel use and absolute greenhouse gas emissions, not delays based on future technology promises.
• A managed end to fossil fuel production, including a phase out of subsidies.

“A critical mass of Australian businesses have declared their support for or signed voluntary climate commitments aligned with 1.5 degrees of global warming. It is welcome to see the private sector actually start to align their advocacy with these existing commitments,” said Polly Hemming, Director, Climate & Energy Program at The Australia Institute.

“To have any chance of staying within the liveable bounds of climate change, we must all be as ambitious as we say we are. ‘Real Zero’ must be the aspiration. ‘Real Zero’ must be the goal.

On this episode of After America, Matt Duss, Executive Vice-President at the Washington DC-based Center for International Policy, joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss Trump’s Gaza announcement, the freeze on US development funding, and the new Cabinet’s approach to China.

This discussion was recorded on Friday 7 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: Matt Duss, Executive Vice-President, Centre for International Policy // @mattduss

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

Show notes:

‘Trump’s Gaza Proposal is Less Original Than He Thinks’ by Matthew Duss, Foreign Policy (February 2025)

There have been improvements, including the replacement of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, increased funding to some agencies and the introduction of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), although without the power to hold public hearings whenever they are in the public interest.

Overall, the government’s broader record on integrity and transparency remains wanting.

• There is no Whistleblower Commissioner or Office as Labor promised in 2019.
• This government’s record on dealing with freedom of information requests remains poor.
• Integrity agencies remain underfunded even as their responsibilities expand.
• Ministers are not required to, and do not proactively, publish their diaries to reveal who they are meeting with.
• The response to the Robodebt scandal has failed to achieve justice for victims of the unlawful scheme, with the NACC subject to adverse findings over its handling of the matter.
• David McBride is behind bars for blowing the whistle on alleged Australian war crimes in Afghanistan.

This Tuesday, the Australia Institute and Fairer Future will convene a roundtable of integrity experts and officeholders emeritus to discuss the decline in accountability and the role of the integrity arm of government: including auditors, ombudsmen, anti-corruption commissioners and information commissioners.

The media is invited to attend community independent Senator David Pocock’s keynote address, which will open the roundtable. 

Less than a week out from The Australia Institute’s 2025 Climate Integrity Summit, it’s been revealed that organisations like Telstra, Australia Post, PWC and the NRMA – and more than a hundred others – have walked away from the Federal Government’s Climate Active scheme.

Australians are fed up with polluters buying carbon credits of questionable quality rather than making real investments in real reductions in the amount of fossil fuels they are burning.

The public knows the difference between greenwashing and real action on climate change. Now, corporate Australia is getting the message. Many companies are choosing not to be associated with programs which lack integrity.

“Even PwC doesn’t respect the integrity of the accounting standards behind the Commonwealth Government’s own carbon offsetting scheme. When PwC is telling you to pull your socks up, you know you have an integrity problem,” said Richard Denniss, Executive Director of The Australia Institute.

“A growing number of Australians are sick of the greenwashing and accounting tricks, and simply want their governments to drive a real reduction in fossil fuel use. That’s why climate scientists and business people like Andrew Forrest are calling for real zero targets to replace the vague net zero targets which rely on carbon offsetting.

Australia’s productivity growth has reverted to the same stagnant pattern as before the pandemic, according to the Productivity Commission’s latest quarterly report.

Productivity is complex and often misunderstood in media and policy debates. So before we read too much into this latest data, here are six key things to understand about productivity.

1. It’s about quantities, not costs

Productivity “measures the rate at which output of goods and services are produced per unit of input”. So it’s about how many workers does it take to make how many widgets?

Most Australian workplace managers don’t know how to measure productivity correctly.

If someone says “higher wages mean lower productivity”, they don’t know what they’re talking about. Wages aren’t part of the productivity equation. People often cite “productivity” as a reason for a policy they like because they can’t say “we like higher profits”.

In fact, high wages can encourage firms to introduce new technology that improves productivity. If labour becomes more expensive, it may be more profitable for firms to invest in labour-saving technology.

But lower productivity isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes higher selling prices can lower productivity. It seems odd, but works like this: if prices for commodities such as iron ore or coal are high, it becomes profitable for mining companies to dig through more rock to get to it.

The Wrap with Amy Remeikis

On September 30, 1938 British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain stood outside 10 Downing Street and declared the Munich Agreement had appeased German Chancellor Adolf Hitler’s territorial aims.

“I believe it is peace for our time,” he said.

“…Go home and get a nice quiet sleep.”

Germany violated the agreement almost immediately.  Six months later it had invaded all of Czechoslovakian territory and another six months after that, after German troops marched on Poland, the world was at war.

We know how that ended.

We know how history has judged the appeasement policy of 1930s leaders, which included both major parties in Australia, who held tight to the British empire’s coat tails even as other commonwealth nations pushed for independence.  Australia’s government did not ratify the 1931 Statute of Westminster, a British law which gave formal legislative independence to commonwealth nations, until 1942.  John Curtin was prompted to ratify it after the Fall of Singapore, which put to bed the deep belief Britain would be able to protect Australia in a war.

Australia began turning to America. And we’ve been turning blind eyes, ever since.

None of this should be new information to any student of history.

What may be new is the role of the British press during the appeasement policy.

As I watched the fires in Los Angeles unfold in January this year, my mind of course reflected on the 1999-2000 Black Summer bushfires in Australia. Both these seasons have wrought significant damage to humans and other animals, and to land, infrastructure and property. There has been a huge personal, collective and financial toll involved. Climate change is of course driving these unprecedented events, and there are significant health impacts for people.

During these disasters we are conscious of the direct risk posed to fire fighters, but the air pollution generated presents health and safety challenges for workers and others more broadly. When working hard physically in any role we of course breath more deeply, taking in more smoke and ash from the fires. Ultimately, the 2019–2020 Black Summer fire period in Australia burned 24.3 million hectares, killed or displaced 3 billion animals, and killed 33 people directly — with a further 455 people killed indirectly due to the smoke and ash pollution, which enveloped four-fifths of Australia’s population.

On this episode of Dollars & Sense, Australia Institute Senior Economist and Elinor Johnston-Leek discuss how our housing and superannuation policies are fuelling wealth inequality.

This discussion was recorded on Thursday 6 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.

Host: Matt Grudnoff, Senior Economist, the Australia Institute and Centre for Future Work // @mattgrudnoff

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

Show notes:

Superannuation tax concessions are making inequality worse by Greg Jericho, the Australia Institute (July 2024)

Income and wealth inequality in Australia by David Richardson and Frank Stilwell, the Australia Institute (July 2024)

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

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 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.

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.

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: 

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.

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.

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.

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)

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 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

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 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)

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’.