The Australia Institute Feed Items

Australia’s “broken” superannuation and pension systems are condemning a growing number of retirees to financial misery in their sunset years.

More than one in five Australians live in poverty when they retire. And that number is growing.

With housing affordability at an all-time low, many Australians now face the brutal double whammy of going through their entire working life unable to afford a home and ending up in poverty when they retire.

But there’s a simple change the government could make to slash the nation’s embarrassingly high rate of retirement poverty. It could reduce or remove the massive concessions to those retiring with millions of dollars and use that money to increase to the Age Pension.

It could also allow older Australians to earn income to supplement the Age Pension.

New research by the Australia Institute has found that Australia spends almost as much giving tax breaks to wealthy retirees as it does providing a safety net, the Age Pension, to those with little or no retirement savings.

The research compares Australia’s superannuation scheme and Age Pension program to the equivalent systems in Sweden and Norway, nations with comparable GDP’s to Australia.

A notable trend in Australian politics has been the decline of the share of the vote won by both major parties at federal elections. One effect of this is that there are no longer any safe seats in Australian politics: minor parties and independents win more “safe” seats than they do “marginal” ones.

The declining major party vote

Fewer Australians give their first preference to a major party. The 2007 federal election is the last at which both Labor and the Liberal-National Coalition won more than 40% of the national vote; the 2022 election was the first time that neither cracked 40%.

The share of Australians voting outside of the major parties has increased from single digits in the 1970s to 31% at the most recent election in 2022, almost as many as the 36% who voted for the Coalition and 33% who voted for Labor. Not since the Great Depression has the combined vote for the two largest parties been so low.

The effect of a lower primary vote for major parties is that minor parties and independents have a better chance of winning seats.

Comedian and co-host of Planet America on ABC TV, Chas Licciardello, joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss why the campaigns are spending time in states they’re unlikely to win and what their advertising reveals about the campaigns’ strategies.

Guest: Chas Licciardello, comedian and co-host of Planet America and PEP // @chaslicc

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

Show notes:

PEP with Chas and Dr Dave

Planet America, ABC iview

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions

Subscribe for regular updates from the Australia Institute.

On this episode of Follow the Money, Australia Institute Executive Director Richard Denniss joins Ebony Bennett to discuss the fake fight between the new Queensland Premier and Peter Dutton over nuclear power and the fallout from the state election.

This discussion was recorded on Tuesday 29 October 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

Show notes:

Queensland election: A clear message to Federal Labor, the Australia Institute (October 2024)

‘Federal Labor’s lesson from Qld defeat: bold progressive policies provide a pathway to a second term’ by Stephen Long, the Australia Institute (October 2024)

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

Last week, 30 of the nation’s top marine scientists urged Ms Plibersek to intervene to save the skate, an ancient ray-like species found only in a remote corner of western Tasmania.

There is a mountain of scientific evidence proving that expanded salmon farming operations in Macquarie Harbour – home to the world’s only Maugean sake population – are almost certain to have a “catastrophic” impact on the skate.

The Minister has had that evidence for more than a year, with scientists urging her to overturn a 2012 decision which allowed toxic, industrial-scale salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour.

Now, the Minister has put off making yet another key decision on the future of the skate. She’s delayed changing the skate’s official threatened species status from “endangered” to “critically endangered” by a year, to October 30, 2025 – after the federal election.

New research by The Australia Institute reveals that while so many Australian families are struggling after 13 interest rate rises, much of what they pay doesn’t go towards paying bank staff, improving services or keeping branches open.

It goes towards making Australian banks among the most profitable in the world.

Key findings:

• Between them, the Commonwealth Bank, NAB, Westpac and ANZ made pre-tax profits of $44.6 billion last financial year.
• $17.6 billion of that figure came from loans to owner-occupiers.
• An owner-occupier with an average 30-year loan of $574,200 with one of the big 4 contributes $200,800 purely to the bank’s profit. Over the life of the average loan, that’s almost 35% of the amount they borrowed.
• ABS data shows that banks are sharply cutting staff numbers in Australia. The number of people working in banking, insurance and other financial institutions fell by more than 35,000 between November 2023 and August 2024. At the same time, banks have been hiring hundreds of workers in other parts of the world, predominantly India.

“This report highlights that a lack of competition among the big banks has come at the cost of home owners,” said Greg Jericho, Chief Economist at The Australia Institute.

“The big 4 are generating massive profits from home loans that far exceed the level of risk the banks undertake.

On this episode of After America, Dr Emma Shortis and Alice Grundy discuss Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally, Eminem’s appearance at a Harris event in Detroit, and what this election result could mean for Australia.

This discussion was recorded on Monday 28 October 2024 and things may have changed since recording.

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

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

Show notes:

‘In the US election, 7 states and a few ‘swing voters’ have all the power. This is exposing hidden tensions in both campaigns’ by Emma Shortis, The Conversation (October 2024)

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

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions

Subscribe for regular updates from the Australia Institute.

In an election campaign dominated by law and order and an ‘it’s time’ factor, the Queensland Labor Party released an ambitious raft of popular, progressive policies that has kept the new Liberal National government to a narrow majority. The big swing to the LNP predicted before the election campaign did not arrive, especially in Brisbane.

The implications for the Federal election are clear: voters want progressive policies on cost of living, climate change, reproductive rights, education and more.

New polling research by The Australia Institute, released just days before the election, revealed broad support for 12 progressive policies, even in policy areas which had previously proven controversial.

These policies appear to have been the difference between last night’s narrow defeat of Queensland Labor and electoral wipeout expected by so many commentators at the beginning of the campaign.

The Wrap with Dr Emma Shortis

What Australia does matters.

We tend to think of ourselves as not having much influence or power in the world, but that’s not true. We’ve led the world on many things – including in our contribution to climate change.

While leaders of Commonwealth countries met in Samoa for CHOGM, a new report shines a spotlight on Australia as a global leader in carbon emissions. We’re second only to Russia in emissions from fossil fuel exports – and the Australian government is busy promising the largest pipeline of coal export projects in the world.

Pacific nations are furious at our determination not just to approve new gas and coal mines, but to subsidise their expansion.

In Samoa this week, President of Tuvalu Feleti Teo described fossil fuel expansion as a “death sentence” for his country. He pointed out that the expansion of Australian fossil fuel exports goes against the “spirit” of the Falepili Union between Tuvalu and Australia, which recognises that climate change is an “existential threat”.

But rather than stop opening new coal mines to address that real threat, the Australian government seems determined to pour vast amounts of money into missiles and nuclear-powered submarines. As the President of Timor-Leste José Ramos-Horta wrote, neither of those things will actually make us safer.

When you choose your superannuation fund, you’re probably not thinking about weapons of mass destruction.

But it might surprise you to learn that if you’re with one of Australia’s largest funds, your money is going into the production of nuclear weapons.

Research published last month by Quit Nukes and The Australia Institute found that 13 of Australia’s 14 biggest public super funds invested a combined total of $3.4 billion in companies involved in the production of nuclear weapons, as of December 2023.

Australian Super—Australia’s largest fund—was the biggest investor, with nearly $1.5 billion of its members’ money funnelled into nuclear weapons companies.  Hostplus was the only fund out of the top 14 that had excluded nuclear weapons from its portfolio.

If that wasn’t enough, two of the funds—Australian Super and Spirit Super—invest in nuclear weapons companies with their ethical investment options. You read that right: “ethical” investments in nuclear weapons.

Most people would be shocked to hear their money is being used to fund nukes.

How do super funds get away with it? It comes down to the way they define nuclear weapons.

All super funds apply various “screens” to exclude certain types of investments from their portfolios, for example companies involved in fossil fuels or tobacco.

The first title What’s the Big Idea: 32 Big Ideas for a Better Australia will be published in November 2024 in time to mark The Australia Institute’s 30 years of big ideas anniversary.

The anthology brings together some of Australia and the world’s brightest thinkers sharing a big idea on topics ranging from the housing crisis to climate change, from mental health to the Australia-US alliance.

Contributors include The Hon. Michael Kirby AC, Yanis Varoufakis, His Excellency Anote Tong, Aunty Pat Anderson, Jennifer Robinson, Professor Fiona Stanley and Nobel prize winners Professor Peter Doherty and Professor Brian Schmidt and more.

Australia Institute Press will also launching a new series of public policy essays, Vantage Point: Big ideas in small packages to be released every three months starting with Dr Emma Shortis’ analysis of the American election, to be published in February 2025.

Australia Institute Press will be managed by Alice Grundy, whose previous trade publishing experience includes working at Allen & Unwin, Murdoch, Giramondo and Brio Books where she was Associate Publisher.

The Australia Institute’s inaugural 2024 Transparency Summit brought together experts, whistleblowers and those working to ensure the interests of all Australians are represented in our policy-making process.

We are sleepwalking towards disaster when we accept the idea that the more secret we are about decision-making, the safer we’ll be.

– Richard Denniss, Executive Director of the Australia Institute

Here are six big ideas to reverse Australia’s culture of secrecy: 

The first title What’s the Big Idea: 32 Big Ideas for a Better Australia will be published in November 2024 in time to mark The Australia Institute’s 30 years of big ideas anniversary.

The anthology brings together some of Australia and the world’s brightest thinkers sharing a big idea on topics ranging from the housing crisis to climate change, from mental health to the Australia-US alliance.

Contributors include The Hon. Michael Kirby AC, Yanis Varoufakis, His Excellency Anote Tong, Aunty Pat Anderson, Jennifer Robinson, Professor Fiona Stanley and Nobel prize winners Professor Peter Doherty and Professor Brian Schmidt and more.

Australia Institute Press will also launching a new series of public policy essays, Vantage Point: Big ideas in small packages to be released every three months starting with Dr Emma Shortis’ analysis of the American election, to be published in February 2025.

Australia Institute Press will be managed by Alice Grundy, whose previous trade publishing experience includes working at Allen & Unwin, Murdoch, Giramondo and Brio Books where she was Associate Publisher.

The Australia Institute and Quit Nukes looked at the holdings of Australia’s 14 biggest public superfunds, and found that 13 of those invest their members’ money in nuclear weapons.

This might seem strange, especially if your superfund says things like, “we believe in building a sustainable future,” or “we do what’s right with your money”.

Some funds do exclude so-called “controversial weapons”, at least from their “ethical options”. But their definition of “controversial weapon” includes for instance chemical or biological weapons, but not nuclear weapons.

In 2021, Quit Nukes and the Australia Institute analysed the investment portfolios of Australia’s largest superfunds and found that most of them invested their members’ money in companies involved in nuclear weapon production and development, such as Airbus, Honeywell or Thales.

So, how are superfunds tracking?

Well…as of December 2023, all of those funds, at the exception of HostPlus, continued to invest in nuclear weapons companies. This adds up to $3.4 billion dollars’ worth of your money invested in nuclear weapons companies.

At the top of the list, Australian Super, who claims to be “Australia’s most trusted fund” and to be “working hard for your future”, invests almost $1.5 billion of Australians’ money in nuclear weapon companies.

On this episode of Dollars & Sense, Greg and Elinor discuss the Coalition’s new housing policy, the surveillance of workers and the latest unemployment 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:

‘Australia’s unemployment figures are a reason for joy – even if it means waiting for the next interest rate cut’ by Greg Jericho, Guardian Australia (October 2024)

An ancient and endangered skate (related to rays and sharks), which can only be found in a remote corner of western Tasmania, could be wiped out by salmon farming, prompting an extraordinary warning from some of the nation’s foremost marine scientists.

14 Professors and five Fellows from the Australian Academy of Science are among more than 30 experts who have written to Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek to defend the science behind the plight of the Maugean skate, which is teetering on the brink of extinction.

The salmon industry and some politicians have been seeking to undermine scientific evidence which overwhelming finds that open cage salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour is the primary cause of the skate’s demise.

The skate is recognised as one of the Gondwana-era natural values of Tasmania’s Wilderness World Heritage Area. Its potential extinction carries global significance.

Signatories to the letter also include the immediate former Chair of Australia’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee plus a string of scientists who have had leadership roles in national and international marine organisations and institutions.

On this episode of Follow the Money, Bill Browne, Democracy & Accountability Director at the Australia Institute, joins Ebony Bennett to discuss whistleblower protections, improving the National Anti-Corruption Commission, and why Australia may be the world’s most secretive democracy.

This discussion was recorded live on Tuesday 22 October 2024 and things may have changed since recording.

Find all the content from the Australia Institute’s Transparency Summit 2024 on our website or via the Australia Institute on YouTube.

Guest: Bill Browne, Director, Democracy & Accountability Program, the Australia Institute // @Browne90

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

Show notes:

Secrecy is not security, Bill Browne (October 2024)

Labor and Democracy, the Hon Anthony Albanese MP (December 2019)

The report, titled ‘Proactive investment: Policies to increase rates of active transportation’, shows that the Commonwealth Government’s four year, $100m National Active Transport Fund has only enough money to build 25-50 km of new, separated bike paths.

In contrast, France plans to invest EUR 2 billion (around AUD 3.2 billion) in cycling infrastructure between 2023 and 2027, and has committed to building 100,000 km of bicycle lanes by 2030.

Just 0.7% of Australians cycle to work, and rates of cycling are declining.

Stronger uptake of active transport options – like walking, cycling, and scooters – would help ease traffic congestion and improve public health.

As opinion polls suggest the Miles Labor Government is closing the gap on the Liberal National Opposition ahead of this Saturday’s state election, new research from The Australia Institute reveals most Queenslanders support cost of living, environmental and reproductive rights policies.

The research follows existing Australia Institute polling research which finds most Australians support proven but politically controversial policies from the Australian Capital Territory.

On this episode of After America, Dr Prudence Flowers, Senior Lecturer in US History at Flinders University, joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss immigration, reproductive rights, and why Harris and Trump are hitting the podcast circuit.

This discussion was recorded on Monday 21 October 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.

Guest: Prudence Flowers, Senior Lecturer in US History, Flinders University // @FlowersPGF

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

Show notes:

‘Republicans once championed immigration in the US. Why has the party’s rhetoric – and public opinion – changed so dramatically?’ by Prudence Flowers, The Conversation (October 2024)

The Australia Institute led the push for the publication of the report in 2022.

It has been a month since the 2024 report was published and yet there has been no official response from Tasmania’s Government.

According to the 2024 report, the state government needs to commit to a new vision and strategy for the environment.

If Tasmania is to have a healthy environment, which is fundamental to the state’s economy and Tasmanian way of life, government inaction is not an option.

The post Inaction “not an option” after damning report into the state of Tasmania’s environment appeared first on The Australia Institute.

This week we saw once again efforts to improve housing affordability by doing anything other than actually building new houses.

The Liberal Party has announced that it will boost the housing supply by not actually building any new homes, but spending $5bn on “critical enabling infrastructure”.

The Opposition leader stated an “elected Coalition Government will commit $5 billion to get these projects moving, unlocking up to 500,000 homes to be delivered more quickly through a mixture of grants and concessional loans”.

It does not take long to realise this is just a $5bn gift to developers disguised as a housing policy.

Rather than spend $5bn building new homes over 5 years (which would almost be double what is currently spent building residential homes by the public sector across Australia), instead the Liberal Party proposes spending $5bn over 5 years to allow property developers to build infrastructure so that they can then sell land for a greater profit.

Exports and prices

Gas production in Australia has tripled since 2010, but domestic consumption has barely changed. This means that around 80% of gas produced in Australia is exported.

Gas export terminals opened at Gladstone in Queensland in late 2014. This meant that for the first time, gas could be exported from Australia’s east coast, giving gas companies the option to sell Australian gas into higher-priced Asian markets. This, in turn, meant that Australians suddenly had to pay world prices for domestically-produced gas.

Suddenly, Australian wholesale prices tripled from $3 per gigajoule (GJ) to $10 per GJ, and often rose even higher.

On this episode of Follow the Money, Paul Bongiorno, columnist for The Saturday Paper and The New Daily, joins Ebony Bennett to discuss culture wars in Australia, two upcoming elections, and the reaction to Anthony Albanese’s new beachside retreat.

This discussion was recorded live on Tuesday 15 October 2024 and things may have changed since recording.

Guest: Paul Bongiorno, columnist, The Saturday Paper and The New Daily // @PaulBongiorno

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

Show notes:

‘Dutton takes a high-risk stance on the Middle East’ by Paul Bongiorno, The Saturday Paper (October 2024)

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

On this episode of Dollars & Sense, Greg and Elinor discuss the government’s crackdown on hidden fees, dynamic pricing and why reducing gender disparities can lead to better pay and fewer worker shortages.

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:

‘Here’s a way to fix Australia’s skills shortage – and raise wages at the same time’ by Greg Jericho, Guardian Australia (October 2024)

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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:

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)

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:

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

+++

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.

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 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)