Australia has one of the highest per capita emissions of greenhouse gases in the world.If Australia is to stay within its share of the remaining, diminishing, global carbonbudget for stabilising Earth’s temperature increase at 2°C or less, a necessary (but notsufficient) requirement is to transition its electricity system rapidly to 100%renewables by 2030 or soon

In November 2018 The Australia Institute made a submission to the NSW Independent Planning Commission on the Bylong Coal Project. Based on its own figures, the Bylong Coal Project is a high-cost, low-quality proposal. It is unlikely to be competitive in a time when exports through Newcastle have stalled, with the port’s fourth coal terminal

The Australia Institute made a submission to the NT Government’s Climate Change Discussion Paper. Emissions from increased NT gas production would dwarf all other sources of NT emissions and threaten Australia’s national targets. Allowing fracking and offsetting its emissions, as promised, is an expensive way to keep emissions stable and could make it harder to

Scott Morrison rushed through a $260 million payment to the Northern Territory in a matter of days at the same time the NT Government overturned the moratorium on gas fracking. Morrison committed to the funding just three days after the fracking decision, in a letter of offer to the NT that also refers to that

Chevron’s Gorgon LNG project released millions of tonnes CO2 last year that were meant to be sequestered by its carbon capture and storage (CCS) project. This failure represents half of the national increase in emissions over the last year. If required to offset these emissions, Gorgon would need to pay more than $55 million a

The Australia Institute has considerable concerns about the proposed program tounderwrite new generation investments. In particular, the proposal seems to confusetwo separate issues. The first is that the reliability standard in the NEM is met. This ishighlighted in the consultation paper by reference to AEMO’s latest ElectricityStatement of Opportunities that the NEM will need an

A National Integrity Commission is needed to investigate and expose corruption and misconduct in our federal government and public sector. Currently there are significant gaps in the jurisdiction and investigative powers of the federal agencies responsible for scrutinising the public sector and government. No federal agency has the power to investigate corrupt conduct as state-based

The Australia Institute made a submission to the Senate Environment and Communications References Committee Inquiry into the allegations of political interference in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The Australia Institute has conducted research into the public broadcasters, especially the ABC, for many years. We have written three reports that are particularly relevant for the Inquiry. This briefing

The Australia Institute made a submission to the Senate inquiry into the indicators of, and impact of, regional inequality in Australia.

The Australia Institute made a submission on the proposed amendments to the Climate Change (State Action) Act 2008. The Australia Institute recommends that: 1) The title of the Climate Change (State Action) Act 2008 be renamed to the Climate Change Emergency Response Act 2018 2) A preamble be added to the Act that includes: Tasmania recognises that,

Key Findings:  High-income households and Liberal held electorates are the biggest beneficiaries of negative gearing. Key Findings:Negative gearing primarily benefits high income households Young are the biggest losers from negative gearing Liberal held electorates the biggest winners fromnegative gearing [READ REPORT]

The Australia Institute apologises for the delay in publishing the October National Energy Emissions Audit, which was due to internal considerations. The November National Energy Emissions Audit is currently being prepared and will be released on time. The Australia Institute Climate & Energy Program has released the latest National Energy Emissions Audit for the electricity

The Royal Commission into the financial services industry has heard tens of thousands of incidents of financial misconduct. The problem is clearly not just a “few bad apples”; the problem is clearly rooted in the core structure and practice of this industry.

The combination of the projected rise in extreme heat as a result of global warming and the high levels of humidity at the Gold Coast present a serious risk to the health and wellbeing of the region’s population. The Gold Coast has historically experienced a relatively pleasant climate with only around one day over 35

Extracting gas from the Northern Territory through hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) is one of the largest potential sources of carbon pollution in the world. The Fracking Inquiry that reported earlier this year recommended that unconventional gas extraction should only be permitted if the all 135 recommendations are accepted and implemented. All recommendations were accepted by the

Increasing extreme heat will have profound effects on people, industries and ecosystems in Queensland’s Sunshine Coast region. CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology projections estimate that the average number of days over 35 in the region could increase up to tenfold without strong climate policies from a current average of three to 32 days by 2090.

The average number of days over 35 and 40 degrees in Roma has increased annually since the early 1990s. CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology projections estimate that, without climate action, days over 40 degrees could rise from five days per year to 58 days in 2070 and as many as 84 days by 2090. Half of the nights in summer are

Tasmania’s shellfish aquaculture and commercial wild-catch fisheries are responsible for 8,400 tonnes of production each year, with a gross value of $209 million. Between them, these sectors employ between 1,091 and 1,310 people across all four of Tasmania’s regions. The distribution of fishing and aquaculture jobs varies across Tasmania’s four regions. Offshore caged aquaculture (the

The Revenue Summit is a special initiative of The Australia Institute that discussed the need to increase public spending to strengthen our economy and society, and how to raise public revenue efficiently and equitably. Tax is the price we pay to live in a civilised society, but in contemporary Australia, we rarely ask how much

The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,449 Australians about income inequality and income taxation. Overall most respondents agreed with principles of progressive taxation and disagreed that income tax in Australia should be made less progressive. Key Results: + 74% of respondents agreed that if the gap between high and low incomes grows,

Introduction The debate in Australia about the Federal Government’s Budget has too often focused on what spending will get cut to fund what tax cuts. Australia has also obsessed which Treasurer will deliver a budget surplus in which year. What has been lost in this simplistic debate is that tax is the price we pay

This report is a step-by-step guide to valuing compensation in the Lower-Darling. Major changes to the management of the Lower Darling will affect the whole community. To date only one stakeholder, major agribusiness WebsterLtd, has been compensated by the Commonwealth. The region’s other businesses and property owners should assess how Webster’s compensation was calculated in

A special 6-part series of short articles from WA Transport Magazine: Researchers have identified the transportation industry as one of the sectors likely to be most affected by the coming implementation of new technologies: such as self-driving vehicles, artificial intelligence, and automated logistics systems. How will transportation workers fare as these technologies are rolled out, and

Gas exploration is being undertaken in the Wide Bay Burnett region. Development of gasfields would present a risk to the region’s diverse services, tourism, agricultural, and manufacturing economy. Summary points include: Blue Energy is exploring for gas in the Wide Bay Burnett region, a region that features high-value horticulture and sugar cane crops and the

This report is the first in a series that highlights how the Murray–Darling Basin Plan has increased the flow of money and water to big agribusinesses and has increased the vulnerability of everyone else in the Basin– Aboriginal people, floodplain graziers, downstream communities and small irrigators. [READ FULL REPORT]

This submission responds to the call for submissions on the draft rate of return guidelines as set out by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER). The consumer groups have complained that the regulated entities are very profitable and attribute that to flawed methodology on the part of the regulator. We want to support that and follow

How over 5 gigawatts of New South Wales gas and coal plants being simultaneously offline pushed the state’s power supply to the brink and drove high electricity prices.

The ABC Board carries the ultimate responsibility for the independence and integrity of the national broadcaster. In previous eras both sides of politics made inappropriate partisan appointments to the ABC board. Despite the ‘arm’s length, merit based’ reforms made in 2013, the appointment process has once again become deeply politicised. Basic governance standards are being

This Implementation Plan has been prepared by the National Integrity Committee, to provide policy advice on the implementation of the National Integrity Commission design outlined in the committee’s Design Principles and the Design Blueprint.