Australia’s commitment under the Paris climate agreement is to reduce carbon emissions by 26 to 28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. With the announcement of the National Energy Guarantee the government has required the electricity sector to reduce its emissions by 26 per cent. This implies other sectors such as agriculture will also

Since allegations of large-scale water theft were aired on Four Corners in 2017, a flood of media reports have shown that the $13bn Murray-Darling Basin Plan is not being well implemented: agency cover ups, political and regulatory capture, agencies with cultures of non-compliance, dodgy water deals, alleged fraud and unlawful amendments. [READ FULL REPORT]

The Australia Institute welcomes the opportunity to make a submission on the Long-Term Diversion Limit Extraction (LTDLE) factors. LTDLEs are required to determine how much water has been recovered to meet the government’s water recovery target under the Murray-Darling Basin reforms. LTDLE factors need to be resolved to bring certainty to communities and water licence

Development of the Galilee Basin would displace production in other coal regions. Galilee mines would be more automated and less job-intensive than existing mines. Based on coal industry analysis, central estimates of employment reduction are 9,100 in the Hunter Valley, 2,000 in the Bowen Basin & 1,400 in the Surat Basin compared to a no-Galilee

SUPPORTING TECHNICAL PAPER: National Energy and Emissions Audit, July 2018 CALCULATING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS ARISING FROM ELECTRICITY GENERATION IN THE NATIONAL ELECTRICITY MARKET. Emissions are calculated on an annual basis as the sum of emissions arising from each thermal power station supplying the National Electricity Market (NEM). This is the procedure used by the Australian Electricity

While electric vehicles are associated with zero emissions it is often said that they are no “cleaner” than the electricity source. It is suggested that electric vehicles using high emissions-intense sources of electricity offer little improvement and may even be worse than internal combustion engine vehicles. This argument is widespread but we argue it is

On 1 July 2018, workers in several retail and hospitality industries will experience a second reduction in the penalty rates they receive for working on Sundays and public holidays.  The reductions were ordered by the Fair Work Commission, and follow an initial reduction imposed on 1 July 2017. Employer representatives argued that by reducing labour

Australia’s manufacturing industry is at a crossroads.  After years of decline, the sector has finally found a more stable economic footing, and many indicators point to an expansion in domestic  manufacturing in the coming years.  Manufacturing added almost 50,000 new jobs in the last year – making it one of the most important sources of

Competitive neutrality policy aims to ensure that government business activities do not have unfair advantages over private sector competitors, particularly in relation to cost or pricing advantages. Price-setting and user-charging are necessary criteria for a competitive neutrality issue to arise. These are not relevant to the ABC or SBS which provide services by which, for

Queensland’s New Acland Coal mine, near Oakey on the Darling Downs, has been controversial due to its huge impacts on the town of Acland, which is now neardeserted, and its environmental effects and conflicts with agricultural land uses. The Queensland Land Court recommended rejection of New Hopes’ New Acland Coal (NAC) Stage 3 mine expansion

Proposed changes to the Water Act reduce accountability, parliamentary oversight and facilitate changes to the Murray Darling Basin Plan that are based on political convenience rather than science. The bill should not be passed.

Australian taxpayers have been overcompensated for bracket creep and there is no need for further income tax cuts to reduce its effects. The government uses bracket creep to justify the income tax plan outlined in the 2018 Budget. The government claims that bracket creep is having a negative impact on the economy and income tax

Inequality is getting worse in Australia with the income share of the top 10% growing at the expense of everyone else. On Monday 18 June, The Australia Institute, Australia21 and the former Treasurer, the Hon Wayne Swan MP, jointly hosted a roundtable discussion in Parliament House on dealing with economic inequality in Australia. The report was

Santos’ response to submissions on its Narrabri Gas Project does not dispute most of the flaws identified in The Australia Institute’s initial submission. The economic assessment of the Narrabri Gas Project continues to be misleading and does not comply with NSW assessment guidelines. The benefit cost analysis by consultants GHD is contradicted by the proponents’

This paper examines the government’s 2018 personal income tax proposals by presenting a distributional analysis of the tax cuts and then looking at some general tax principles and considerations that we can use to assess the present proposals. We begin in the next section by outlining exactly how the government intends the tax cuts to

The quarterly edition of the National Energy Emissions Audit, released today by The Australia Institute’s Climate & Energy Program, shows Australian transport emissions are ramping up thanks to a significant increase in diesel usage. Key Findings: Transport sector emissions are rising due to a significant increase in diesel usage and this almost cancels out all

While Australia debates how to reach our Paris Agreement targets, wider issues such as whether these targets are appropriate and how they might need to be adjusted in the future are receiving scant attention. Australia’s current 2030 emissions reduction target is for a 26-28 percent reduction on 2005 levels. The Australian Labor Party has said