Off the Charts
A picture tells a thousand words and Off the Charts is where you’ll find the charts and graphs that tell the most interesting stories. Across all the areas the Australia Institute covers, we give you the pictures that help you understand what is really going on in the world.
The market sees the safeguard mechanism deal as a loser for mining companies
The market’s early view of the safeguard mechanism deal is bad for gas and coal mining companies
New South Wales needs to end its addiction to the pokies
NSW has one poker machine for every 88 people – more than 10 times the amount in Western Australia
Emissions from the 116 proposed coal and gas projects would swamp the reductions from the safeguard mechanism
New fossil fuel projects would create 24 times more pollution than what the safeguard mechanism would (theoretically) remove
Ignore the fears from the gas industry, Australia has more than enough gas
Once again the gas industry is crying wolf and telling us we need more gas to prevent shortages. But if you read beyond the scare quotes today’s report from Australia’s Energy Market Operator report shows we already have more than enough gas.
Wage rises show some improvement but continue to rise well below inflation
The latest data from the Fair Work Commissions suggest wages continue to be deflationary as profits drive inflation
It’s not just mining: profits have increased by more than wages in almost all industries
Yes the mining sector has booming profits, but they are not the only businesses whose profits are growing faster than the wages of their workers
925,000 are now working more than one job
The rising cost of living and falling real wages has seen the number of people working more than one job surge in the past 2 years.
February 2023
Wages rising slower than expected as profits continue to drive inflation
With public sector wages dragging down wage growth and private sector wages rising slower than expected, it is clear Reserve Bank needs to pause its run of rate rises
The destruction of real wages will take a long time to recover
The Reserve Bank now predicts real wages will being to recover from the start of next year, but will take many years to recover
The Reserve Bank has delivered a massive credit crunch
The 300 basis point increase in the cash rates has delivered one of the biggest falls in lending ever seen. The risk of a recession to follow cannot be ignored
January 2023
No signs of a wage-price spiral as wage growth in EBAs stagnate
The latest enterprise agreements lodged with the Fair Work Commission show that wages continue to lag well below inflation
Slowing inflation in the USA gives cause for the RBA to pause rate raises
As price growth begin to slow around the world, the RBA needs to stop slamming on the brakes
December 2022
The latest figures from the Fair Work Commission suggest no sign of a wages-prices spiral
The average annual wage growth in enterprise agreements not only remains well below inflation, it shows little sigh of increasing.
A Record Interest Shock Hitting Australian Households
The past 6 months has seen a record rise in the amount of interest households are having to pay
ABS data shows being in a union delivers better wages
Whether you are old or young, low or high income, working in construction or admin, a labourer or a manager, being in a union delivers you better pay.
Nearly 900,000 people are working more than one job
As wages fail to keep up with inflation a record number of poeple are having to work more than one job to get by
New data shows how important funding public services is for reducing inequality
Public services massively reduce inequality, but the Stage 3 tax cuts will make it much more difficult to fund them
Rising transport emissions show the need to end subsidies for high-emitting SUVs and utes
The latest emissions projections reveal that emissions from SUVs will cancel out the reductions that occur due to electric vehicles
The latest data shows the urgent need for more public housing
As approvals for public sector housing hit 2 year lows, the ambition for more public housing needs to be even greater than the government’s 20,000 in 5 years target.
November 2022
Voter turnout in the 2022 federal election hit a new low, threatening our democratic tradition
This year’s election had the lowest turnout for a century. For the first time since compulsory voting was introduced for the 1925 federal election, turnout fell below 90%.
Stronger wages growth from enterprise agreements, strongest from unions
The latest wage rises from enterprise agreements show good improvement, but overall, workers continue to see their wages lag behind inflation
Business groups say they want higher wages, but their actions show the opposite
Business groups like the ACCI and AI Group say they want higher wages, but their recommendations for minimum wage rises show they rarely want real wages to rise
Not even the Liberal Party can defend the Stage 3 tax cut on its own merit
In defending the Stage 3 tax cuts in parliament, Angus Taylor inadvertently highlighted the real benefits for low-middle income earners comes from Stages 1 and 2.
Some small signs of better wage rises
The latest enterprise agreements figures show small signs of wage growth and once again the benefits of being in a union
Latest RBA estimates show real wages in 2023 will be where they were in 2008
Australia has the power to guide the world’s transition away from fossil fuels
In the drive to electrifty everything, Australia is positioned to be a world power
A third of Australia’s biggest companies paid no tax in 2020-21
In 2020-21 the biggest companies in Australia were able to reduce their taxable income to just 12% of their total income
The RBA talks tough about low-rising wages but not soaring profits
Wages are rising within the RBA’s target band of inflation but profits are soaring 7 times that rate. And yet the RBA is more concerned with rising wages than profits
October 2022
The Stage 3 tax cuts will be responsible for up to 42% of the Budget deficit
The Stage 3 tax cuts are not just unfair, they create a massive hole in the budget
The Budget reveals the failure of the PRRT
Right now the gas industry is booming, but the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax is not.
Curated by
Off the Charts is curated by the Centre for Future Work’s Labour market and Fiscal policy director Greg Jericho.
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