Today’s IMF report on the Australian economy underscores the economic and budgetary risks of proceeding with the Stage 3 Tax Cuts for high income earners, according to economic experts. The IMF report, which directly refers to the Government’s ability to restructure the Stage 3 tax cuts in a way which “appropriately balance[s] costs on the

The cost of mortgages is soaring and households are spending less in the shops – the Reserve Bank should hold off on raising rates again next week

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If a pandemic killed 15,000 people and nobody seemed to notice, was it really a pandemic? In Australia last year, COVID-19 killed more people than lung cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, car accidents and drowning combined. And in addition to the 15,000 deaths directly attributed to COVID, the Australian Bureau of Statistics tells us that

One of Labor’s key policies to reduce emissions is the Safeguard Mechanism. But how does it work, and how effective is it at actually reducing emissions?

Most economists believe inflation has peaked and yet the Reserve Bank is still expected to raise rates next month despite real wages falling by more than 4% last year.

Whether Treasurer Jim Chalmers reforms, restructures, or simply removes the Productivity Commission is, like the commission itself, largely irrelevant. The advisory body that once sat at the vanguard of Australia’s failed experiment with neoliberalism now sits impotently on the sidelines of Australian policy debate. Bizarrely, in rejecting calls for the abolition of the PC this week some

The ABS release of annual inflation data to the December quarter of 7.8% reveals many Australians will be paying more for housing with rapidly rising rents and a likely RBA rate increase at the February 7 meeting, according to the Australia Institute. “This increase is bad news for Australians struggling with the cost of living,

Home loans have fallen sharply in the past year, and the rate rises are clearly having a major impact. As such the Reserve Bank needs to wait before raising them again.

The latest enterprise agreements lodged with the Fair Work Commission show that wages continue to lag well below inflation

As price growth begin to slow around the world, the RBA needs to stop slamming on the brakes

The Stage 3 tax cuts will cost $300bn in their first 9 years. A new tool shows how we can spend the money better

The Chubb review talks optimistically about ‘carbon credits’, but we wouldn’t need so many if we weren’t building so many new sources of pollution.

Research released today by The Australia Institute shows that a cotton industry in the Northern Territory would not bring significant employment or tax payments. The findings were submitted to the NT Government’s water policy consultation process, which closed yesterday. Key points: The cotton industry does not create significant employment in Australia. Cotton growing employs just

“Professor Ian Chubb’s review of the way that carbon credits are issued in Australia will add to the confusion about the role, integrity and future of carbon credits in Australian climate policy,” said Dr Richard Denniss, Executive Director of the Australia Institute. “Unfortunately, Professor Chubb’s review is silent about the most important issues facing our

Like Ebenezer Scrooge visiting the site of his neglected gravestone with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, Australia’s gas industry has realised it has so comprehensively screwed Australians over with its greed that few will mourn its passing. It’s hard to overstate just how badly gas companies and governments have botched the management of

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The average annual wage growth in enterprise agreements not only remains well below inflation, it shows little sigh of increasing.

The past 6 months has seen a record rise in the amount of interest households are having to pay

The Australia Institute’s Democracy & Accountability Program welcomes Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus’ announcement of the abolition and replacement of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), which fulfills a recommendation made in the Institute’s research earlier this year. The Australia Institute research revealed political appointments to the AAT skyrocketed from 6 in 100 under John Howard, to 2