January 2022
Healthy humans drive the economy: we’re now witnessing one of the worst public policy failures in Australia’s history
Australians are getting a stark reminder about how value is actually created in an economy, and how supply chains truly work.
This is what it looks like when the government gives up
The return of Summernats to Canberra reminds us the Prime Minister promised Australia would be going into 2022 ‘looking through the front windscreen, not the rear vision mirror’. In reality, National Cabinet seems to be doing the policy equivalent of a burnout (or a doughnut as I called them growing up), spinning its wheels furiously
Summer Series – The Long Covid-19 Economic Crisis with Richard Denniss [webinar]
Our summer series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars in 2021. This episode we’re bringing you a conversation with our chief economist Richard Denniss about the merits and flaws in the government’s fiscal response to the pandemic and the long terms effects on the Australian economy. This was recorded live on
Summer Series – Feeling the Heat with Marian Wilkinson, Richard Denniss and Allan Behm [webinar]
Our summer series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars in 2021. This episode we’re bringing you a conversation with award-winning journalist Marian Wilkinson and the Australia Institute’s chief economist Richard Denniss and Allan Behm, International & Security Affairs program director, about the growing pressure on Australia, as global and regional powers
Summer Series – Climate Change and the Pacific with the Hon Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa Prime Minister of Samoa [webinar]
Our summer podcast series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars in 2021. This episode you’ll hear from the Prime Minister of Samoa, the Hon. Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa on climate change and the Pacific, as part of the Australia Institute’s Regional Climate Diplomacy Forum, with youth climate activist and UNICEF Pacific Ambassador
December 2021
As collective bargaining erodes in Australia, solutions from other countries could strengthen bargaining and lift wages
New research on international collective bargaining systems, released today in a special issue of the peer-reviewed journal, Labour and Industry, finds that Australia’s industrial relations system is rapidly losing its ability to support wages in the face of numerous challenges (now including the Omicron outbreak).
Summer Series – Coal, Climate Change and Conservatives with Malcolm Turnbull [webinar]
Our summer series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars in 2021. This episode we’re bringing you a conversation about coal, climate change and conservatives and why NSW needs a moratorium on new coal mines with former Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, who was in conversation with the Australia Institute’s chief
Victorian Rate Cap Policy Costs Economy Over 7,000 jobs and $890 million to GDP
The Victorian State Government’s policy to cap the rates of local government has cost the Victorian economy 7,425 direct and indirect jobs in 2021-22, and has reduced GDP by up to $890 million in 2021-22, according to new research from the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work. Key Findings The Victorian Government’s rate caps have
Is your Super Fund invested in nuclear weapons?
New research reveals most major Australian superannuation funds have holdings in nuclear weapons companies
Irrigator and environment groups unite to protect Murray Darling
An unprecedented alliance of irrigation representatives and environment peak bodies have called on the NSW Premier, Treasurer and Environment Minister to oversee changes to Murray Darling water rules. The groups include representatives of a majority of NSW irrigators and the environmental peak bodies of all Basin states. The practice of diverting floodwater, known as floodplain
New Analysis: Most Major Australian Superannuation Funds Invest in Nuclear Weapons Despite United Nations Treaty
New research from the Australia Institute and Quit Nukes reveals most major Australian superannuation funds have holdings in nuclear weapons companies, such as Airbus, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. While many exclude so-called ‘controversial weapons’, they do not include nuclear weapons in the definition and continue to invest in nuclear weapons companies. Nearly one year into
Whatever happened to the free web?
The internet promised new ways to challenge power and privilege, so how has it become a tool to promote division and entrench despots? Join us as we dive deep with special guest Elaine Pearson from Human Rights Watch into the ways tech platforms have become wilful partners in oppression around the globe. Regular panellists: Peter
Skewed: How grants with ministerial discretion are biased towards Coalition seats
Grants with ministerial discretion skew towards Coalition seats
November 2021
Big Winners of $3.9b in Government Discretionary Grants are Coalition Marginal Seats
New analysis from the Australia Institute’s Democracy & Accountability Program reveals that $3.9 billion spent by federal grants programs with ministerial discretion has clearly skewed towards marginal Coalition seats in particular, at the expense of safe Labor seats and, to a lesser extent, safe Coalition seats. Marginal Coalition seats received on average $184 per person
Amazon’s Big Friday a Black Day for Worker Rights
The Australia Institute’s Centre for Responsible technology today called on Amazon to mark its global marketing day, Black Friday, by ditching patents to increase the surveillance of its workers. According to an analysis by UNI Global, Amazon currently have patents on a range of technologies that will erode workplace privacy including: Augmented reality headsets that
The great (gendered) resignation is not what you think. It’s worse
The great resignation is apparently upon us — workers are walking away from bad jobs. But in Australia, the exodus of women from the workforce says more about structural barriers than worker empowerment.
New Analysis: Voter ID Laws a Solution Looking for a Problem
New research from the Australia Institute’s Democracy & Accountability Program shows that for each voter who was marked as voting more than once (accurately or otherwise), there were over 1,000 Australians who were entitled to vote but whose votes were not counted. New voter ID laws risk disenfranchising even more voters, for the sake of
Victorian Government rejection of Gippsland Mineral Sand Mine: Win for Community & Local Economy
The Australia Institute welcomes the decision by Victorian State Minister for Planning Richard Wynne to reject the Fingerboards Mineral Sands project proposed by Kalbar Resources. Rod Campbell, Research Director at The Australia Institute, was an expert witness in the planning hearings that led to the rejection. He was called by community group Mine-Free Glenaladale. “We
What’s the go with DuckDuckGo?
The dominance of Google’s data-hungry search engine is under the spotlight in Australia, with live inquiries on its role in the Ad-tech industry and anti-competitive deals which embed the search engine in smart devices. But DuckDuckGo has proven that you can build a search engine that’s not based on user surveillance. In this week’s Burning
Transport, housing, furnishings drive inflation
The retiree group most affected by rising living costs.
PM promised reform, record funding – here’s what happened
Economist Matt Grudnoff outlines the ‘progress’ made since the royal commission.
Eight free weeks: Time stolen from employees skyrockets during COVID
The number of hours stolen from Australians by employers has skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the average employee now providing eight full-time weeks of free work per year. 17 November 2021 marks Go Home on Time Day, run by the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work, and now in its thirteenth year. Key findings
Too Early to Celebrate Google’s Australian Cash Splash
Today’s announcement by Google of a $200 million per year technology fund is a great headline, but it is important to look behind the big numbers. Key Details: Google pays less than one per cent tax on annual earnings of about $5 billion. Simply paying tax on Australian earnings would deliver far more money to
Can technology really save the planet?
As the world’s leaders debate the future of the planet, technology is being put forward as the solution to the earth’s climate woes. But will smart energy networks, AI and Bitcoin really save us? As part of the annual NetThing internet governance conference, this week’s Burning Platforms dives deep into the environmental impacts of technology. Regular panellists: Peter
What Next for Casual Work? Professor Andrew Stewart webinar recording
Casual employment has dominated Australia’s labour market recovery from COVID-19. And the right of employers to hire staff on a casual basis in almost any role they choose – including jobs that on their face appear have permanent characteristics – seems to have been cemented by recent amendments to the Fair Work Act, and by the High Court’s recent ruling in the WorkPac v. Rossato case.
The needle and the damage done
The federal government’s handling of the pandemic has been the worst public policy screw-up in Australian history
Active Policy Measures Needed to Stop Decline of Journalism
The media and information industries have lost some 60,000 jobs in Australia over the last 15 years. With almost half of those jobs lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, new research shows active policy supports are urgently needed to stabilise and protect the ‘public good’ function of journalism. A new report by the Australia Institute’s Centre
October 2021
Talk isn’t cheap
The Commonwealth Government spends over $1billion of public money annually on consultancies, but the advice and reports created by these consultancies is often kept secret from the public.
‘Actions Speak Louder than Words’: Net Zero by 2050 a Fraud Without Transition from Fossil Fuels
The Morrison Government’s Net Zero by 2050 deal is a fraud while the Government plots to double coal exports, open vast new gas fields and prop-up coal generated power. Furthermore, the budgetary cost of persuading the National Party to support Scott Morrison’s net zero target are trivial compared to the costs to the economy of
Junk Carbon Credits
Today’s episode examines carbon offsets, in other words, the credits companies can buy to offset their emissions. The Australia Institute, together with the Australian Conservation Foundation did a bit of digging into Australia’s offsets system and found some alarming things. Recorded live on 5 October 2021 The Australia Institute // @theausinstitute Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy
General Enquiries
Tanya Martin Executive Assistant
mail@australiainstitute.org.au
Media Enquiries
Jake Wishart Senior Media Adviser
jake@australiainstitute.org.au