November 2025
Why it’s the perfect time for the Albanese government to defy the mining lobbies
Everybody knows the Albanese government has it easy in Parliament.
Every four hours a gun is stolen in Australia: New research
There was a random shooting in inner-west Sydney. Police officers were killed in regional Victoria. Shootings in Queensland are becoming common enough that they barely make the news.
October 2025
Mates’ rates and why Australia can’t have nice things
Australia’s natural environment is in crisis and its wealth is disappearing into the hands of a few powerful fossil fuel companies – but it doesn’t have to be this way.
June 2025
Anthony Albanese can restrict gas exports and save the Tomago aluminium smelter
Taxpayers are being asked to hand over billions to multinational mining giant Rio Tinto to help keep its Tomago aluminium smelter open – again.
May 2025
Great gas giveaway: $215 billion in royalty-free gas for Woodside’s North West Shelf project
A 50-year extension to the North West Shelf (NWS) project in Western Australia would see huge amounts of gas given away with no return for Australians.
Great gas giveaway: $215 billion in royalty-free gas for Woodside’s North West Shelf project
A 50-year extension to the North West Shelf (NWS) project in Western Australia (WA) would see huge amounts of gas given away royalty-free. While the exact volume and value is hard to predict, a basic estimate is that up to $215 billion worth of gas could be given away, royalty-free. The NWS liquefied natural gas
Why the election’s closest seat went unnoticed: Too close to Calwell
Updated 30/05/2025 The outer-Melbourne electorate of Calwell was named “Australia’s most unpredictable seat” by The Age after the election and was – aside from those going to a recount – the last seat to be called. The AEC labelled the counting process for the seat “likely the most complex in Australia’s history”. The count is
Tasmanian salmon: more revenue, more pollution, but always less tax
The Tasmanian salmon industry is one where the revenue earned keeps going up while the tax paid falls to zero.
April 2025
Demonstrating Australia’s gas export problem: INPEX vs Aus states
When one company exports more than is consumed in NSW, Victoria and South Australia combined, there is clearly no gas shortage.
Big gas is taking the piss
Peter Dutton has it half right on gas. There is no supply shortage, but Australians need to be using less gas – not more.
March 2025
The big stink of Tasmanian Salmon farms – six times more pollution than Tasmanian sewage
Tasmanian salmon farms produce 6 times more pollution each year than Tasmania’s entire sewage
February 2025
Politics and property – how our leaders are among the privileged using legal loopholes to build their wealth
Not so long ago, former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull was branded “Mr Harbourside Mansion”, a moniker bestowed upon him by his own side of politics.
January 2025
Ten years of Adani scandals and how to fix them
In 2025 it will be 10 years since most Australian news consumers first heard the name Adani.
December 2024
Queensland has more coal mines than ever before
Remember when BHP threatened that Queensland was going to “rue the day” that coal royalties were changed to get more money for Queenslanders? How mining companies were going to desert the state? New data from the Queensland Government shows that there are more coal mines in the state now than ever before, with 58 operating
Can you imagine any other climate research group asking for less money?
Getting coal for Christmas is supposed to be a bad thing. But for Australia’s coal mines, all their Christmases seem to have come at once!
Salmon spin and pollution all a bit fishy
Salmon companies are ripping off Tasmania and trying to pass it off as yet another ‘jobs vs environment’ fight. This is the kind of fight that Tasmanian politicians love to have, and like performing seals, the Tasmanian government and opposition have lined up to bark and do their tricks. But the fight over salmon farming
November 2024
Climate change driving insurance premiums, adding to cost of living pressure and inflation
Climate change is driving an enormous increase in the cost of insurance with premiums massively outpacing price rises for nearly all other goods and services, making it unaffordable for many Australians.
August 2024
Taxes on tampons, tax breaks for luxury utes: gender in the budget
Last week, the federal government announced plans to define menstrual products as “lifestyle-related” and exclude them from NDIS funding.
July 2024
Renewable hydrogen: Superpower, or green mask for fossil super villains?
My children are aged three and four. They love anything with super powers – Spiderman, vampires, Paw Patrol, everything.
June 2024
Don’t listen to this podcast
The Coalition’s nuclear ‘plan’ is a cynical, Trump-like distraction – so why does the media (and this podcast) fall for the trap?
The Minerals Council REALLY wants you to feel good about coal: Spin Bin | Video
The Minerals Council recently released an ad promoting the coal industry in Australia, which uses some figures that don’t stack up.
Bring out yer dead! Amid nuke hype Tanya Plibersek approves Gina Rinehart’s gas pipeline
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has just approved a new coal seam gas pipeline in Queensland.
Majority of Australians back digital free-to-air sports coverage
Australia Institute research has found a majority (56%) of Australians want free-to-air sports coverage to be available on the internet.
May 2024
WA Gas Royalties Set to Plummet: Budget Analysis
Australia Institute analysis of the 2024 WA Budget shows the meagre contribution of gas royalties to state government revenue will plumet to just 0.6% over the next 4 years.
Fossil fuel subsidies make government priorities clear
If Australia is to use and produce more fossil fuels than we are now, the rest of our climate policy amounts to tinkering at the edges, writes Rod Campbell.
Fossil fuel subsidies hit $14.5 billion in 2023-24, up 31%
New research from the Australia Institute has found that state and federal governments provided $14.5 billion in subsidies to fossil fuel producers and major consumers in 2023-24 – the equivalent of $27,581 for every minute of every day, or $540 for every person in Australia.
April 2024
Fire ants economic bite underestimated in government modelling: $2.5b per year in costs by 2035
New research by The Australia Institute finds the threat posed by fire ants has been significantly understated, identifying a compelling economic case for their eradication.
Nuclear power in Australia is a really bad idea. The ban ensures that is all it is
You can’t prevent people from having bad ideas and you can’t prevent people from talking about their bad ideas.
March 2024
F1 Grand Prix: Victorians finish last. Again.
The $100m lost by the Grand Prix could double funding for community sport and pay the airfares of all international and interstate visitors.
November 2023
The Tasmanian salmon industry’s talk about boosting the economy does not include paying tax
The Tasmanian salmon industry talks a big game about its importance to the economy, but it is rather quiet when it comes to paying tax
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