I’m a fifth-generation farmer. My family have run properties alongside the Darling/Baaka River for almost a century. We have watched as the once mighty river system that runs through the heart of our nation has suffered due to government mismanagement and over-extraction upstream. I’ve always said the red dirt of home runs through my veins,

by Dan Nahum & Jim Stanford[Originally published via Medium, 26 Oct 2020] Like governments around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting recession knocked a huge hole in Queensland’s state budget. Big losses in revenues from the recession, combined with extra costs of fighting the pandemic, turned a planned $234 million operating surplus for this

A full-page advertisement will be published in The Courier-Mail on Monday 26 October 2020 featuring Australia Institute research exposing the Queensland Resources Council’s (QRC) false jobs claims. The QRC has a long history of using questionable economic modelling, known as input-output modelling, to exaggerate the number of jobs its members create. In fact, the Australian

Australia’s electricity sector is being revolutionised by the rise of renewable energy and storage, but new analysis from the Australia Institute’s Climate & Energy Program shows the current energy market framework is holding these technologies back. In 2018 the Federal and State/Territory Governments tasked the Energy Security Board with designing a new National Electricity Market

With state budget deficits a potential issue in the coming Queensland election, new research from the Centre for Future Work shows that cutting public sector jobs and wages would directly undermine the delivery of essential public services at a challenging time in Queensland’s history. Moreover, misplaced fiscal austerity would also hurt the state’s economic recovery by reducing spending, employment and production in the private sector. These effects would be especially severe in regional and remote QLD, which is most reliant on public service jobs.

The Australia Institute has criticised the Queensland Government’s deal to subsidise the Adani coal project via a royalty deferral deal. The long-running negotiations between Adani and the Queensland Government will allow the coal mine to ‘dig now, pay later’ at a secret, but certainly discounted, interest rate. Key points: The royalty deal has been reported

The Australia Institute and consultancy firm, Slattery & Johnson, have released research today based on newly unredacted valuation documents about the $80 million ‘Watergate’ scandal. The documents, provided to independent Senator Rex Patrick last week after a two-year battle, contain the commercial valuation commissioned by the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (DAWR) for negotiations

An Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) report on the Murray Darling Basin has found “information relating to value for money…was limited” for water purchases worth $190 million. The ANAO found that the Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment (DAWE): Did not consistently apply approved policy, planning and guidance to the assessment of all limited tender

New research from The Australia Institute has found that more than three in four Australians (77%) support states closing their borders to interstate travel. The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,005 Australians about their view on state border closures on 27-28 May. Key Findings: More than three in four Australians (77%) support

New analysis from the Australia Institute reveals that while the Federal Government is considering taxpayer support for a new coal power station to be built in Queensland, there are currently no coal power plants under construction anywhere else in Australia or North America, and only one plant being built in the Western Europe. Key Findings: 

Research released by The Australia Institute today reveals new information on the Commonwealth’s controversial purchase of water rights in the Condamine Balonne valley for $80 million in 2017. The Government has refused to release independent valuations of the water rights, despite requests from the Senate, with newly released documents showing similar deals had been repeatedly

As Murray Darling Basin Water Ministers meet today to discuss the future of the Basin management, new research by the Australia Institute shows that the Murray-Darling Basin’s new Inspector General, former AFP Commissioner Mick Keelty, has ignored key issues in his first annual report on the Northern Basin. The ministerial council is likely to work on

The Queensland Government has announced its royalty deal arrangement with Adani, due by Saturday 30th November 2019, has been delayed yet again and no new deadline has been set. “This loan deal should never have been on the table, it is against Queensland’s interests and will be to Queensland’s shame if it is waved through,”

Research released today by The Australia Institute shows that preparations have not begun on parts of the Adani royalty deal, which is due for completion on Monday 30 September. Key findings The Adani royalty deal allows Adani to defer royalty payments and pay them back at discount interest rates. Estimates for the value royalty-related subsidies to Adani range from

New research released today by The Australia Institute shows that the vast majority of Australians prioritise production of food for Australian consumption, and support for family farms in the Murray Darling Basin. When respondents were asked to rank agriculture and water policy goals: Top water policy priorities for the Murray-Darling Basin include: Three quarters of

Research released today by The Australia Institute shows that coal mines in Queensland receive a discount on royalty payments of up to 17% relative to similar mines in NSW. This effective subsidy could be increased under a State Government deal with Adani currently being negotiated. “Mines like Adani’s effectively get 17% of their coal for

New research shows that Queensland is set to experience more climate chaos, including more summers with a dramatic increase in extreme heat days – like in Brisbane, where days over 35C would go from a historical average of two per year, to up to 45 days per year by 2090. The report, written by The

The electorate of Dawson could suffer devastating climate impacts unless emissions are cut, and climate change is brought under control. The Australia Institute Climate Assessment for Dawson released today has found that, if emissions continue to rise, by 2070 the electorate of Dawson is projected to experience: Up to more than twice as many heatwave

New research from The Australia Institute highlights four steps governments can take to improve the management of the Murray Darling Basin: Emergency water allocation to the dairy industry Develop policies to ensure diversity in Basin agriculture A federal Royal Commission or federal ICAC investigation Pause the Basin Plan The Institute’s proposal has been backed by

The Australia Institute’s new Climate Assessment for Herbert has found the electorate could suffer devastating climate impacts unless emissions are cut and climate change is brought under control. If emissions continue to rise, by 2070 the electorate of Herbert is projected to experience: A single heatwave could last up to over 50 days Up to

The Australia Institute has released new analysis of the controversial $80 million water deal between the Department of Agriculture and Water under then-Minister Barnaby Joyce and a company domiciled in the Cayman Islands. The analysis shows the close collaboration between the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources and the company selling the water, Eastern Australia

The Australia Institute’s new Climate Assessment for the electorate of Capricornia has found the electorate could suffer devastating climate impacts unless emissions are cut and climate change is brought under control. If emissions continue to rise, by 2070 the electorate of Capricornia is projected to experience: Up to twice as many heatwave days per year

The Australia Institute has today released analysis of official responses to the Watergate scandal surrounding Murray Darling water purchases, covered by The Project, Guardian and other outlets.   The analysis finds that official responses are misleading and in some cases incorrect: The Prime Minister’s claim that the record water purchase was covered in a Senate inquiry

The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of Australians in 2018 and in 2019 about their views towards issues surrounding the health and management of the Murray Darling Basin (MDB). Key Findings: A majority of Australians (55%) now consider the health of the Murray Darling Basin poor or very poor, up 18 percentage points

Dramatic increases in extreme heat days, combined with high humidity present an increasing threat to the health and wellbeing of Mackay residents. The Australia Institute’s HeatWatch initiative, which uses CSIRO–BoM modelling, shows that the number of extreme heat days (over 35C) experienced in Mackay could increase up to seventy times current levels and that virtually

Dramatic increases in the number extreme heat days (35°C+) present an increasing threat to the wellbeing of Whitsundays residents, and to key industries to the region such as agriculture and tourism. New research from the Australia Institute’s HeatWatch initiative, which uses CSIRO–BoM modelling, shows that the number of extreme heat days experienced in the Whitsundays

Dramatic increases in the number extreme heat days (35°C+) present an increasing threat to the health and wellbeing of Townsville residents. New research from the Australia Institute’s HeatWatch initiative, which uses CSIRO–BoM modelling, shows that the number of extreme heat days experienced in Townsville could increase up to thirty times above historic levels and that

New research released today by The Australia Institute finds that a coal project proposed near Kingaroy, Queensland, should be rejected by policy makers on economic grounds. The report finds that the project is unlikely to be economically viable, faces huge barriers in getting coal to market and would adversely impact key local industries. “The Kingaroy