August 2024
Closing Loopholes Protections, Including Right to Disconnect, Come Into Effect 26 August
New labour rights coming into effect on 26 August, including the ‘Right to Disconnect’.
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.
Greedflation: what’s really causing inflation | Joseph Stiglitz on Q+A
Is government spending inflationary?
Fossil fuels are gobbling up construction capacity and it’s hurting at home
In the wake of the Reserve Bank’s latest forecasts, Treasurer Jim Chalmers is facing calls that government should cut back on infrastructure investment to relieve inflation pressures and free up workers and resources to build much-needed housing.
July 2024
Would you like a recession with that? New Zealand shows the danger of high interest rates
New Zealand’s central bank raised interest rates more than Australia and went into a recession – twice.
A second Trump presidency would send Australia down a dark economic path. Here’s how it might play out
While Kamala Harris has restored some hope for Democrats in November, the likelihood of a Trump presidency still remains very strong. And if that happens, Australia may find itself more damaged than any other major country.
Australian workers’ living standards have been destroyed – and there is little good news ahead
Over the next few weeks, the Reserve Bank will ponder just how strong the economy is.
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.
Understanding the Future Made in Australia
The Albanese Government’s industrial policy framework – the Future Made in Australia Act (FMAA) – has finally been unveiled.
Over 30 organisations urge the Rockliff government to release Tasmania’s decade-overdue State of the Environment Report
Tasmania’s Government has failed to publish a State of the Environment Report since 2009,
despite having a legal obligation to do so every five years.
Why Queensland is Miles ahead of the game
Canberra doesn’t really have a fossil fuel industry, which perhaps explains why we lead the country in decarbonising our economy.
Value for money? The princely salaries of private school principals
While public school funding lags, principals of private schools are paid up to four times their state system counterparts.
June 2024
As the Coalition goes nuclear, Labor is free to ensure fossil fuels are burned with abandon and little scrutiny
The sham of Australia’s climate change policy has been made clear in the past two weeks.
Webinar: Stop passing the buck -Workers’ compensation and ‘gig’ workers
Workers’ compensation and rehabilitation are amongst the most important legal issues facing the ‘gig’ economy. This reflects the potential vulnerability of these workers and their families, co-workers, and community to harsh and long term consequences from injuries. For a while, it looked like federal industrial policy might ‘solve’ the workers compensation problem by redefining ‘gig’/platform
The Seamless scheme and developing an Australian circular textiles industry
Every single year in Australia over 200,000 tonnes of textile waste go to landfill, and more than 100,000 tonnes are shipped overseas. Australia must somehow scale this 300,000-tonne mountain of clothing if the nation is to make the textile industry circular by 2030.
Households are hurting. Savings are weak. The future’s uncertain. Is a rate cut near?
The Reserve Bank’s decision to keep rates steady reinforced that the economy at this moment remains one with both good and bad signs, and the RBA governor, Michele Bullock, is refreshingly upfront about the difficulties.
Australians buy more clothes than any other country | Video
“We are recommending a tax on fast fashion to protect Australian businesses and also protect the environment.”
Obsessing over the inflation rate misses one key point: the economy is more than just how fast prices are rising
Over the past few weeks some economists and commentators have become rather obsessed and unhinged about Australia’s inflation rate.
Machiavelli would have known what to do about PwC
Today, the name of Niccolò Machiavelli is a byword for cynicism and hunger for power, but there was one profession so parasitic and selfish even he could not stomach it.
“Shocking” near-zero growth a sign that rates are hurting the economy – Jericho
High interest rates have dramatically slowed the economy, pushing many households to their limits, says Greg Jericho.
Australia is on the brink of recession. So why does the RBA think we are spending too much?
The latest GDP figures reveal that the RBA has got its wish of an economy growing so slowly that it teeters on the edge of a recession.
The fatal flaw in Australia’s renewable energy superpower plan | Video
Digging into details of the Future Made in Australia plan, does the Government’s actions match their rhetoric?
No need for panic over ‘sticky’ inflation: Jericho
Inflation has stopped falling, but there’s no need for a further rate hike, says Greg Jericho.
May 2024
Majority of Offshore Gas Projects Paid ZERO Royalties | Video
“The Australian public thinks the gas industry should be paying for the gas.” “We can keep doing dumb things if we want to. But if this Government wants to have more money for schools, more money for hospitals…there is a simple tax reform opportunity here.” – Executive Director Richard Denniss on ABC The Business
Great Gas Giveaway Press Conference | David Pocock, Monique Ryan, Richard Denniss
Australia Institute research has found that 56% of gas exported from Australia attracts zero royalty payments, effectively giving a public resource to multinational gas corporations for free. Around 80% of Australia’s gas is exported as liquefied natural gas (LNG). Most of this gas is extracted from gas fields in Commonwealth waters, but the Australian Government
“Extraordinary” No royalties paid on 56% of gas exported from Australia | Video
Gas companies are meant to pay royalties for the right to extract and sell Australian gas. But no royalties are paid on 56% of gas exported from Australia. Report author Mark Ogge joined ABC News to discuss. A new report from the Australia Institute, Australia’s Great Gas Giveaway, shows that over the last four years,
‘Sticky’ inflation is not falling – but it’s not rising, either. Why should that mean another RBA rate hike?
The latest inflation figures released on Wednesday showed that inflation is “sticky” and is no longer falling at the pace it was earlier this year.
Does leave for menstruation and menopause advance women’s rights and gender equality at work?
As pressure grows for action to establish new work rights, including additional leave, for those who experience menstruation and menopause, the Centre for Future Work’s Senior Researcher, Lisa Heap, canvases the debate about whether these rights will advance gender equality at work.
Can Jim Chalmers ‘buy’ a reduction to inflation?
While money can’t buy everything, the Australian Government can ‘buy’ a lower Consumer Price Index (CPI).
These nine popular policies launched in Canberra, so where are they now?
In 2019 the Australia Institute identified ambitious, progressive policies from the Australian Capital Territory, most of which are overwhelmingly popular among all Australians. Five years on, we have an update on how these policies have progressed in Canberra and around Australia.
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