Most of us like to complain about the banks from time to time, but compared to some parts of the superannuation industry the banks seem like the good guys. That’s because many commercial super funds are profiting enormously through excessive fees on the savings of ordinary workers.

Research Fellow and co-author of The case for a universal default superannuation fund, Josh Fear, talks to Life Matters about superannuation fees and how the system could be improved.

Richard Denniss examines the work of the Institute over his first year as the new executive director; Brian Walters looks at anomalies in the common law with regard to public and private interests; David Richardson dissects the benefits of the mining boom; Georgia Miller explains some of the problems inherent in the nanotechnology revolution.

Denticare: making a mountain out of a molar. Dissent is a dirty word. A fair-weather friend: Australia’s relationship with a climate-changed Pacific. Extract from author Ben McNeil’s speech at the launch of ‘The Clean Industrial Revolution’.

Edited extract from Senator Christine Milne’s address to the National Press Club. Poverty and sustainability in developing countries: the impact of international trade in carbon. Australia’s Government debt: how does it stack up? Five disease outbreaks that are worse than swine flu.

Dr Bill de Maria discusses the new whistleblowing proposals; David Ingles laments the exclusion of people on NewStart from either of the stimulus packages and explains the great superannuation tax concession rort; Reconciliation Australia looks at reconciliation a year after the Rudd apology; Tully Fletcher examines the current state of legal aid; Richard Denniss enumerates

Paid parental leave. Increasing GDP. The measurement of unemployment.

Senator Fielding and the alcopops debacle. The wisdom of tax cuts. Freedom of information becomes freer?

Superannuation is the most concessionally-taxed investment in Australia with contributions, fund earnings and payouts all receiving concessional treatment. According to Treasury, the effective marginal tax rate on superannuation savings is highly negative. This paper discusses how superannuation could be reformed to make it more equitable.

A Human Rights Act for Australia. Executive excess. Policy on the run; is policy underdone? Food security

Does the market have all the answers? Index of wellbeing. K Rudd bank. Newstart and the fiscal stimulus package.

How annoyed does the community need to get before further restrictions can be placed on telemarketing, junk mail and street spruiking? And which is more important, the interests of direct marketing companies or the views of the wider public? These are the kinds of issues that The Australia Institute sought to raise through its research.

Burying bad news in the media. The impact of climate change on new businesses. Cooperatives. The Government’s new human rights consultation.

Debates about superannuation policy are often ideological in tone.People in finance and investment circles tend to forget that the majority of Australians are profoundly disengaged from their super, at least until they approach retirement. The super system is so complicated that many workers take the simplest option – doing nothing. Governments therefore have a responsibility

Telemarketing is one form of ‘direct marketing’, along with junk mail, spam and face-to-face marketing. Direct marketing differs from ‘traditional’ advertising in making a much stronger claim on our attention. Members of the public have to take deliberate action if they wish to avoid direct marketing, but Institute research indicates that an ‘opt-in’ system would

An economical truth. The bogus economic case for telemarketing. Bee lines. Over a barrel.

Government assistance to industry. New anti-SLAPP legislation in the ACT. ACMA’s recent decision on subliminal advertising. The need for wellbeing in a climate-changed Australia.

Why we care more about the financial crisis than climate change. The 50 per cent discount on capital gains. Whether there has been an exodus from public schools to private ones.

Originally printed in the Sydney Morning Herald. Under the Productivity Commission’s parental leave proposal, men are entitled to two weeks’ paternity leave (use it or lose it), and mothers would be allowed to transfer their 18-week entitlement to their partners. It leaves the important decision about who provides primary care up to individual families and,

Why we measure stock market performance daily, but don’t measure what really counts. The record profits of Australia’s big banks despite the ‘crisis’. The real reasons behind Australia’s doctor shortage. The Government’s review of Australia’s tax system: are we paying enough?

Non-government organisations contribute to the Australian community in a myriad of ways, creating a rich, supportive and inclusive community. They help produce an active and vibrant democracy and they provide representation to marginalised members of the community. NGOs can also inform public debate, rendering it more substantive and less likely to be captured by business

A character test is traditionally applied to decide whether a person should be granted some kind of privilege – for example, a visa, citizenship, or an important job. When trying to judge character, the evidence examined usually includes a person’s past statements, activities and conduct, including any police record, criminal charges or jail terms. The

Raise the question of who should look after the kids, and you enter a minefield of gender roles, household distribution of labour, and parenting styles, with any wrong step potentially fatal. Arguments such as women have a biological affinity with raising children or that they’re better at it are sure to come up. Alternatively, workplaces

Originally printed in ABC News. It’s a good thing for our communities if working parents are able to take time out to spend with children. This should be the guiding principle for the Productivity Commission’s upcoming inquiry into paid maternity, paternity and parental leave. The second principle is to accept that many parents want or

I propose three ideas for the upcoming 2020 Summit this weekend. Firstly, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is asking for participants to take the long view of Australia’s future, which is always the hard thing for leaders trapped in the electoral cycle to do. Secondly, Rudd is asking Australia to accept that just gathering 1000 volunteers

International Women’s Day is on Saturday. In the spirit of national change, I nominate three wishes for progress in gender equality that the Rudd Government could deliver immediately, and which might also yield longer term benefits for all Australian women. First, move the Office for Women back into the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Clive Hamilton left the Australia Institute at the end of February to devote himself to writing. Here he pens his last comment for the newsletter.

From the moment it became plain that Labor would win the election, The Australian began to argue that a Rudd victory is in fact a victory for Howard. He has so much in common with Howard that, despite appearances, the victory of Rudd is another defeat for the left. Humbled by the new spirit of

Nearly 20 years ago I went through a process that is sometimes referred to as “the dark night of the soul”. It is a phase of spiritual life that many people experience. The phenomenon is well known in the Catholic Church in all traditions. Openness is a virtue in public life. What an impoverished world

Over recent months, Minister Kevin Andrews has been bringing the new Australian Citizenship Test to fruition. This is a policy destined to fail utterly in its stated intention – “to help new citizens to embrace education, employment and other opportunities in Australia”, according to the Government – but succeed in sending a message to voters