Articles & Opinions
March 2024
Fairer, Cleaner: The Transparent Investment Revolution | The Honourable Andrew Leigh MP
Today, we stand at the crossroads of opportunity and crisis.
Tasmania’s fear of government debt is hurting the state
Tasmanians have been badly served by its government’s exaggerated fears about the condition of the state budget.
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.
The Climate Crisis is an Integrity Crisis | Polly Hemming
I am starting my address to this year’s summit in the exact same way that I started last year’s address. Because it is just over a year since I delivered these same words, which aren’t actually my words. They are the words of our Climate Change Minister, and they provide a baseline of sorts for what progress has been made in that time.
Keynote Address | Rt Hon Enele Sopoaga PC
Climate integrity is a critical issue for a small atoll nation like Tuvalu, I need not remind people that Tuvalu is one of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change with the highest points above sea level for the entire country being four meters. But our vulnerability should not be a bargaining chip for regional security issues.
Climate Change Action from the Top Western Torres Strait | Dr Aunty McRose Elu
We are trying to make our voices, our knowledge and wisdom heard by those with the power and the responsibility to create change to do better. We must not give up hope. We have no more decades to make these changes.
Navigating Australia & the Campaign to End Coal | Anote Tong
Climate change is the greatest moral challenge that humanity has ever had to face, and for those of us who have the capacity to stop it, are we going to do it?
Opening Remarks: Climate Integrity Summit | Richard Denniss
If we wanted to fix these things, we could. If you think that we need some complicated policy measure or some very expensive investment, you’ve been misled.
Fixing the work and care crisis means tackling insecure and unpredictable work
The Fair Work Commission is examining how to reduce insecurity and unpredictability in part-time and casual work to help employees better balance work and care. The Commission is reviewing modern awards that set out terms and conditions of employment for many working Australians to consider how workplace relations settings in awards impact on work and
Climate change “a matter of planetary survival”: Anote Tong
The Albanese government’s failure to back up its rhetoric with meaningful action on climate change is “very disappointing”, according to a former President of Kiribati, Anote Tong.
Five Highlights from Technofeudalism with Yanis Varoufakis
Visionary economist Yanis Varoufakis toured Australia in March as a guest of the Australia Institute, as part of our 30th anniversary celebrations in 2024.
Housing affordability is so bad that 2020 (!) now looks good
House prices after a brief fall in 2022 rose consistently during 2023 and housing affordability is now as bad as ever
National Press Club Address – Yanis Varoufakis
Yanis Varoufakis addressed the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday 13 March, 2024.
Stop the surge to big utes
This article originally appeared in The Daily Telegraph, in response to a column that critiqued the call for small cars on our road. You can read the original column via the link below.
On International Women’s Day: How the Fair Work Commission Can Really Take On the Gender Pay Gap
On occasion of International Women’s Day, the Centre for Future Work’s Senior Researcher Lisa Heap reviews the opportunities to use recent industrial relations reforms to more ambitiously address Australia’s gender pay gap.
The RBA gets its wish as Australia’s economy slows dramatically
As interest rates have climbed, Australia’s economy has slowed – let us hope the RBA has not stalled it.
Women still underrepresented in Australian parliaments
The Australia Institute has crunched the data on women’s representation in Australian parliaments.
Pork Barelling is Not Democracy
Politicians Bob Katter and Andrew Wilkie dressed up as pigs this week in a memorable stunt in Parliament to draw attention to excessive supermarket profits.
February 2024
The gas industry is laughing at us as they make more money but not more tax
Despite soaring production and revenues the gas industry is not paying more tax
Better, Fairer Stage 3 income tax cuts
The Labor government announced changes to the Stage 3 tax cuts that delivered an additional $84 billion to low and middle income over ten years, the culmination of five years of Australia Institute research and analysis.
The changes to Stage 3 show that good policy is good politics
The changes to the Stage 3 tax cuts have passed the Senate and will become law.
Funny business: Why you’re paying the price for corporate greed
Australians are paying prices that are too high, too often.
The big error at heart of ‘right to disconnect’ opposition
This week, Parliament is set to approve a new set of industrial relations reforms, bundled in the second part of the “Closing Loopholes” bill.
Valentine’s Day, Indonesia style
Wednesday 14 February is a big day in Indonesia. The nation goes to the polls, and a new President will be elected. A popular and successful President will be succeeded by one of three candidates, none of whom is especially popular or generates much enthusiasm among voters.
More loopholes to close on insecure work … and a new right to disconnect from work
Late yesterday the final part 2 of the government’s Closing Loopholes industrial relations bill was passed by the Senate.
“Right to Disconnect” Essential as Devices Intrude Into Workers’ Lives
Australia’s Parliament is set to pass a new set of reforms to the Fair Work Act and other labour laws, that would enshrine certain protections for workers against being contacted or ordered to perform work outside of normal working hours. This “Right to Disconnect” is an important step in limiting the steady encroachment of work
Six Australian Electoral Inventions to Be Proud Of
No modern democracy has shown greater readiness to experiment with various electoral methods than Australia.
Explainer: How the government collects more from HECS/HELP than the PRRT
The government consistently collects more from people repaying their student debts than it does from the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax.
Extract: Consent Laid Bare by Chanel Contos
This is an extract from Consent Laid Bare by Chanel Contos, published by Pan Macmillan.
Stage 3 Tax Changes: A Win for Australians & Sensible Policy
Politicians are often accused of backflipping when they change their minds.
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