If the government decided to make raising Jobseeker a priority in the Budget it would not talk about not being able to afford it, writes Greg Jericho.

Last week Anthony Albanese finally announced the government’s major plan for the transition to a renewable energy economy.

Private schools are competing to see who can boast the most luxurious accoutrements, and the tax-deductions they can claim on constructing buildings are helping them do it. The Scots College is awaiting construction of its new library, which will resemble a Scottish Baronial castle. At one point, they had a hypoxic chamber for altitude simulation sports training. Newington College

Soaring house prices, high household debt and the pervasiveness of variable rate home loans mean that Australians bear the brunt of interest rate rises, says Greg Jericho.

Australians are hurting from rate rises more than anyone. But that doesn’t mean the Reserve Bank is about to start cutting.

By waiting for a carbon credit scheme to be established before delivering its Great Koala National Park, the New South Wales Government is putting the species at risk, says Stephen Long.

The NSW Labor Government took office promising to create a vast koala sanctuary on the state’s mid-north coast – the Great Koala National Park. Despite the threat of koala extinction in the state, more than a year later the Great Koala National Park is yet to be established. 

The Right to Disconnect legislation being passed recently has attracted criticism from Opposition leader Peter Dutton and business groups, who say it’s bad for productivity. They may need to learn some basic maths, because they couldn’t be more wrong. Centre for Future Work Director Dr Jim Stanford explains. Research indicates the average Australian worker performs

A budget surplus doesn’t mean a government is good at running the economy – we should focus on the choices they make instead, says Greg Jericho.

We are now a month away from the 2024-25 budget. And as with all budgets, the choices made matter much more than any big numbers that get the media attention.

While last year’s robodebt royal commission exposed a shocking lack of ethics among senior ranks of the Australian public service, the systemic condition still largely seems to be regarded as an aberration.

Budget, Julia Gillard rightly said, are about choices. And those choices are a lot more important than whether or not the budget is in surplus or deficit

With unions calling for a five per cent increase to award wages, business groups are crying wolf over the proposal’s impact on inflation and unemployment, says Greg Jericho.

Jigsaw Farms, long held up as a shining star of carbon neutral farming, is no longer carbon neutral, although only just. 

As much as $1 billion in taxpayer funding may be being funnelled into the pockets of for-profit academic publishers every year, writes Dr Kristen Scicluna.

With unemployment tumbling in February, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) should resist the urge to raise interest rates, says Australia Institute Chief Economist Greg Jericho.

Australian agriculture doesn’t have enough capacity to offset its own emissions, according to Mark Wootton from Jigsaw Farms.

The $100m lost by the Grand Prix could double funding for community sport and pay the airfares of all international and interstate visitors.

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

Visionary economist Yanis Varoufakis toured Australia in March as a guest of the Australia Institute, as part of our 30th anniversary celebrations in 2024.

House prices after a brief fall in 2022 rose consistently during 2023 and housing affordability is now as bad as ever

Yanis Varoufakis addressed the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday 13 March, 2024.

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.

As interest rates have climbed, Australia’s economy has slowed – let us hope the RBA has not stalled it.

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.

Despite soaring production and revenues the gas industry is not paying more tax

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 the Stage 3 tax cuts have passed the Senate and will become law.

Australians are paying prices that are too high, too often.

This week, Parliament is set to approve a new set of industrial relations reforms, bundled in the second part of the “Closing Loopholes” bill.