Divestment By the shrill sound of things, you’d be forgiven for thinking the Australian National University (ANU) had sent its teaching staff on a paid trip to blockade the Pilliga. Jamie Briggs, Minister for Infrastructure, attacked ANU for “damaging” job creation. Christopher Pyne, Minister for Education, called the university “bizarre”. Joe Hockey made similar intonations,

The Treasurer Joe Hockey has described as “absolutely ridiculous” the idea that Australia is the highest greenhouse gas emitter in the OECD per capita. Amongst OECD countries, Australia is the highest emitter of greenhouse gases per capita.

It is anti-poverty week from 12 to 18 October. In Australian there is a system of welfare support for people whose circumstances may otherwise see them living in poverty. Australians who find themselves out of work can apply for the Newstart Allowance and the Age Pension provides support to people beyond working age. Despite the

Australia’s richest seven people have more wealth than the bottom 1.73 million households combined. Most people think that’s a problem. Amanda Vanstone, on the other hand, seems to think the bottom 1.73 million should be thankful. “The politics of envy”. This is Amanda Vanstone’s condescending dismissal of concerns over Australia’s rapidly growing gap between its richest and poorest

If universities can’t be trusted to make their own investment decisions, who can be? Indeed, if the federal Coalition wants to join in the mining industry’s attack on the Australian National University for having the temerity to divest its shares in Santos and six other companies, why is the government proposing fee deregulation for the

We’re going on tour! Divestment movement hits a nerve TAI out and about TAI in the media Infographic Share the eBulletin  We’re going on tour! When Richard debated the NSW Minerals Council chief spin doctor Stephen Galilee two weeks ago, Stephen challenged Richard to visit the mining towns of NSW. Richard accepted his challenge on

This week an editorial in the Australian Financial Review criticised a decision by the Australian National University to end its investments in some fossil fuel companies and urged the university to “focus on finding genuine solutions, such as reducing the cost of carbon capture and storage (CCS).” Coincidently, a CCS project in Canada began operations

As the world coal price continues to fall, politicians are asking themselves what the Australian economy will look like by the time the downturn bottoms out.They needn’t look far.Tasmania offers a clear road map for what happens to an economy when the price of a significant export commodity falls.And, most recently, with news the Tasmanian

The Abbott government has proposed a “one stop shop” approach to environmental protection to reduce so-called “green tape” and speed planning. The Commonwealth will no longer have oversight for a wide range of developments and it will be left to state governments to consider the national benefit. No one complains about duplication when it comes

Thank you! Knowing RET from wrong Big business, little tax Gas campaign takes a blow Politics in the pub TAI in the media Infographic Share the eBulletin  Thank you! More than 250 of you have responded to our call and donated to help us go on tour with the NSW Minerals Council. Unlike the mining

On 1 October the Prime Minister argued “it seems fair and reasonable that university graduates should bear a slightly larger proportion of the costs of their benefit”. He said “the taxpayer will still support every student’s university education to the tune of about 50 per cent.” The 50 per cent figure is supposed to indicate

In a democracy, power is the ability to talk crap and get and away with it. And nobody talks more crap than coal companies.  The public think that mining employs far more people than it really does, pays far more tax than it really does, and that it kept Australia out of recession during the

Welfare rhetoric out of control Banking on a better retirement, now Multinational business or a strong public sector TAI in the media Infographic Share the equity eBulletin  Welfare rhetoric out of control Changes to the welfare system were due to be debated in the Senate this week. The controversial measures include the plan to make

The government is currently conducting a “Review of retirement income stream regulation”. The discussion paper discusses “regulatory barriers currently restricting the availability of relevant and appropriate income stream products in the Australian market.” The paper doesn’t discuss the unfair regulations imposed on the government’s own income stream products, offered through Centrelink. Centrelink payments are usually

Facts are so last century. The secretary of the NSW Treasury thinks we have a shortage of electricity and we are in danger of an electricity price explosion. The Commonwealth Minister for Industry, Ian Macfarlane, on the other hand, believes we have an “oversupply” of electricity generation capacity, and that electricity prices are unsustainably low.

Big mining, big hyperbole Budget saves its biggest hits for women Extending the Pension Loan Scheme 63 of Australia’s leading economists agree TAI in the media Infographic Big mining, big hyperbole  We’re more than half way there!!! Huge thanks to all of you who responded to Richard’s message on Monday. We’re more than half way

The Sydney Morning Herald said on Wednesday that “hunger for Australian coal helped power the nation through the global financial crisis.” Mining was not the economic lifeline for Australia during the global financial crisis (GFC) it’s commonly believed to be. In fact, mining employment fell further than total employment during the GFC. The figure below

The miners have decided it is time to play the man not the ball, perhaps because they keep losing the debate whenever it revolves around the issues. Just consider what The Australia Institute has shown over the last few years: 1) the mining industry doesn’t employ many people  2) people think the mining industry employs a lot more people than it

Global interest in Australian fossil fuel subsidies Trash the Reef, dodge the tax Ministers should do their research TAI in the media Infographic Global interest in Australian fossil fuel subsidies The Institute’s recent research into massive taxpayer subsidies provided to the Australian mining industry have begun to attract international attention. Executive Director Richard Denniss was

Economics and politics don’t really have much in common. While it is the job of politicians to decide what is fair and what is not, students are taught in economics 101 that economics is not concerned with fairness and distribution. The main job of economists is to help grow the pie, and the main job

Budget emergency, M.I.A Climate change taxing on coal? Dodgy modelling won’t mean more jobs TAI in the media Infographic Weekly updates from TAI Budget emergency, M.I.A  Anyone who’s been paying attention will know that The Australia Institute is not a supporter of the budget. It is unfair, inequitable and harshest to the most vulnerable in

Deep pockets don’t pay taxes Careful what you wish for – the Warburton RET review Only the lonely TAI in the media Infographic Deep pockets don’t pay taxes The saga of the mining tax in Australia is a great tale of vested interests versus average Australians. With an apparent deal for the repeal sewn up,

A recent report from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) claims that “Australia will likely experience a severe labour shortage by 2030” – the country will have a shortage of  2.3 million workers. BCG says that to avoid this shortage, the labour force will have to be increased through such measures as raising the retirement age

For American presidents, the ‘State of the Union’ address provides a once in a year opportunity to set out a plan for the direction the country needs to take and the policies required to get it there. The closest Australian governments get is the annual budget speech, and that is provided by the treasurer, not

“Unfair, unethical, reckless” – education reform in 2014 Threatened tax increases another impact on equality Community and environment or big mining? TAI in the media Infographic “Unfair, unethical, reckless” – education reform in 2014 Education Minister Christopher Pyne’s sweeping higher education reforms have stirred a hornet’s nest of controversy. So far Labor, the Greens, and

The Renewable Energy Target (RET) is generally considered as having a target that will mean 20 per cent of electricity is generated from renewable sources by 2020. The Warburton RET review modelled five options for changing the RET and recommended two. The first is what is known as “grandfathering” the RET. This is a process

Many may have bemoaned the dominance of “economic rationalists”, but I’m beginning to miss them. Sure, they often used simplistic and narrow assumptions to justify a wide range of bad ideas but, compared to the economic irrationalists dominating today’s policy debates, at least they were willing to have a fight with vested interests. The economic

An economic case for destroying the Reef? Renewable energy’s age of uncertainty About those driving comments… What budget emergency? TAI in the media Infographic An economic case for destroying the Reef? The Great Barrier Reef is under threat – according to scientists, UNESCO and at least one ice cream company. Plans to dredge new ports,

Senator Day claimed on Sky News that: “evidence from around the world is that if you want more revenue, and I’m not suggesting we give them any more revenue, but if they want more revenue, they should lower taxes and not increase them.” [15 August 2014] Day has previously cited examples to support this theory from Sweden,

The hypocrisy of Joe Hockey’s call for big business to make the case for his economic reforms is breathtaking. His government’s signature economic ”reform” was to rip up a perfectly good carbon tax. The Prime Minister and Treasurer rightly bet that business groups would sit silently by while this populist policy destruction took place. But