On Valentine’s Day in February we launched our LOVE YOUR THINK TANK fundraising drive with the goal of reaching 100 people who each month can help us work towards a more progressive Australia.  We’re delighted to say that we are just over half way towards reaching our target, with 54 people now signed up as

In the coming weeks we will be publishing new research on the rise and rise of the big banks, the economics of coal seam gas and fugitive emissions, and mapping loneliness in Australia. Further down the pipeline is work on the availability, affordability and quality of childcare, the importance of the co-operatives sector, and as

We don’t want our research to sit on a shelf collecting dust – our aim is to influence the debate, whether that’s via Lateline, Today Tonight, Crikey, The Global Mail, Sky, The Project, Triple J or Radio National Breakfast. And sometimes we’re lucky enough to land two spots on the ABC in one night, like

Why can the Pharmacy Guild get away with a deal with the government which limits competition? Rather than admit that it is a union working to maximise the income of its members, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia prefers to position itself as a ”professional association” concerned more with improving standards and delivering benefits for the

Like a man who buys a cheap house next to a pub and then complains that the noise late at night is depressing his house price, the Minerals Council has come out and complained that Australia is now an expensive place to do mining. The Minerals Council of Australia released a report by Port Jackson

The idea that the Coalition would oppose an increase in the Commonwealth’s debt ceiling makes about as much economic sense as its hostility to a market-based mechanism to address climate change. But, as with most of Tony Abbott’s big calls, it clearly makes good short-term political sense. In an age of slogans it is much

It is the perceived value of a location, not the cost of construction, that determines the market price for housing. It’s amazing how progressive business has become in Australia. The mining industry’s biggest concern seems to be creating jobs for migrants. The banks just want to help small business grow and the property developers of

Nothing gets interest groups more riled up than a proposal to reduce some regulation or, as business groups like to call the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act (EPBC act), “green tape”. In the green corner, we have the major environment groups arguing that such reductions signal further retreat by government in the face of

Despite all the hoopla, budgets in Australia are rarely transformative or reforming. Indeed, it’s only the theatre and spectacle of budget night that means most people even notice it. If we started each budget with a blank sheet of paper it is inconceivable that year after year we would fund portfolio areas in virtually identical

The economics of deregulation is supposed to be straightforward: business groups support it, community groups oppose it, and governments “get the balance right”. The recent push to streamline state and federal environmental and planning laws has followed exactly that script. The push to remove so-called “green tape” has the appearance of a philosophical position based

While it is impolite to say so these days, Canberrans don’t pay much tax. While this week’s Commonwealth budget as well as the ACT’s review of the territory’s tax system back up this conclusion, it is unlikely to have much impact on the calls for lower taxes to take the pressure off the cost of

The Treasurer has just done the books for Australia and many of you will be preparing to do your own as the end of the financial year approaches. Don’t forget that all donations of $2 and above to The Australia Institute are tax-deductible. So if you’ve enjoyed receiving Between the Lines, please consider donating before

Thank you to all our Facebook and Twitter fans who contributed to the great success of our ‘Is Australia a high tax country?‘ infographic. It has had more than 25,000 views and more than 1,700 shares. Not bad for our first attempt! Over the coming months we hope to release a steady flow of infographics

 As the miners look tough, the government looks weak, Crikey, 7 May  Super changes penalise rich, ABC (PM), 3 May NAB keeps a bit on the side, giving rivals excuse to avoid full rate cut, The Canberra Times, 3 May Banks hoard rates cut despite huge pressure, The Daily Telegraph, 3 May End the price

TAI

Reading this year’s budget one is reminded of the cargo cult mentality that was expressed by Treasury in the late years of the Fraser government. Substitute Japan for China and this could be 1979 or 1980. At the time, then Treasury head John Stone lectured the nation on how it needed to import more rather

 In spite of the Treasurer’s boast of an economy “that has earned us a AAA-rating from all three major ratings agencies for the very first time in our history”, with a GDP of 1.5 trillion dollars, low unemployment (4.9%), low inflation (1.6%) and low interest rates (3.75%), the 2012 budget has failed to find an

The government’s obsession with achieving a surplus of one per cent of GDP seems to be the new medium term goal around which spending decisions have to conform. As the budget papers put it: In current circumstances, fiscal policy should be concerned with restoring the budget to a position consistent with the Government’s objective of

Budget speeches are always carefully scripted to try and influence how the media frames its coverage. This year the main message the government wanted conveyed was that it is spreading the benefits of the mining boom. But as is so often the case, the budget papers belie the priorities outlined in the Treasurer’s speech. Beyond

Budgets are usually summarised with clichés: smoke and mirrors, robbing Peter to pay Paul or the devil is in the detail. If this budget had a cliché it would be ‘missed opportunity’. The government, having locked itself into a political commitment to ensure the budget is in surplus by 2013, was forced to confront a

If the mining industry was a political party, it would make the current federal government look like a success story. The miners are internally divided, running entirely contradictory messages and are increasingly unpopular in the published opinion polls. But luckily for the miners, it is far easier to make billions of dollars selling resources you

The standard excuse for why Australians pay far higher prices than Americans for clothes, consumer goods and cars is to highlight the high transport costs associated with the tyranny of distance. So what is their excuse for more expensive music and software downloads? Dearer data costs due to longer cables? You might assume that because

Wouldn’t it be nice to decide how much you were worth? And wouldn’t it be even better to be able to force people to give you the money you think you deserve? Of course it would, but then again, we can’t all behave like the big four banks. In most industries when customers buy less

Note to Joe: Australians support a rise in the Newstart Allowance Your tax dollars helping the mining industry …. …. while they inflate the amount of tax they pay. Recent publications Recent media Events Note to Joe: Australians support a rise in the Newstart Allowance Could you live on $245 a week? Many recipients of

 Survey indicates unemployment benefits are not enough to live on, The Canberra Times, 24 April What lies beneath, The Global Mail, 19 April Thousands miss out on parent payments, The Sydney Morning Herald, 18 April What’s good about a surplus? The Canberra Times, 14 April What electricity will really cost under a carbon tax, Crikey,

Are unemployment benefits adequate in Australia? R Denniss and D Baker, 23 April Pouring fuel on the fire: The nature and extent of Federal Government subsidies to the mining industry, M Grudnoff, 18 April Match making: Using data-matching to find people missing out on government assistance, D Baker, 18 April Showing their helping hand: The

 News this morning that workers at a Ford car plant in Melbourne might be temporarily stood down because of problems with a supplier provides an opportunity to consider whether unemployment benefits in Australia are adequate to cover the cost of living. It follows the decision by Toyota to lay off 350 workers at its Altona