Australia Institute research has found that 56% of gas exported from Australia attracts zero royalty payments, effectively giving a public resource to multinational gas corporations for free. Around 80% of Australia’s gas is exported as liquefied natural gas (LNG). Most of this gas is extracted from gas fields in Commonwealth waters, but the Australian Government

Gas companies are meant to pay royalties for the right to extract and sell Australian gas. But no royalties are paid on 56% of gas exported from Australia. Report author Mark Ogge joined ABC News to discuss. A new report from the Australia Institute, Australia’s Great Gas Giveaway, shows that over the last four years,

While we could be forgiven for thinking 2024 will be all about American democracy, this year is in fact a big one for democracies across the world, writes Dr Emma Shortis.

In 2019 the Australia Institute identified ambitious, progressive policies from the Australian Capital Territory, most of which are overwhelmingly popular among all Australians. Five years on, we have an update on how these policies have progressed in Canberra and around Australia.

An on-the-ground video investigation into native forest logging and the people trying to protect the last refuges of some of Australia’s most iconic wildlife.

Ongoing logging within the boundaries of the proposed Great Koala National Park threatens the survival of endangered species and contradicts conservation efforts, writes Stephen Long.

“Gina Rinehart and the mining industry already get out of paying excise on petrol. So I can see why she thinks everybody should avoid it.” – Executive Director Richard Denniss on Channel 9’s the Today Show.

The Australia Institute’s analysis of the 2024 Federal Budget finds that while there some big numbers and good measures, there’s no meaningful solutions to issues such as inequality, housing or climate change.

The government failed to make a dent in the structural challenges facing housing, social security and the climate in its pre-election budget, says Senior Economist Matt Grudnoff.

There’s a lot of misinformation in the debate surrounding Australia’s gas industry. To be clear: the world cannot afford for new gas projects (or any other fossil fuel projects) to be opened if we want to avoid dangerous climate change.

Inflation will remain higher for longer, but a recession is not the solution, says Greg Jericho.

While social licence for fossil fuels has slipped, gas seems to be clinging on longer than the rest.

They knit, they sing, they even have their own ‘nannafesto’, and these unlikely environmental activists are a force to be reckoned with.

The government has the power to make significant and long-awaited improvements to the JobSeeker scheme in this federal budget, but it has to make it a priority, says Greg Jericho.

Former Senator Rex Patrick is on a mission to make freedom of information reform “sexy”.

Allan Behm’s address to the Australian Institute of International Affairs Korea Forum, Sydney on 15 April 2024.

Despite a decade-long commitment to establish the Great Koala National Park, the NSW Labor Government is delaying its creation so that the forests can be exploited for carbon credits. It’s a decision with disastrous consequences for the koalas, and the climate.

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.

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.

Gas extraction is often lauded by the industry as the ‘backbone of the Australian economy’, but the actual revenue collected from one of the main taxes on the industry falls staggeringly short of what most people would expect. Find out why this is the case – and what we can do to fix it.

This is an extract of Lech Blaine’s Quarterly Essay, Bad Cop: Peter Dutton’s Strongman Politics, out now.

Prime ministers need to stop “waving their mandates around” and start negotiating in both houses of parliament if they want to pass more legislation, says Richard Denniss.

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.

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.

Rather than backing cheap and abundant renewable energy, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has gone all in on nuclear.

2023 has shown us a planet on the brink of collapse. Cyclones, heatwaves, catastrophic floods, fires and landslides have killed people, destroyed ecosystems and decimated communities. And yet Australia is still yet to repair all the homes lost in the Black Summer bushfires of 2020 or the devastating Lismore floods of 2017 and 2022. No

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.

Big tech is kicking capitalism to the kerb, former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis tells a sold-out crowd at the State Library of NSW in a special episode of Follow the Money.

“My job was simple, don’t sell our people out – because nothing is worth more than Us.”

One of the key things about this whole problem is that the only way to solve it is that we need to rapidly reduce and phase out fossil fuels. That can’t wait a decade. We need to be making substantial reductions this decade.