The Australia Institute has assessed the proposal for a $5 levy on iron ore in Western Australia. The policy should be supported as a pragmatic alternative to a resource rent tax. The analysis finds that if the $5 levy had been imposed on relevant production over the last five years it would have raised $11.5

New research from The Australia Institute has revealed that Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, known as ‘Oljefondet’, has US$280 million invested in Ferrovial. After its takeover of Australian company Broadspectrum, Spanish company Ferrovial is now responsible for the biggest contract to run Australia’s offshore detention camps. The offshore detention camps are notorious for human rights abuses,

As the Senate continues to debate the proposed Australian Building and Construction Commission, new research from the Centre for Future Work challenges the government’s claim that construction labour costs have pushed up Australian housing prices.

23 November 2016 is National Go Home On Time Day, an initiative which encourages employers and employees to raise awareness of the importance of a healthy work-life balance.

While the Turnbull government has argued that carbon price compensation for welfare recipients must be cut because there is no longer a price on carbon, the income tax cuts delivered at part of the Gillard reforms will remain, and cost the budget bottom line far more. The government claimed $1.3 billion in savings over the

A new national poll of more than 10,000 Australians has shown the continued strong support for minor parties and independents in Senate voting intentions. The poll also measured opinion on the proposal to cut Newstart. 55% of respondents said the Senate should vote down the cut, just 32% said the Senate should pass the government

Statewide polling shows Tasmanians want the fast growing industry of intensive fish farming to be better monitored and regulated. New polling of 1,310 Tasmanians conducted by ReachTEL for The Australia Institute shows 70% support for establishing an independent watchdog on intensive fish farms and 61% support for an independent investigation into the impacts of the

Comedian Corinne Grant, former Liberal leader John Hewson, award winning author Anna Funder, and businessman John Menadue AO join a list of 32 prominent Australians signing the open letter. The letter reads opens quoting the Business Council of Australia from their submission to the Senate Inquiry into the Adequacy of the Allowance Payment System for

As Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull prepares to deliver an address regarding ‘budget repair’ his government is proposing unprecedented austerity for the poorest Australians but generous tax cuts for the wealthiest companies and individuals. At the heart of the PM’s plan to repair the Commonwealth Budget is a plan to slash the budgets of Australia’s poorest

New polling shows very low support for Government policy to cut welfare benefits by removing the clean energy supplement. The poll of 1,310 residents across Tasmania showed 60% opposed cutting Newstart, while just 25% supported the move. (see poll below) “There has been mounting evidence of the inadequacy of the unemployment benefits.  To cut them

Analysis by The Australia Institute of The Banker’s survey of the top 1000 banks around the world showed Australia’s banks make the highest profit as a share of GDP.  Table 1 – Bank Profit share of GDP%  Rank bank profit share of GDP % 1 Australia 2.9 2 China 2.8 3 Sweden 2.6 4 Canada 2.3 5

New research released by the Australia Institute today shows that government moves to cut unemployment benefits will put recipients at 32% below the poverty line . The research also highlights staggering inequality in Australia where the 10 richest Australian families have the same wealth as the poorest 3.9 million Australians combined. “At the time of

New research from Canberra based think tank The Australia Institute has exposed a serious funding hole in the Government’s company tax cut modelling. “Our research has uncovered that the Treasury commissioned modelling finds a $3.9B gain in government revenue because multinationals suddenly and voluntarily begin to pay more tax because the company tax rate drops 5 percentage points.  It is

New research, based on US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data, shows that the proposed company tax cut would see the Australian tax system delivering billions of dollars to the US Treasury. Australia and the US have a foreign tax treaty to ensure company profits are not double taxed. This arrangement means that companies pay the

The Australia Institute has modelled the distribution of income tax cuts announced in the 2016 Budget. Using census data indexed to 2015, the modelling shows the percentage of income earners who would reap the full benefit of moving the second-top tax threshold cut-off from $80,000 to $87,000. “This tax cut is highly selective, with very

The Coalition Government’s business tax plan would deliver $7.4B to the big 4 banks. “Cutting company tax rates delivers a massive windfall to an already highly profitable banking sector,” Executive Director Australia Institute, Ben Oquist said. “It makes no economic or budget sense to deliver the big 4 banks a multi-billion dollar tax break when

As the Turnbull Government prepares to deliver tax cuts for high income earners and highly profitable corporations, including large banks, the latest data shows those living on government assistance are slipping further below the poverty line.  Professor Ronald Henderson delivered a major report to the government in 1973, which established an absolute poverty line, often

A report analysing cutting the budget repair levy and giving high income earners a tax cut to compensate for bracket creep, as touted by Treasurer Scott Morrison, finds the measure would exacerbate the revenue problem and not deliver growth.  New polling in the report also showed that the vast majority of Australians were not able

A new report models a progressive traffic fine system, based on the Finnish model, for South Australia.  Progressive traffic fines, based on income, rather than flat fees, have been successfully implemented in Scandinavia. The Australia Institute has released a report looking specifically at how the policy could be adopted in South Australia. The report, From

Top economists and community leaders have signed an open letter calling on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to not to cut taxes at this time – especially not on company profits. The letter, published as a full-page newspaper advertisement, is signed by Former Reserve Bank Governor Bernie Fraser, ACTU National President Ged Kearney, Former WA Premier

New state-wide ReachTEL polling in South Australia and in the seats of New England and Indi on refugee policy shows most voters do not support the current policy to send all boat arrivals to Nauru and Manus Island. The polling also shows majority support for the resettlement in Australia of those assessed as refugees who

A ReachTEL poll of 1217 Queenslanders and 1077 South Australians shows respondents resoundingly rejected conventional political wisdom – that income tax cuts are even more popular than government investment in health, education and infrastructure. (See full results below)  Just over half (53.0%) of voters in South Australia and half (49.2%) of Queenslanders would prefer to

Polling reveals public support for civil disobedience and other protest in support of farmer’s rights against gas fracking operations. The Australia Institute commissioned polling, undertaken by Research Now, about communities conducting civil disobedience in opposition to coal and gas projects in their area.  84% of Australians said farmers should be able to say no to

New Catalyst research, released for International Women’s Day, reveals the best and worst points of women’s participation in corporate Australia.  The report covers female participation on boards and in management as well as assessing policies to help women in the workplace.  While some companies in the ASX have real equality on their boards, overall the

The Australia Institute has released data from modelling commissioned from NATSEM together with ATO statistics which show that young Australians are receiving little benefit from three of the budget’s most expensive tax concessions.  “Australians under 30 years of age receive only 6.4% of the combined tax concessions on superannuation, the capital gains tax discount and

Today, The Australia Institute has released a new paper Surprise Me When I’m Dead: Revisiting the Case for Estate Duties, which adds further analysis of the role estate taxes could play in Australia to raise revenue to and address inequality. “Congratulations to Tim Costello and the Community Council for Australia for bringing estate duties into

Adopting a proportional traffic fine system would be fairer and offer modest increases in revenue for most states, according to a new report from The Australia Institute. Several countries have proportional fines. In its report Finland’s fine example The Australia Institute has researched how Finland’s system could be implemented in Australia, seeing lower income drivers

A ReachTEL poll of 1,139 Tasmanians showed 61% of residents were opposed to an increase in the GST rate and just 26% supportive. (See Question 1 below) Respondents also indicated where they would like additional revenue from a GST increase to go. 52.2% wanted more money for health, education and government services. Only 3.4% wanted

The single largest tax concession in the revenue strapped Australian Federal Budget is the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) exemption on the primary residence. The exemption forgoes $46 billion annually – a greater sum than the government spends on the Age Pension, Defence or Medicare.  A new report by The Australia Institute, with modelling commissioned from

Polling in key Liberal and National Party seats shows strong opposition to reducing Sunday penalty rates for retail workers, according to new ReachTEL polling commissioned by The Australia Institute. Polling conducted across the electorates of Page, New England, Warringah and Dickson on 17th December shows that between 65% and 79% of people in these electorates