New research by The Australia Institute shows that parliamentary oversight of Australia’s intelligence agencies is weak compared to others in the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence sharing alliance between Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom & the United States, and that increased accountability and oversight measures should be considered. With the Government considering further expanding the

A discussion paper, released by The Australia Institute’s International & Security Affairs Program today highlights that the ANZUS Treaty, long seen as the cornerstone of the alliance with the United States, as being largely irrelevant to security in the pandemic era. The annual Australia-US Ministerial (AUSMIN) talks are taking place this week on July 27th &

In a disrupted world, how Australia manages its relationship with the dominant regional, and potentially global, power of China matters—however new research reveals the slender resources devoted to China analysis and research is preventing Australia from realising the opportunities a well-managed relationship can bring and from avoiding the pitfalls of over-reaction. The report shows that

New polling released today by The Australia Institute shows that Australians see natural disasters, economic collapse, climate change and chronic disease as the biggest threats to security. Between 49% and 42% of Australians nominated these issues as threats, twice as many as terrorism (23%) and five times as many as war (9%). This polling and

Government is the most trusted source of information relating to the COVID-19 pandemic and the institution most trusted to lead the world out of the current economic crisis, new research from The Australia Institute’s International & Security Affairs Program has revealed. The Australia Institute conducted surveys of over 1,000 people each in Australia, New Zealand,

Australia’s Former Ambassador to China, Stephen FitzGerald, is today launching two discussion papers from The Australia Institute’s International and Security Affairs Program, on China and Japan in the COVID-19 pandemic. The papers argue that much of the corona virus ‘blame game’, including the Australian Government’s call for an international independent inquiry into China’s actions, is

This year’s pandemic and climate crises mean that debate around national security needs a rethink, according to a discussion paper released today by The Australia Institute. The paper highlights that security in the 21st century is as much about defending the health, safety and prosperity of citizens from pandemics, disasters, pollution and supply shortages as it is about

New research by The Australia Institute finds that the Commonwealth’s ‘call-out’ of Army Reserves for bushfire relief served political rather than practical purposes, raising serious legal questions around the use of the military. The Prime Minister today announced the call-out of Army Reserves for bushfire relief would end on February 7, with some reservists ending their

Australia’s extensive interests in the Middle East would be better served by an active and well-resourced diplomacy than tokenistic actions such as the deployment of small and ultimately inconsequential military forces, according to a new report released by the Australia Institute today. As Australia sends a deployment to the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump’s decision

The current bushfire crisis has intensified Australians’ concern about climate change and its impacts, according to new polling from the Australia Institute’s Climate of the Nation. The Australia Institute commissioned YouGov, which surveyed 1,033 Australians between 8 and 12 January 2020 on issues relating to climate change and the bushfires. Climate of the Nation is

New research from The Australia Institute has found that two thirds of Australians believe the country is facing a climate emergency and that the Government should mobilise all of society to tackle the issue, like they did during the World Wars. Key findings; –          Two in three Australians (66%) agree that Australia is facing a

According to a new report released today, rather than reduce its emissions today Australia is claiming it can rely on ‘credits’ generated decades ago under old accounting rules in a separate treaty that have no place in the Paris regime. The report commissioned by the Australia Institute from Climate Analytics, examines the nature, scale and

New research has revealed that financial services in Australia will not insure against nuclear accidents, and if developers of nuclear power stations were forced to insure against nuclear accidents, nuclear power would be completely uneconomic. The Australia Institute’s submission to the Inquiry into the prerequisites for nuclear energy in Australia, shows that establishing a nuclear

“More than any other state, Tasmanians live in and on the edges of the bush,” said Leanne Minshull, Director of the Australia Institute Tasmania. “As the severity of fires increase, so does the impact on our homes, our communities and our economy, we need to look at this problem holistically to have any chance of

If a ban or limitation of coal is not in today’s 50th Pacific Islands Forum communique, it will be because Australia has bullied its Pacific Island neighbours into taking it out. “This Government’s fixation on coal puts Australia in direct conflict with Pacific leaders fighting for the future of their nations,” said Richie Merzian, Climate

Prime Minister Morrison is undermining Pacific action on climate change, with new analysis from the Australia Institute revealing that his pollution loophole is equivalent to around 8 years fossil fuel emissions for the rest of the Pacific and New Zealand. The Government plans to use Kyoto credits to meet emissions targets – a loophole that

$18 billion dollar gamble on climate action loophole The Government’s reliance on dated carbon credits to extinguish over half of its Paris Agreement target might not be authorised, forcing it to purchase last-minute international permits or drastically reduce emissions to cover huge gap.    New analysis by the Australia Institute identified numerous legal, diplomatic and

New research from the Australia Institute finds that there are more guns in Australia now than there were before the Port Arthur massacre and introduction of strict gun controls.

New research from the Australia Institute finds the Australian gun lobby is as large and spends as much on political campaigns per capita as the National Rifle Association does in the USA. The new Australia Institute report, commissioned by Gun Control Australia, also find that these pro-gun lobby groups are also utilising alternative political strategies

The Federal Government is preparing to spend vast amounts of taxpayer funds on fossil fuel project overseas to generate business for increased fossil fuel exports out of Australia, new analysis by The Australia Institute warns. Key Points A new bill to Parliament that would expand funding and powers for Efic, Australia’s export finance agency, turning

A television commercial will begin airing nationally from 1 October, which features research from The Australia Institute exposing the Business Council of Australia’s (BCA) false claim that a 45% emissions reduction target would be ‘economy wrecking’. Building on research that shows no evidence to back the BCA’s ‘economy wrecking’ claim, the advertisement identifies that Australia’s electricity

The Government is way off the mark and off-message when it comes to meeting the Paris target, new analysis from The Australia Institute shows. The new report debunks the government’s claims that Australia will meet the Paris target ‘in a canter’, demonstrating total emissions have been increasing since 2014 and without major policy measures or

New analysis by The Australia Institute shows that foreign investors will be the unambiguous winners of the big business company tax cut ($50+ million turnover). “If the remaining company tax cuts now before the Senate are implemented the gift to foreign shareholders will be $3.7 billion in 2026-27, the year the tax cuts are fully

Since the Coalition’s 2014 decision to cut foreign aid funding by $1.4 billion per year, Australia’s foreign aid record has not improved, with the 2017-18 Budget representing new lows for aid funding, a new report from policy think tank The Australia Institute finds. The reports suggest that Australia’s aid spending, already at record lows, could

An FOI request from The Australia Institute has revealed the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has “several hundreds of pages” of documents relating to Ministers and officials making formal representations to foreign financiers to back the Adani project.  “With ‘several hundreds of pages’ of relevant documents across multiple parts of the Department of Foreign

If Donald Trump does renege on the US Paris climate commitments, it creates an opportunity for leadership from other countries, including Australia. A poll of 1420 Australians undertaken in March showed most believe domestic action would be only more important in the event of Donald Trump reneging on US climate action policies. “Trumps decision to

African white elephant, a report released today by Jubilee Australia and The Australia Institute examines the proposal for Australia’s export credit agency to fund a coal mine in South Africa. The tax payer-backed Export Finance and Insurance Corporation, known as Efic, is considering a loan to develop the Boikarabelo coal project in Limpopo Province, South

Ahead of an official visit by Vice President Mike Pence, Australia Institute polling of 1420 Australian residents* reveals that 60% feel Donald Trump becoming US President is a negative outcome for the world.  48% said Australia should be more independent from USA on military and security matters with only 15% of respondents supporting a closer

Australians favour international law to determine Timor maritime boundary between Timor-Leste and Australia, even if that delivers Timor-Leste a substantial share of the oil and gas in the Timor Sea. The poll of 10,271 residents across Australia showed 56.5% support for establishing a maritime boundary in accordance with current international law, with only 17% opposed

A ReachTEL poll of 1077 South Australian’s shows opposition to a nuclear waste dump at 48.5% and support at 37.2%. (Full results below) Final submissions to South Australia’s Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission closed on Friday. “A nuclear waste dump remains unpopular, despite some recent high profile support and renewed focus with the Royal Commission,”