Key Points: New research shows 2/3 Australians support a windfall profits tax, with only 12% opposed (attached) Western Australians (71%) are the most likely to support the introduction of a windfall profits tax followed by Queensland residents (69%). Origin revenue has more than doubled on the strength of commodity prices, cash distribution from Australia Pacific

Australia Institute Chair John McKinnon has announced that Ben Oquist is stepping down as Executive Director. Ben is to take up an opportunity in the private sector to work on business, union and NGO engagement in politics and government relations. The board is delighted to announce the Australia Institute’s Chief Economist Richard Denniss will begin

New research shows that only a trivial portion of Australia’s inflation has come from wages this year, while rising prices continue to drive not just inflation, but profits to record highs. Key findings: Wages made no contribution to Australian inflation in 2019-2020, or 2020-2021, measured using the ABS’s broadest indicator of inflation, the GDP Deflator

Women were 7-10 percentage points less likely to vote for the Coalition compared to men, according to Australia Institute research conducted from the evening of the May 21 federal election, and a subsequent poll taken in June 2022. Analysis of exit-polls also shows that Australians viewed the ‘treatment of women in politics’ as the second

Special Minister of State Don Farrell’s move to legislate truth in political advertising laws is a breakthrough win for democracy. The Australia Institute’s polling research has consistently shown that Truth in Political advertising laws are a popular, possible, and practical way of ensuring voters are not mislead on the way to the ballot box and

Attorneys-General and Shadow AGs from around Australia are invited to participate in a roundtable on Thursday with legal experts and academics to tackle the damaging practice of ‘stealthing’, convened by sexual consent advocate Chanel Contos, the inaugural director of the Australia Institute’s newly established Centre for Sex & Gender Equality.

The Federal Government’s appointment of respected former Chief Scientist Ian Chubb as chair of the independent review into Australia’s $4.5b carbon credits scheme, and the broad scope of the review, has been welcomed by policy experts at the Australia Institute. “Integrity must sit at the heart of Australia’s climate policies. The review is welcome and

The Australia Institute’s Democracy & Accountability Program welcomes Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus’ commitment to a more independent appointment process for the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) and his review of the AAT’s operations. In a substantial research report released before the election, Cronyism in appointments to the AAT, the Australia Institute found a sharp rise in the

Data released yesterday from the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) reveals that between May 8-14 as gas prices reached levels three times higher than the average of the last financial year, gas companies sent gas developed for Australian households and businesses north for export to the international market. The data, released by the AER in its

New research reveals political parties spent at least $12.5m on Facebook and Instagram advertising in the final 2 months of the 2022 election, with Labor and the Greens successfully engaging women voters to a far higher degree than the Coalition. Exit-polling released in conjunction with the report also reveals 73% of voters reported seeing misleading

A new report argues that energy ministers will need to increase the benefits to regional communities that host large-scale solar, wind and transmission infrastructure if governments want to ensure continued support for renewable energy. The report is published by the Australia Institute and the Sydney Environment Institute and will be launched by independent NSW MPs

As the Fair Work Commission prepares to announce this year’s increase in the national minimum wage, new polling data shows that the vast majority of Australians support lifting wages to keep up with rising inflation. The Australia Institute conducted a special exit poll, surveying a nationally representative sample of 1,424 Australians on the evening of

The current gas price crisis faced by Eastern Australia is the direct result of the export market exposing the Australian gas market to volatile international gas prices. Australia Institute research shows that there is no gas supply problem in Eastern Australia, with the amount of gas consumed by Australian households and industry dwarfed by the

Skyrocketing energy prices across Eastern Australia are almost entirely a result of Australia’s dependence on fossil fuels. Coal and gas exports have linked domestic energy prices to global prices, exposing Australia to volatile global prices. Producers are now making windfall profits from both Australian and global consumers. Gas prices have reached record levels across eastern

Nobel Laureate, former World Bank Chief Economist, and best-selling author Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz will visit Australia in July 2022 to discuss the need to expand the role of governments, unions, and civil society. The tour, hosted by the Australia Institute, will see Professor Stiglitz speak at a wide range of events for the general

The Australia Institute conducted a special exit poll, surveying a nationally representative sample of 1,424 Australians from 6pm Saturday May 21, which asked whether the Prime Minister should live in The Lodge. Key findings: • Over half of Australians (57%) agree that the Prime Minister should live in The Lodge in Canberra, compared to 20%

Transitioning Victoria and Australia’s bus fleets to zero emissions by 2030 must be a central component of any credible transport decarbonisation strategy, according to a new research report from the Australia Institute. The report, Next Stop: Zero Emissions Buses by 2030’, has been launched with new polling revealing the overwhelming majority of Victorians (71%) support

The long-awaited Legislative Council Fin Fish Farming in Tasmania Inquiry report tabled in Parliament today, highlights the many problems faced by the industry. The Australia Institute Tasmania commends the Committee’s call for an overarching Marine Plan for Tasmania through a comprehensive stakeholder consultation, informed by assessment of environmental, social and recreational values, with a transparent

Leading Tasmanian and national civil society groups have published an open letter in the Hobart Mercury today opposing the Government’s anti-protest law which they say is an attack on democracy and must be stopped. The proposed law would create new offences for peaceful protest activity, making peaceful protest penalties on-par with trespassing with a firearm,

“The NSW Parliament’s decision to legalise voluntary assisted dying means the Federal Parliament should remove the bar that prevents the ACT and the NT from considering similar legislation,” said Ben Oquist, executive director of the Australia Institute. “Our research shows the majority of Australians support the Federal Parliament giving back Territory rights on legislating voluntary assisted

Key Points: Unemployment falls 0.1% to 3.9% 4,000 jobs created in last quarter, but unemployment fell by 11,000 7,000 people gave up looking for work this quarter, shown by the participation rate falling to 66.3% (from 66.4%) “Today’s ABS statistics reveal that more people gave up looking for work than found a job in the

Documents obtained under freedom of Information show the Victorian Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) project, that uses brown coal to make hydrogen, is unlikely to meet its claimed emissions reductions of 1.8 million tonnes, and is more likely to increase emissions by up to 3.8 million tonnes, the equivalent to adding up to 735,000 cars

“The latest wages data show that real wages in the past 12 months fell 2.5%. This horror result for workers shows that not only are wages not putting pressure on inflation but that workers are not seeing the benefits of lower unemployment,” said Greg Jericho, employment & fiscal policy director at the Australia Institute’s Centre

The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,002 Australians about their Senate voting intentions and their understanding of how Senate voting works. The results show: A significant proportion of Australians remain uncertain about important aspects of Senate preferential voting: More than four in ten (43%) respondents thought that putting a 6 beside a

Research released today reveals that companies like Woolworths and the Commonwealth Bank are under no pressure to pass on a 5% increase in the minimum wage as a 5% increase in their prices. The research finds that boosting workers’ wages by 5%  would lead to an increase in prices across the economy of less than

Almost one in five Australians (and a higher proportion of young workers) acknowledge working with potential COVID symptoms over the course of the pandemic, according to new opinion research released today by the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work. The research confirms the public health dangers of Australia’s patchwork system of sick leave and related

New analysis of data published by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) shows that five of the gas industry’s most prominent companies have paid no income tax for at least the past seven years, despite a combined income from their Australian operations of $138 billion. Four of the five members of the Australian Petroleum Production &

A new report from the Australia Institute’s Democracy & Accountability Program represents the largest and most comprehensive domestic study of the practice of cronyism in relation to appointments to a government agency ever conducted in Australia. This detailed deep dive report has investigated every single appointment made to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) since 1996

“The looming applications by Finland and Sweden for NATO membership together constitute the most significant strategic change in Europe since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the destruction of the Berlin Wall,” said Allan Behm, Director of the Australia Institute’s International & Security Affairs Program. “This move will signal a monumental ‘own goal’ for

New polling in the federal seat of Higgins shows a tight race between the Government and Opposition, with respondents indicating a substantial drop in the Liberal Party primary vote. “This poll demonstrates landslide support for truth in political advertising laws (92%) in a campaign which has been marred by allegations of dishonesty and misinformation,” said