The Australia Institute welcomes today’s publication of From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage: How Australia Got Compulsory Voting, by Judith Brett from Latrobe University. New analysis released by The Australia Institute shows that Australian voter turnout for the last election was at a record low – the lowest level since compulsory voting was introduced. Meanwhile, the

The Australia Institute’s Climate & Energy Program has released the latest National Energy Emissions Audit for the electricity sector (The Audit*) covering the month of January 2019. The Audit shows that renewables now account for 20% of total generation in the National Energy Market (NEM) — a share that that is certain to continue growing

The Prime Minister’s announcement to channel $2 billion over ten years to the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) falls drastically short of what is required to credibly tackle Australia’s emissions. “The Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) will not bring down emissions in the majority of our economy and cannot credibly be considered a centrepiece climate policy,” says

New analysis from the Australia Institute shows a small minority of individuals are spending big on tax accountants to take advantage of unfair tax loopholes, such that individuals with a gross income over $1 million can pay zero tax. Key Findings: Those with both a gross and taxable income over $1 million spent on average $7,476 on

A full page advertisement published today by The Australia Institute promotes new research showing the forgone revenue spent refunding excess franking credits to wealthy shareholders could be used to create jobs and fund services to the community instead.  The foregone revenue on cashing out excess franking credits could purchase: 50 new primary schools, 50 new

A new Environment Plan from international energy company Equinor, released today, shows that an oil spill in the Great Australian Bight could reach South Australian, Victorian and Tasmanian coastlines while also hitting Kangaroo Island. The modelling has been released after a leaked document from the same company on the same drilling site in November of

A new Environment Plan from international energy company, Equinor, released today, shows that a spill in the Great Australian Bight could totally envelop King Island. The modelling has been released after a leaked document from the same company on the same drilling site in November of last year showed the potential catastrophic impact of an

The NSW Government’s strategy to manage irrigators’ use of floodwaters has been slammed in a joint submission by researchers, irrigators, graziers and a Darling River community group. The diverse groups called on the NSW Government to withdraw its draft strategy as it fails to address the problem of massive volumes of water being diverted into

New legal advice, sought by The Australia Institute Climate & Energy Program, suggests the Underwriting New Generation Investment Program is unconstitutional and lacks the legislative basis to proceed. Key points · Legal advice received from Fiona McLeod SC and Lindy Barrett on 15 February 2019 finds that Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor does not have constitutional authority

NSW suffered 27 major breakdowns at gas and coal fired power-plants in 2018 – more than one a fortnight – removing hundreds of megawatts of energy from the grid suddenly and without warning. The Australia Institute Climate & Energy Program has today released its NSW Gas & Coal Watch analysis of 2018, which tracks unscheduled

New research shows that gas and coal power plants broke down 135 times in 2018, breaking down at a rate of once every 2.7 days. While this could be expected of an aging coal fleet, the new analysis shows that Australia’s newest coal power plants (so-called “HELE” plants) are faring just as poorly. The Australia Institute

Most Australians want the State and Federal Governments to implement policies that would encourage more electric vehicles on Australian roads, according to new research from The Australia Institute Climate & Energy Program. Key findings: An overwhelming majority of Australians (79%) support the Government building a network of charging stations across the country for electric vehicles.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison claims that the pace of job creation under the Coalition Government – 1.1 million net new jobs in 5 years – is an achievement, however, the actual amount of new work added in the economy has not even kept up with population growth.

New research from The Australia Institute estimates the cost of online harassment and cyberhate to have cost Australians an estimated total of $3.7 billion dollars in health costs and lost income. Key findings: More than one in three of all internet users have experienced some form of online harassment or abuse. The most common were

Australia’s newest coal plants, including ‘supercritical’ or so-called ‘High Efficiency, Low Emissions’ generators, have higher breakdown rates per gigawatt than older power stations, according to new research from The Australia Institute’ Climate & Energy Program. “Australia already has supercritical coal plants. They break down even more often, gigawatt for gigawatt, than our old clunker coal

New research by the Australia Institute shows that the Darling River fish kill was due to the mismanagement of the Menindee Lakes in southwest New South Wales. Key findings: The Lakes were drained in 2016-17 at a time when downstream areas did not need water – South Australia was experiencing flooding and all Murray irrigation

The wasteful structure of private competition in the electricity sector is costing every Australian household over $200 per year, according to new research from The Australia Institute. As heatwaves across Australia heighten concern for high electricity prices as households try and stay cool, new research shows the problem in electricity pricing is structural and the

Adelaide could experience nearly three times as many extreme heat days over 35 degrees by 2090, as well as 600% more days over 40 degrees, unless comprehensive action is undertaken to tackle global warming, according to new analysis from The Australia Institute’s HeatWatch initiative. The report, from The Australia Institute’s Climate & Energy Program, uses

The Australia Institute welcomes the Labor Party proposal to hold a Commission of Inquiry into the mass fish kill at Menindee Lakes last week.  “The blame game for the mass fish deaths is well and truly on. The Prime Minister blames the drought, the NSW Water Minister blames the Commonwealth, upstream blames downstream, and downstream

New analysis from The Australia Institute has found that nearly one in five Liberal voters in Boothby are now less likely to vote for the party after Malcolm Turnbull was dumped as Prime Minister. Furthermore, the majority of Boothby voters support increased spending on health and education over tax cuts and register overwhelming support for

A new report from The Australia Institute’s Climate and Energy Program has shown the Senate crossbench’s role in preventing the Coalition Government from abolishing three renewable energy policies (The Clean Energy Finance Corporation, ARENA and the Renewable Energy Target) resulted in $23.4 billion worth of investment in renewable energy, from 2013–2018. The ‘Saved by the

New research from The Australia Institute shows that South Australians strongly support electric vehicles and want governments at all levels to implement a range of policies that would encourage more electric vehicles onto our state’s roads. “We South Australians are well and truly ready for more electric vehicles on our roads and it’s high time

Newly released documents show the Commonwealth faces “unique fraud risks” in relation to the management of environmental water in the Murray Darling Basin. An audit written by Ernst and Young (EY) found the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, and the near $3.2 billion worth of water it controls, was at risk of being defrauded by state

Despite some improvement in electricity sector emissions, new research from The Australia Institute shows there is no doubt that national greenhouse gas emissions are in fact climbing, confirming a 26% emissions reduction target for the electricity sector is not high enough. The Australia Institute Climate & Energy Program has released the December National Energy Emissions

A majority of Australians (63%) think our society has become more unequal over the last ten years while even more (79%) believe that governments should be doing more to reduce inequality. The new survey data has been released along with a landmark report from Australia21 and The Australia Institute, outlining a path to a more

The Australia Institute commissioned ReachTEL to poll the federal seat of Boothby (722 respondents) on the evening of 11 December 2018. Key Findings: 51/49 TPP favouring Liberal Party MP Nicolle Flint 83.6% of Boothby resident support giving the Great Australian Bight World Heritage Protection, with more than half (54.2%) of Boothby residents strongly supporting the

A new report released today by The Australia Institute explores how Fossil Fuel Free Zones (FFFZs) could contribute to action on climate change. Written by Fergus Green of the London School of Economics and Political Science, the paper draws on the history of Nuclear Weapon Free Zones that helped limit the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

“Today’s announcement by the Prime Minister is a welcome acknowledgement that the Government sees tackling corruption is important for the health of our democracy and we need new structures to address the problem,” said Ben Oquist, Executive Director of The Australia Institute. “However, while the problem of corruption has been acknowledged, only half the solution

Collective bargaining in private sector workplaces could be almost extinct by 2030 under current rules, new research from the Centre for Future Work shows.

The Queensland Government is offering major financial subsidies to Adani’s coal project, including a secret deal on royalties worth hundreds of millions and a free access road worth $100 million, shows a new report from The Australia Institute. The report estimates the royalty deal will lend Adani between $215 million to $385 million, on terms