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

New polling of the electorate of Indi shows that independent Cathy McGowan holds a small lead over Liberal Sophie Mirabella.  The polling of 656 residents of Indi was conducted by ReachTEL in March 2016. (full results below) Cathy McGowan’s support tallied 37.3% of respondents, while Sophie Mirabella polled at 26.9%. Based on a similar preference

The Australia Institute has today publicly released its report on the economics of an international nuclear waste dump in South Australia.  — Press Conference and Public Forum details —  The report is in response to the tentative findings of South Australia’s nuclear royal commission, which claimed a net benefit of $51 billion to South Australia. 

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 of the electorate of New England has revealed fierce opposition to the Shenhua coal mine.  The ReachTEL poll of 662 residents across New England over the evening of 10th March 2016, was commissioned by The Australia Institute as part of its upcoming research into attitudes towards coal projects and economic issues.   — Download

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 called for a code of conduct for economic modelling in the wake of flawed and ridiculous BIS Shrapnel economic modelling of negative gearing. – Download paper below – A code would require key assumptions to be revealed, context and comparison to be provided, and the identification of who, if anyone, commissioned

As media reforms hit the national agenda, new polling commissioned by The Australia Institute shows a majority (58%) of Tasmanians support additional funding for the ABC to invest in more regional news services, while 22% oppose and 21% are undecided.   The poll of 1139 Tasmanians, conducted by ReachTEL on 12th January, shows that half

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

A new report from The Australia Institute shows that a proposal to establish a global nuclear waste industry in South Australia would fail to secure 90% of the imported waste, leaving an expensive and risky legacy for the state.  The report was commissioned by the Conservation Council of South Australia to analyse the submission to

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

Key Liberal and National party electorates back a switch to 100% renewables by 2030 and a global moratorium on new coal mines, according to new ReachTEL polling commissioned by The Australia Institute.  A moratorium on new coal mines received between 50-57% support with opposition to the proposition ranging between 23-33% by voters in the seats

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

Conservative electorates back a switch to 100% renewables by 2030 and a global moratorium on new coal mines, according to new ReachTEL polling commissioned by The Australia Institute. A moratorium on new coal mines is backed by voters in heartland conservative Liberal and National party seats. “Proposals to control the expansion of coal mining were

Most voters in former Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s electorate want him to retire at the next election, according to new polling conducted by ReachTEL for The Australia Institute as part of research about tax and climate change issues. “The polling indicates that the electorate is quickly moving on from the Tony Abbott era,” said Ben Oquist,

A new report by The Australia Institute outlines a solution to the twin problems of incentives for retirement of coal fired generation and funding rehabilitation liabilities.  The report, Two Birds, One Little Black Rock, by Rod Campbell and Richard Denniss will be co-launched by The Australia Institute and Australian Greens Leader, Senator Richard Di Natale

New research by The Australia Institute examines proposals to cut company tax rates.  A report from The Australia’s Institute’s senior research fellow David Richardson analyses the effect of cutting the company tax rate from 30% to 25% and finds that:  Federal Government revenue would be down almost $27 billion over the next decade Australia’s four

World renowned scientists and economists back Kiribati President’s call for No New Coal Mines in open letters published in Saturday’s Guardian UK and this month’s global edition of New Scientist magazine.  Former NASA Goddard Institute Director Dr. James E. Hansen, Dr. David Suzuki, Nobel Laureate in economics Professor Kenneth Arrow, Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, and

New costings from the Parliamentary Budget Office show the government could help retirees boost their own incomes at nearly no cost to the budget by making the Pension Loans Scheme (PLS) available to all who wish to use it.  The costings complement research by The Australia Institute which made the economic case for expanding the

Go Home On Time Day is a national initiative which encourages employers and employees to raise awareness of the importance of a healthy work-life balance.

A new report by The Australia Institute shows that local businesses in unconventional gas regions in Queensland believe that gas development led to deterioration in their finances, local infrastructure, social connections and labor force skills.  The analysis of mostly gas industry funded research also highlights survey results by the CSIRO that found less than a

The proposed Adani Carmichael mine would produce carbon emissions comparable or greater than major world cities and whole nations.  The data reveals that The Carmichael Adani mine would single-handily produce almost twice the emission of Tokyo – a city with a bigger population than Australia.  The report from The Australia Institute also reveals the coal

Recent Australian Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) over promise and under deliver.  Analysis by The Australia Institute of FTAs past and proposed reveals that claims of job creation and economic growth contradict available data.  On Monday the Senate will debate the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA). On Friday last week the text of the Trans Pacific

Australians are getting older and almost all of us want to live in our homes for as long as we can. But can we afford the services that will keep us living at home? Research released today by The Australia Institute shows that around 80 per cent of Australians are worried that they won’t be

61 prominent Australians have signed an open letter backing the President of Kiribati’s call for a moratorium on new coal mines. The letter, published in today’s Sydney Morning Herald, calls on French President, Francois Hollande and world leaders to put coal exports on the agenda at the 2015 Paris COP21 climate summit. Signatories include former

With the Queensland Labor Government still to make a decision on the controversial Acland coal mine expansion, as well as finalising the terms of reference for the inquiry into political donations which the Annastacia Palaszczuk promised to Peter Wellington in order to form government, a report released today paints a disturbing picture of the lack