New report identifies the progress of electricity storage technologies, which have become highly competitive on price as well as being popular with the public.  “The combination of batteries paired with variable renewable energy such as solar and wind can now provide security of electricity supply, with zero emissions,” Australia Institute strategist and report author, Dan

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

Polling has been released which shows that more than four in five voters in the federal electorate of Indi support Australia gradually transitioning to 100% renewable energy by 2030. “There is overwhelming support for renewable energy across the political spectrum in Indi. 85% of voters are in support of renewables, with only 9% against,” Strategist

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 Australia Institute conducted a national opinion poll of 1412 people between 29 February and 8 March 2016 through Research Now, with nationally representative samples by gender, age and state or territory to gage support for state level renewable energy targets. The results show very strong support for state level targets, at 76 per cent nationally,

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

New report shows service industry jobs growth outstripping mining job losses. Despite record job losses in the mining sector, employment in Queensland is growing strongly with service industries leading the way, according to a new report released today by The Australia Institute. Queensland’s service industries were standout performers in recent years, and are expected to

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

Between 29 February and 8 March 2016 The Australia Institute conducted a national opinion poll of 1412 people, through Research Now, with nationally representative samples by gender, age and state or territory.  The poll asked “Which, if any, of the following government ministers have you heard of?” Names of politicians names were presented, in randomised

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,”

New polling released by The Australia Institute shows that a majority of Australian voters (63.4%) want Tony Abbott to retire, including half (50.9%) of Coalition voters. “Across all demographics, gender and voting intentions the electorate think the former prime minister should retire,” said Executive Director of The Australia Institute, Ben Oquist. “While that is obviously

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