The Wrap with Dr Emma Shortis What Australia does matters. We tend to think of ourselves as not having much influence or power in the world, but that’s not true. We’ve led the world on many things – including in our contribution to climate change. While leaders of Commonwealth countries met in Samoa for CHOGM,

The Wrap with Ebony Bennett To coincide with the Australian Government’s Nature Positive Summit this week, we published a full-page ad in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times to highlight that beneath the spin, current government policies are overwhelmingly “nature negative”. Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has talked a big game — she recently claimed that Australia has made “good

Labor gearing up for a change? 28 September 2024 +++ The Wrap with Ebony Bennett Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek approved three new coal mine extensions this week, completely undermining the government’s credibility on climate change. At the same time Foreign Minister Penny Wong was at the United Nations General Assembly talking about sea level rise

The Wrap with Ebony Bennett Mining lobbyists descended on Canberra for the annual Minerals Week. On Thursday morning, the Minerals Council CEO Tania Constable described on Radio National what she sees to be the problem – policy interventions and the looming ‘threat’ of onerous environmental approvals: We’re seeing major changes in royalties at a state

This edition: fossil fuel subsidies undermining Australia’s diplomacy, the Kamala femininomenon, and New Zealand’s recession lesson

This edition: Stiglitz in Australia, banning fossil fuel ads and After America hits the charts

This edition: American democracy on the brink, Assange freed and Australians want more action to end child poverty

This edition: Telstra cans Climate Active, super tax concessions and the ‘odd couple’

This edition: Independents call out the gas industry and Australia’s consultant addiction continues

The Wrap with Richard Denniss Money can’t buy everything, but it may buy this government a reduction in inflation ahead of the next election. As I wrote in the Nine papers this week, the government’s $3.5 billion Energy Bill Relief Fund is an innovative response to the unusual and challenging economic times we’re experiencing. By

This edition: government locks in fossil fuel expansion, an honest government ad and our budget preview

This edition: The ‘gas shortage’ lie, government delays crucial environment reform and Musk a “friggin’ disgrace”

This edition: Dutton’s misguided attempts to attack the Right to Disconnect, a win for Duty of Care in Switzerland, an egregious carbon credit grift in NSW and more.

The Wrap with Ebony Bennett The Australia Institute has had a massive March, full of incredible and exciting events. Over the course of the month, we have hosted prominent thinkers from across the world such as Yanis Varoufakis and His Excellency Anote Tong in celebration of our 30th anniversary, organised speaking tours in major cities,

The Wrap with Ebony Bennett This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Yanis Varoufakis, the former Finance Minister of Greece, at one of two sold-out shows in Sydney and Melbourne. Yanis Varoufakis was touring Australia as a guest of the Australia Institute as part of our 30th anniversary celebrations. You may also have seen

The Wrap with Richard Denniss The amendments to the Stage 3 tax cuts that passed through the Senate this week marked the culmination of more than five years of work from the team at the Australia Institute. In 2018, literally the day after Scott Morrison announced the biggest and most inequitable tax cuts in Australian

The Wrap with Ebony Bennett The public support for the Albanese government’s bold decision to redesign the Stage 3 tax cuts has shown us that Australians are up for a conversation about tax – and that we understand that policies need to change as our circumstances change. Our research found that Australians’ appetite for tax

The Wrap with Ebony Bennett What. A. Fortnight. People told us it was impossible. But last week Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the Stage 3 tax cuts would be redesigned to make them fairer, redistributing $84 billion that was destined to go to the highest income earners back to people on low and middle incomes.

The Wrap with Richard Denniss As 2023 rapidly draws to a close, the festive season fast approaches. For many, that means thinking about Christmas or, more astutely, the cost of Christmas. With profit fuelled inflation rising faster than most worker’s ‘real wage’ (that is the wage adjusted for inflation), many Australians can’t afford to buy

The Wrap with Ebony Bennett It can be easy to forget this. Often, the path to change isn’t linear and there are setbacks along the way. But the Australia Institute has been a part of three undeniable recent wins. Our work to save the endangered Maugean skate has triggered an EPBC review into salmon farming

The Wrap with Ebony Bennett Today is our annual Go Home on Time Day, when we shine a spotlight on the unpaid overtime of workers across Australia. This year’s report found that employers were stealing more than 280 hours from workers each year, exposing a heavily uneven labour market rife with insecure work and often

The Wrap with Richard Denniss At the same time as Anthony Albanese flew into the Cook Islands to discuss climate action at the Pacific Island Forum, the Australian Parliament was passing the new Sea Dumping legislation. A bill which will allow Santos to pump millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide, 800 kilometres north into the

The Wrap with Richard Denniss While I have no doubt that the votes cast in the recent referendum were validly counted, I have major doubts about the arguments and evidence on which many of those votes were based. Misinformation and lies have always played a role in elections, but new technology has made it so

The Wrap with Richard Denniss This Saturday, October 14, is a crucial day for Australia: the day we vote on whether or not to create an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. The new body, enshrined in the Constitution, will add an Indigenous perspective when the Parliament is drafting laws and making policies that impact Indigenous communities.

The Wrap with Richard Denniss Australia’s governments, both state and federal, usually like to brag about their ability to attract foreign investment and generate exports, but when it comes to growth in fossil fuel exports, they prefer to hide their light under a bushel. But while governments in Australia tend to downplay their enormous fossil

The Wrap with Richard Denniss There has never been a more profitable time to cause climate change. This year, while millions of Australians are struggling with a cost of living crisis, fossil fuel companies operating in Australia made $140 billion in profits. The fossil fuel industry will never tire of making that much money, which is

The Wrap with Ebony Bennett The date for the Voice Referendum has been set and on Saturday 14 October the country will come together to make a choice about the role of First Nations people in Australia’s future. For me, the choice to vote Yes in the referendum is a simple one. First Nations people