by Richard Denniss[Originally published on Guadian Australia, 19 Feb 2020] After a summer of catastrophic bushfires, the most brutal evidence of the impacts of climate change, the Government has managed to move the debate towards the ‘pros and cons’ of setting a long-term net zero emissions target for 2050. Well played, Scott Morrison. While #Scottyfrommarketing

by Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Finacial Review, 24 Feb 2020] If you think Ministers handing out sports grants to marginal electorates is a waste of taxpayer money, you need to take a look at the Coalition’s plans to hand out coal fired power stations as well. The former free marketeers in the Coalition

In a new guest commentary for the journal Canadian Dimension, Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford argues that existing power relationships in the labour market are being reinforced, more than disrupted, by the process of technological change.

by Richie Merzian[Originally published by 10 Daily, 11 Feb 2020] In a matter of days, many Australians have been thrust from one extreme to another — from bushfires that refuse to be put out, to flooding rain that seemingly won’t stop. It’s a cruel irony. The unprecedented bushfires that devastated Eastern Australia over the summer

by Ebony Bennett[Originally published in The Canberra Times, 08 February 2020]There’s a hole where Australia’s climate and energy policy should be and the Morrison Government just keeps digging. The cheapest, cleanest solutions are right in front of its nose and yet it keeps subsidising the problem. In the face of a climate-fuelled bushfire crisis the

by Richard Denniss[Originally published on Guardian Australia, 05 February 2020] If you think the quality of debate about climate change and bushfires is bad, allow me to give you a glimpse into the debate over the link between the supply and demand of fossil fuels and their price. Spoiler alert – according to the Morrison

by Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Financial Review, 04 February 2020] Scott Morrison loves to say that Australia is on track to ‘meet and beat’ our climate targets, but he’s a lot quieter about where that track leads. Admittedly, saying he plans to double Australian coal exports does provide some big hints. If all

by Ebony Bennett[Originally published in the Canberra Times, 25 January 2020] “Unprecedented” is the word that comes up again and again. But the more often this extreme weather churns out new surprises, the more the word “unprecedented” seems inadequate to capture this new hostile climate.  A sheep stands in a paddock in the wake of

by Richard Denniss[Originally published on Guardian Australia, 22 January 2020] Would the prime minister rule out protecting Australians from terrorism if it cost a single job? Would he promise that no nurse, teacher or other public servant would be sacked in pursuit of a budget surplus? Of course not. But when it comes to preventing

by Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Financial Review, 21 January 2020] Scott Morrison loves to say that Australia is on track to ‘meet and beat’ our climate targets, but he’s a lot quieter about where that track leads. Admittedly, saying he plans to double Australian coal exports does provide some big hints. If all

by Ebony Bennett[Originally published in the Canberra Times, 11 January 2020] So far, the lives of more than a billion animals have been extinguished in the bushfires. A billion. Gone. Millions of hectares of native forests are burned, along with tens of thousands of dead livestock. Hundreds of family homes are now ash and dozens

by Richard Denniss[Originally published by the Guardian Australia] If only Scott Morrison was as willing to spend money preventing climate change as he is to spend it on disaster repair. The idea that a “stitch in time saves nine” and “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” was once central to the conservative approach

by Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Financial Review, 07 Jan 2020] If Australia and other countries meet their current emission reduction targets bushfires are still going to get much, much worse. Over the past century, humans have caused the world to warm by one degree, but if Australia and the rest of the world

by Fergus Green & Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Financial Review, 26 November 2019] The amount of fossil fuels that companies and governments around the world expect to extract over the coming decade is startlingly out of kilter with the imperative to maintain a stable climate system – and Australia is a large part

by Ebony Bennett[Originally published in the Canberra Times, 18 November 2019] I was a cub reporter working in the press gallery for the Sydney Morning Herald when bushfires engulfed Canberra in 2003, claiming four lives and almost 500 homes. It’s seared in my memory, as I’m sure it is for a lot of Canberrans. I’ve been thinking

by Richard Denniss[Originally published on the Guardian Australia, 13 November 2019] It’s not just climate protesters who powerful voices are trying to silence in Australia, it’s anyone who wants to talk about the bigger-picture causes to the problems Australia is facing. In modern Australia it has become “inappropriate” to talk about why our rivers are

by Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Financial Review, 11 November 2019] Despite Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s best efforts, Australia has a target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions in 31 years’ time. His suggestions that Labor’s renewable energy target of 50 per cent by 2030 is an economic “wrecking ball” is as pointless and wrong

by Mark Ogge[Originally published on The Fifth Estate, 12 November 2019] It is a terrible irony that the coal being mined in New South Wales is helping fuel the state’s unprecedented increase in extreme heat, fires and drought.  Every year, coal produced in NSW results in about 500 million tonnes of greenhouse gases being pumped

by Ebony Bennett[Originally published in the Canberra Times, 02 November 2019] In his government’s latest free-speech crackdown, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has vowed to outlaw civil society groups campaigning against Australian businesses that work with companies with dubious environmental, human rights or ethical records. Morrison’s plan would criminalise, for example, the thousands of young people

by Richard Denniss[Originally published on Guardian Australia, 30 October 2019] The Government’s top two economic advisers are in stark disagreement about something straight forward: whether the Australian economy would benefit from a bigger budget deficit or not. The Governor of the Reserve Bank says he is running out of room to cut interest rates any

by Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Financial Review, 30 October 2019] After decades of pursuing free trade at the expense of local jobs, the conservatives in the Coalition — aping Donald Trump and Boris Johnson — have decided to pivot to populism. Gone is the rhetoric of Alexander Downer and Julie Bishop about how

by Tom Swann[Originally published on Renew Economy, 27 October 2019] Despite promises to cut emissions, Australia’s emissions are still rising. But at the United Nations General Assembly in New York last month, prime minister Scott Morrison rejected criticism by claiming that “Australia now has the highest per capita investment in clean energy technologies of anywhere

by Ebony Bennett[Originally published in the Canberra Times, 21 October 2019] As the black sheep in a family of car enthusiasts, I know that if you brake and put your foot on the accelerator at the same time there’s a lot of noise and smoke, but you end up spinning your wheels. For some time

by Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Financial Review, 16 October 2019] When Barnaby Joyce starts making more sense about inequality than Scott Morrison, you know the Coalition is heading for choppy waters. In July, the former Nationals leader suggested that the unemployment benefit needed to rise significantly. “Certainly $555 or thereabouts a fortnight is difficult, especially

by Ebony Bennett[Originally published in the Canberra Times, 05 October 2019] Every spring I fall in love with Canberra all over again. After the biting cold of a perfect Canberra winter – which I enjoy until the last month or so – it’s uplifting to see the naked trees become leafy and green again, and

by Richie Merzian[Originally published on 10 Daily, 01 October 2019] Last Wednesday Prime Minister Scott Morrison took to the world stage, using Australia’s annual address to the United Nations (UN) to talk about the environment. He was two days too late. And everyone at the UN, diplomats and commentators alike, knew it. Having been involved

by Richard Denniss[Originally published on The Guardian Australia, 02 October 2019] Teams full of similar people underperform. While sameness can create cohesion, cookie-cutter teams can’t successfully compete with diverse teams that can draw on a broad range of talents, perspectives and insights. At least that’s what empirical data from lefty organisations including McKinsey, Credit Suisse and the IMF have to

by Ebony Bennett[Originally Published in The Canberra Times] There’s a certain delicious irony to the fact that Parliament House will soon be powered by 100% renewable electricity. It is the same building where Tony Abbott repealed the carbon and did his level best to abolish the hugely successful Renewable Energy Target. The same building where

by Richard Denniss[Originally Published in the Australian Financial Review, 17 September 2019] The Prime Minister has called on business groups to stop “virtue signalling” and to focus on the main game. Hear, hear! And not before time. For too long business peak bodies have concerned themselves with symbolism and ignored economics. It’s time to get

by Richard Denniss[Originally Published on Guardian Australia, 18 September 2019] In the same week that the prime minister told chief executives not to get “distracted” by issues like climate change, his National Party colleagues declared war on almond milk. Talk about focusing on the big issues. Needless to say, most business leaders paid as much attention to