New research from the Australia Institute finds the Australian gun lobby is as large and spends as much on political campaigns per capita as the National Rifle Association does in the USA. The new Australia Institute report, commissioned by Gun Control Australia, also find that these pro-gun lobby groups are also utilising alternative political strategies

The Federal Government is preparing to spend vast amounts of taxpayer funds on fossil fuel project overseas to generate business for increased fossil fuel exports out of Australia, new analysis by The Australia Institute warns. Key Points A new bill to Parliament that would expand funding and powers for Efic, Australia’s export finance agency, turning

A television commercial will begin airing nationally from 1 October, which features research from The Australia Institute exposing the Business Council of Australia’s (BCA) false claim that a 45% emissions reduction target would be ‘economy wrecking’. Building on research that shows no evidence to back the BCA’s ‘economy wrecking’ claim, the advertisement identifies that Australia’s electricity

The Government is way off the mark and off-message when it comes to meeting the Paris target, new analysis from The Australia Institute shows. The new report debunks the government’s claims that Australia will meet the Paris target ‘in a canter’, demonstrating total emissions have been increasing since 2014 and without major policy measures or

New analysis by The Australia Institute shows that foreign investors will be the unambiguous winners of the big business company tax cut ($50+ million turnover). “If the remaining company tax cuts now before the Senate are implemented the gift to foreign shareholders will be $3.7 billion in 2026-27, the year the tax cuts are fully

By Richie Merzian, Director of The Australia Institute’s Climate & Energy Program.  [Read article in the New Matilda Here] Private and public investment in a safe climate future is growing, despite the best and worst efforts of some of the world’s leading polluters, writes Richie Merzian. On a reclaimed swamp fringing the outskirts of the industrial

By Richard Denniss, Chief Economist at The Australia Institute. [View this article in the Australian Financial Review] Having abandoned the principles of small government, the right of Australian politics are now urging Australia to embrace Donald Trump’s attack on international agreements. Is there any institution these so-called “conservatives” aren’t willing to wreck in pursuit of

Since the Coalition’s 2014 decision to cut foreign aid funding by $1.4 billion per year, Australia’s foreign aid record has not improved, with the 2017-18 Budget representing new lows for aid funding, a new report from policy think tank The Australia Institute finds. The reports suggest that Australia’s aid spending, already at record lows, could

U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent trade policies (including tariffs on steel and aluminium that could affect Australian exports) have raised fears of a worldwide slide into protectionism and trade conflict.  Trump’s approach has been widely and legitimately criticised.  But his argument that many U.S. workers have been hurt by the operation of current free trade

An FOI request from The Australia Institute has revealed the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has “several hundreds of pages” of documents relating to Ministers and officials making formal representations to foreign financiers to back the Adani project.  “With ‘several hundreds of pages’ of relevant documents across multiple parts of the Department of Foreign

There is a depressing honesty about Donald Trump’s announcement that the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. It stands in stark contrast to the hypocrisy of Malcolm Turnbull’s big talk on climate change, which is accompanied by a $1 billion subsidy for the enormous new Adani coal mine. At least Trump is

If Donald Trump does renege on the US Paris climate commitments, it creates an opportunity for leadership from other countries, including Australia. A poll of 1420 Australians undertaken in March showed most believe domestic action would be only more important in the event of Donald Trump reneging on US climate action policies. “Trumps decision to

African white elephant, a report released today by Jubilee Australia and The Australia Institute examines the proposal for Australia’s export credit agency to fund a coal mine in South Africa. The tax payer-backed Export Finance and Insurance Corporation, known as Efic, is considering a loan to develop the Boikarabelo coal project in Limpopo Province, South

Ahead of an official visit by Vice President Mike Pence, Australia Institute polling of 1420 Australian residents* reveals that 60% feel Donald Trump becoming US President is a negative outcome for the world.  48% said Australia should be more independent from USA on military and security matters with only 15% of respondents supporting a closer

Australians favour international law to determine Timor maritime boundary between Timor-Leste and Australia, even if that delivers Timor-Leste a substantial share of the oil and gas in the Timor Sea. The poll of 10,271 residents across Australia showed 56.5% support for establishing a maritime boundary in accordance with current international law, with only 17% opposed

The rise of anti-globalization sentiment, including in Australia, poses a big challenge to mainstream politicians who’ve been trumpeting the virtues of free trade for decades.

Britain will now decide which Germans can invest in, or travel to, the UK and the circumstances in which they can do so.  The Brexit decision provides clear evidence of the tension within conservative politics between strident nationalism and economic rationalism. And as the business community is discovering, there are enormous economic risks when conservatives

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,”

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 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

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

The new report Charity ends at home: The decline of foreign aid in Australia examines the history of Australia’s Official Development Assistance scheme – known as foreign aid.  The research by The Australia Institute, in collaboration with Jubilee Australia Research Centre, outlines that the former Labor Minister, Stephen Smith, and Liberal Minister from the 70’s,

Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) of government bill estimates only 88 Australian seafarer jobs will remain under the Department’s preferred option for policy change (table below). This represents a loss of 1,089 Australian seafarer jobs, or 93 per cent of the current workforce. A submission to the inquiry into Shipping Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 by The