“It is disappointing the National Farmers Federation has chosen to interpret the Australia Institute’s report Banking on Australia’s Emissions as a criticism of the agriculture sector,” said Richie Merzian, climate & energy program director at the Australia Institute. “The Australia Institute recognises that Australia’s farmers are experiencing first-hand the impacts of climate change, and similarly

New research by the Australia Institute shows that the Prime Minister’s ‘gas led recovery’ led to a loss of 3,800 jobs between May 2020 and February 2021, while employment across the economy grew by 863,000. The report shows that if the $2.9 billion allocated to new gas and oil refinery support measures, announced in and

New research from the Australia Institute reveals that, contrary to claims by the Australian Government of falling emissions, Australia’s national emissions (excluding land use) have risen by 7 per cent from 2005. At President Biden’s Leaders Climate Summit, the Australian Government claimed that it has reduced its emissions by 19 per cent, which is ‘more

The only viable long-term solution to our liquid fuel insecurity is to get off fossil fuels. Instead we are giving them taxpayer handouts When I was a kid, every year in early December we would go to the Geelong oil refinery in Corio. The refinery’s fire engine would cruise around, flash its lights and hand

New research by the Australia Institute shows Australia’s dependence on petroleum poses a serious fuel security risk and, with no policies in place to seriously curb petroleum use, the sector’s emissions will eclipse electricity sector emissions by 2030. The report recommends developing and implementing policies to replace petrol-fuelled vehicles with low emission alternatives. The Australia

Coal mines in the NSW Upper Hunter Valley extracted 150 million tonnes in 2020, 91 million tonnes less coal than their approved capacity of 241 million tonnes, according to new research released by the Australia Institute. The Australia Institute report also estimates the cost of filling in the Hunter’s mine voids at between $11 billion

The resilience of Australia’s electricity infrastructure is being undermined by a chronic pattern of underinvestment in maintenance and upkeep, the result of rent-seeking by private electricity producers and a deeply flawed regulatory system. That is the conclusion of a detailed review of empirical and qualitative data on the transmission and distribution system contained in a

Nothing captures prime minister Scott Morrison’s approach to climate change better than his embrace of “clean hydrogen” – a BS marketing term that delivers nothing but obfuscation and helps no one but the fossil fuel industry. Tellingly, this approach isn’t even new: Morrison has simply dusted off an old polluter playbook and changed a few

The Australia Institute has welcomed the Energy Security Board’s Options Paper for the redesign of the National Electricity Market but warned against a proposal that would effectively tax consumers to prop up unprofitable coal power stations. “The Options Paper contains a seriously risky proposal that would prolong the lives of unprofitable, highly polluting coal power

Fossil fuel subsidies cost Australians a staggering $10.3 billion in FY 2020-21 with one Commonwealth tax break alone ($7.84 billion) exceeding the $7.82 billion spent on the Australian Army, according to research released today by The Australia Institute. In fact, $10.3 billion in Government subsidies means that in 2020, every minute of every day $19,686

If Australia followed the leadership of the US expected announcement of a new climate target and committed to halving emissions by 2030, it would prevent 875 million tonnes of emissions being emitted, equivalent to almost two years of Australia’s current annual emissions, according to new research by the Australia Institute Climate & Energy Program. 40

A global coalition of 101 Nobel Laureates, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Australia’s Professor Peter Doherty, are calling out the continued expansion of the fossil fuel industry as “unconscionable” in an open letter to political leaders on the eve of US President Biden’s Leaders Summit on Climate. The Nobel Laureates – including economics,

An unlikely group of 25 companies and organisations, including car manufacturers, auto groups, electrical infrastructure companies and environmental groups have come together to publish an open letter to the Victorian parliament calling on them to vote against Victoria’s regressive electric vehicles tax. The letter, which appears as a full-page advertisement in The Age, highlights that

New mines won’t boost world demand for Australian coal — but they will cannibalise jobs from existing coalmines The New South Wales government is simultaneously committed to a net-zero emissions target for 2050 at the same time as new coalmines in the Hunter Valley with the capacity to produce 10 times more coal than Adani’s

When Malcolm Turnbull was dumped last week from New South Wales’ Net Zero Emissions and Clean Economy advisory board as quickly as he was appointed, the move shocked many people. Turnbull was dropped by his own protégé, the state’s Environment minister, Matt Kean, and by a government in NSW that had previously seemed receptive to

The one thing we can say for sure about Australia’s economic recovery is that it has not been gas-fired. This week the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirmed that employment in Australia has recovered to better than pre-COVID levels. This noteworthy achievement is made all the more remarkable by the fact that over the course of

The majority of voters (57.4%) in the NSW state seat of Upper Hunter support former PM Malcolm Turnbull’s call for a moratorium on new coal mine approvals and a remediation plan for existing mines for the Hunter Valley. The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 686 residents in the NSW state seat of

The Australia Institute is calling on the NSW Government to support a National Climate Compensation Fund, funded by a levy on fossil fuel exports, to help cover the crippling costs of climate change on the state. Today’s NSW Treasury Intergenerational Report on Climate Risk shows the average annual costs of climate change for NSW to

Yesterday, former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull was unceremoniously dumped as chair of the New South Wales government’s climate advisory board, just a week after being offered the role. His crime? He questioned the wisdom of building new coal mines when the existing ones are already floundering. No-one would suggest building new hotels in Cairns to help

It’s incredible what can happen in a year. This time last year Australia was heading into lockdowns and recession. The Treasurer was still sipping on his “Back in Black” mug and clinging to the idea that any stimulus spending would be small, targeted and temporary, and hundreds of thousands of Australians were still recovering from

In the Upper Hunter Valley proposals for new coal projects have a combined output of 98 million tonnes per year, equivalent to ten new Adani-sized mines, according to new research from the Australia Institute. Key Findings: In the Upper Hunter Valley, proposals for new coal projects have a combined output of 98 million tonnes per

New research from The Australia Institute, commissioned to assist the Energy Security Board’s redesign of the National Electricity Market, has shown that batteries and clean energy are poised to replace the system security that has historically been provided by coal. The technical study was written by leading energy economist Professor Bruce Mountain and battery expert

The Australia Institute has welcomed the State Labor Opposition’s hydrogen energy plan for South Australia. “Clean sources of power, including green hydrogen produced from 100% renewable electricity, are the future of energy. Putting South Australia at the centre of the global energy transition is the smart thing to do,” said Noah Schultz-Byard, SA Director at

What would happen in your industry if a judge described someone’s methodology as “inflated”, “lacking evidentiary foundation” and “plainly wrong”? If your industry would stop using that methodology, then you probably are not an economist and you don’t work for coal companies. Exactly this happened in 2019 and, with no change and no reflection, the

New research from The Australia Institute shows the majority of Australians support both a government policy subsidising the purchase of new electric vehicles and a ban on the sale of new fossil fuelled cars by 2035.

Australians significantly overestimate the oil and gas industry’s contribution to Commonwealth revenue, and the Australian community would most benefit by moving away from the oil and gas industry, according to an Australia Institute submission to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee. The Australia Institute has made a submission to the Senate Economics Committee as part of

The Australia Institute has welcomed the decision from the South Australian Government not to introduce an electric vehicle tax in July of this year. “The Australia Institute welcomes the decision of the South Australian Government, but a delay of one year is not enough,” said Noah Schultz-Byard, SA Director at The Australia Institute. “This EV