Late last week the ACT electricity price regulator released its draft electricity pricing decision for 2012-13. And the political response couldn’t have been more predictable. The Coalition raced to highlight that, out of an estimated $244 increase in annual household electricity bills, almost $190 was attributable to the carbon price. Labor and the Greens downplayed

‘Who’s using the hot water?!” You can often hear that shout from someone trying to have a shower while someone else in the house is trying to do the dishes. The reason is simple; most houses don’t install multiple hot water systems to ensure that everyone in the house can simultaneously use as much hot

If business groups really want a simpler tax system, let’s get rid of unfair tax concessions. Would they agree? In a world of spin there is a simple way to find out what people really mean: give them a choice to make. Big business in Australia is banging on and on about simplifying the tax

The left side of politics needs to get over its obsession with vision and leadership. While it may be hard for some on the left to admit it, it is pretty clear that John Howard was a radical, transformative and long-lived prime minister. He was never lauded, even by his own party, as visionary. But

Is it any wonder that Australia’s energy and climate change policy is in a permanent state of confusion when we have Martin Ferguson as the Minister for Resources, Energy and Tourism, Greg Combet as the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Anthony Albanese as Minister for Infrastructure (but not energy infrastructure?) and Tony Burke

The New York Times recently asked its online readers a simple question: should the newspaper check the claims made by politicians before it reports them? The response was a torrent of bemused hostility. What, the readers wanted to know, did the newspaper think its job was? Much has been written in recent years about the

The mining industry is used to having its voice heard in Australian public debates, so it should come as no surprise that mining billionaires such as Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer would consider buying up a bigger slice of the Australian media. While the estimated $20m spent by the mining industry on television advertisements opposing

Imagine if you had $30 billion sitting in front of you. And imagine that you had been told to use it to boost the retirement incomes of Australians. Who would you give it to? Would you use some of it to boost the existing age pension? Would you put some of it into the superannuation

There is no doubt that the automotive industry plays an important role in the Australian economy, but there is also no doubt that the Gillard Government’s recent attempts to support it are like providing Panadol to a heart attack victim. It might make them feel a little less pain but it will do nothing to

To assert total costs of the regular process of updating poker machines as a cost of policy reform is simply absurd. No industry in Australia does a better job of taking from those with the least and giving to those with the most than the poker machine industry. The idea that using some of the

Should wealthy art collectors have to contribute to the cost of public galleries if they choose not to visit them, or should their contribution be refunded to help them extend their own collection? Should city residents have to contribute to the cost of upgrading regional hospitals they will never use, or should their contribution be

Summer is a terrific time to build political mountains out of molehills – policies that are not really meant to be acted on H ands up if you support social exclusion. No? Then by the Federal Government’s logic, that means you must support social inclusion. And if you support social inclusion, you must be appalled

What is it Australian politicians are afraid of? They can’t seem to take a strong stand on important environmental questions. In a rapidly changing world it’s reassuring that a few constants remain in Australian politics. Like the sounds of cicadas in the summer bush, the sounds of Australian politics always take on a distinctly summer

It is impossible for politicians to satisfy the conflicting desire for housing affordability while trying to keep home owners happy. Political priorities are often contradictory in Australia. We support individual freedom and liberty, but we accept that, in the war against terror, we must sometimes be searched or delayed at random. We support individuals taking

The road to fiscal recklessness is paved with green intentions as poorly designed climate policy could cost ACT taxpayers millions. It is rare in public debate that you can enter a fight knowing that you can’t possibly lose. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the taxpayers of the ACT, who will likely waste hundreds

The one thing that unites people about the mining tax is that it is not the best designed tax ever proposed. That should hardly be a surprise given that it was bashed out between the new Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the three biggest mining companies in the first days of her taking office from

As with all complex financial products, when it comes to emissions trading, all is not what it seems. Common sense tells us that banks would never lend money to people who have little chance of repaying it, but the collapse of the American banking system taught us that they do. Common sense tells us that

Nobody gets an easier run in Australian political debate than the modern “libertarian”. You know, the politicians and commentators who are the first to cry “freedom of speech” in the face of what they see as political correctness and the first to say “individual responsibility” when someone proposes regulation such as those designed to make

An equitable tax system is usually thought of as one that collects money from those who have the most to help provide support to those who have the least. How bizarre then that the Australian football codes are arguing that the money they take from problem gamblers hooked on poker machines is essential to their

One of the most interesting features of the mining boom is the way that it is opening up old, and unresolved, political and policy debates in Australia. Do we trust that the benefits to the small group of people directly involved in the mining industry will “trickle down” to the rest of us? Should governments

One of the main roles of a prime minister is to determine the priorities of their government. Should we focus on tackling climate change or on indigenous disadvantage, should we focus on making it easier for employers to sack their workers or should we focus on asylum-seekers? Of course with the entire machinery of the

The current debate about the introduction of a carbon price in Australia marks the nadir of policy evaluation and political commentary in Australia. It is hard to imagine an economic issue where there could be less reliance on established facts and consistent logic. Then again, recent developments in US politics suggest that we may indeed

THE mining boom in Queensland might be big but it certainly isn’t broad. While the mining industry tries to suggest otherwise, the simple fact is millions of Queenslanders bear the pain of the mining boom without receiving any of the gain. Yes, the mining industry employs people and yes, they spend some of their money

For all the talk about the rising cost of living in Australia it is amazing that there isn’t more concern expressed at the high mark-ups that big Australian retailers charge. Australians pay far more for clothes, computers and most other consumer goods than customers in the rest of the world. There are two main reasons

Australian politicians have spent more than 20 years thinking up reasons not to tackle climate change, but the latest from Tony Abbott really must take the cake. According to the Opposition Leader, it now seems that until Communist China introduces a market-based mechanism to reduce their emissions, Australia shouldn’t either. That should buy us some

The most profitable retailers are the ones who can get you to pay far more than something is worth. In Australia, Tiffany jewellery, Levi’s jeans and even Coca-Cola cost far more than they do in other countries. The brands, the retailers and the shopping centres are the big winners out of this sad state of

The concepts of economic rationalism and market liberalism seem to have been abandoned by the Liberals. Whatever happened to the term economic rationalist? It wasn’t that long ago that the favourite insult hurled by the left was the badge of honour worn by the right. The arguments were hilarious. “You’re nothing but a self-serving economic

If your doctor told you that you had cancer and Lord Christopher Monckton told you to ignore their advice would you listen to him? What if he told you not to immunise your children or drink fluoridated water? It’s interesting how many people are unlikely to trust him for personal advice but who seem willing

The House of Lords says that Christopher Monckton is not entitled to claim he is a member of that House, but he disputes this. The internet is full of scientists carefully debunking the claims about climate change made by him, but he is similarly impervious to correction. Put simply, Lord Monckton is a case study

The Australia Institute’s Executive Director Dr Richard Denniss debated professional climate change sceptic Lord Christopher Monckton at the National Press Club on Tuesday 19 July. To read Richard’s take on the debate, click here To read an account of the debate Richard wrote for Crikey, click here