December 2023
Why You’re Paying More Tax Even Though Real Wages Are Shrinking
It’s a bitter irony.
November 2023
Australia is not being flooded by migrants
Don’t be scared by claims Australia is being inundated by migrants
October 2023
Stage 3 Better: A way for the government to deliver better, fairer tax cuts and save money
The Stage 3 tax cuts cost too much, deliver little benefit to those who need it, and leave Australia less fair. We propose 4 ways to make Stage 3 Better
September 2023
Qantas Flies High on Scant Competition and Regulation – and Consumers Pay the Price
Will the resignation of CEO Alan Joyce prompt real change or will poor corporate culture continue?
August 2023
Why Does the RBA Want More Unemployed Aussies?
By chasing an invisible and moving target, the RBA’s theories on unemployment and inflation could jeopardise the jobs of 140,000 Australians.
The Intergenerational Report shows we need to talk about revenue
Australia not only is a low taxing nation, it now taxes less compared to the OECD than in the past – that will need to change if we are to provide the services Australians want.
June 2023
With the Budget predicting a bad year ahead the RBA should not raise rates next week
Whenever Australia’s GDP per capita has gone backwards through a year Australia has been in recession or nearly so. And right now the Budget expects that to happen in 2023-24.
May 2023
Bread and Surpluses: What you need to know about the Budget
The Albanese Government has handed down its 2023-24 Federal Budget, and it contains positive measures like a 15% pay rise for aged care workers, the minimal increases to welfare, and deferral of any change to the Stage 3 tax cuts, confirm that change is going to be incremental and slow. This was recorded on Wednesday
For housing to be affordable, prices must go down, not up. Here’s how it could happen
Labor’s housing policies risk being as ineffectual as the Coalition’s. The real solutions aren’t complicated – but they need political will.
April 2023
The economy’s still growing, so why does it feel like you’re falling behind?
No, it’s not just inflation. Since the GFC, there has been a radical reversal in who benefits from economic growth. Back in the 1950s, the bottom 90% of income earners enjoyed around 90% of the benefits of the economic growth, but not anymore. So what has happened? This was recorded on Tuesday 11th April 2023 and things may
March 2023
Super Expensive, Super Unfair
Superannuation is supposed to help us save for our retirement, and tax concessions on super are meant to reduce the burden on the government to fund our retirement through the age pension. But what are these concessions, and are they really working in the way they are intended to? To help explain, we’re talking to
February 2023
The Pain is the Plan
The RBA recently raised interest rates again for the ninth time in a row, in an effort to reduce inflation. But is the pain the interest rate rises causing worth it? And could they do anything else instead? This was recorded on Wednesday 8th February 2023 and things may have changed since recording. The Australia
October 2022
The Stage 3 tax cuts will be responsible for up to 42% of the Budget deficit
The Stage 3 tax cuts are not just unfair, they create a massive hole in the budget
October Budget Wrap
The October Budget delivers on a range of welcome bread & butter commitments, but has deferred solving Australia’s meat and potatoes revenue problems. So who are the winners and losers, and what are the missed opportunities? This was recorded on Thursday 27th October 2022 and things may have changed since recording. The Australia Institute //
Australia’s housing crisis is self-inflicted. We need four reforms to reverse it
How is it that in Australia, one of the richest countries in the world, we have a housing crisis where hundreds of thousands of renters can’t afford a roof over their head? To figure out why rents are soaring, we need to look at the broader political disease: we have spent about two decades trying
Where’s the middle (income)?
As pressure builds for the Albanese government to scrap the promised Stage Three tax cuts, discussion has shifted around who would lose out. The Australian said it would mean “2.5 million middle income Australians will pay thousands of dollars in additional tax,” but describes middle income Australians as individuals earning between $120,000 and $160,000 a
The pandemic is yet another wake-up call that all of Australia’s workers must have sick leave
The ending of mandatory Covid isolation periods has also ended disaster payments for workers who don’t have access to sick leave. It’s time we faced up to the fact that the industrial relations rules have been creating the wrong kinds of work. That’s the bad news. The good news is we can change them if we want
September 2022
The Case for Dumping the Stage 3 Tax Cuts
The $240 billion Stage 3 Tax Cuts, originally legislated by the Coalition government, have been described by the Labor government as an election promise they won’t break. But calls are growing for the cuts to be scrapped, having been labelled tax cuts for the wealthy amid a cost of living crisis. This was recorded on
August 2022
At a time when low income earners are struggling, we cannot allow the rich to get richer
A massive tax cut worth $240bn over the next 10 years is set to come into effect in 2024. But this tax cut will not help those who are struggling the most. It will not help those on low incomes. People earning $45,000 a year or less will get nothing at all. Meanwhile people earning
June 2022
Minimum wage increase a rare bright spot for workers
The decision by the Fair Work Commission to increase the minimum wage by 5.2 per cent is a rare bright spot for workers in what has been a terrible decade for wage increases. This increase represents an extra $1.05 per hour or about $40 per week for someone working full time. About 2.3 million workers
April 2022
Unpacking the 2022 Federal Budget
This week on Follow the Money we’re unpacking the 2022 Federal Budget. Who are the winners and losers, and what does it all mean with an election looming? Recorded live on 31st March 2022 and things may have changed since recording. The Australia Institute // @theausinstitute Host: Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director, Australia Institute // @ebony_bennett
February 2022
What’s going to be in the Budget?
The budget is come soon and, because it’s an election year, income tax cuts are squarely on the agenda. In today’s episode we ask, who really benefits from the government’s legislated tax cuts? New research from the Australia Institute suggests anyone earning under $90k could be worse off. Recorded live on 22 February 2022 and
November 2021
Transport, housing, furnishings drive inflation
The retiree group most affected by rising living costs.
PM promised reform, record funding – here’s what happened
Economist Matt Grudnoff outlines the ‘progress’ made since the royal commission.
August 2021
Not all taxes are created equal
The government’s massive $300 billion income tax cuts package will proceed in full, making inequality worse and mainly benefitting high income earners. But what makes a tax good or bad? This week, Richard Denniss and Matt Grudnoff explain the principles of a good tax and run the ruler over different types of taxes like income
June 2021
Ten reasons why the arguments against increasing tax are wrong
There are many arguments put forward as to why increasing tax is bad for Australia and its economy. It is also argued that the stage 3 tax cuts due to start in 2024 will be good for the economy. Here are ten reasons why these are wrong.
May 2021
Unpacking the federal budget 2021
Gone are the scare campaigns about debt and deficit, but was this really a big spending budget? Cut through the economic nonsense and pollywaffle with our senior economist Matt Grudnoff, as he unpacks everything you need to know about the Budget. Don’t forget to check out the Australia Institute’s federal budget breakdown here. Host: Ebony Bennett,
March 2021
The crisis in aged care and why we need to talk about revenue
The findings of the Aged Care Royal Commission are shocking but not surprising. Among the recommendations is the call for an effective 1% increase in the Medicare levy, or a new Medicare-style Aged Care levy which could be applied progressively based on income, to create the revenue required to fund an aged care system with
October 2020
What you need to know about the federal budget
The federal budget forked out billions in spending — mostly on business tax write-offs and income tax cuts for high income earners — but it was poorly targeted if the intention is to create jobs and lower the unemployment rate. In his episode economists Matt Grudnoff and Alison Pennington unpack what you need to know
September 2020
Why bringing income tax cuts forward is a bad idea during Australia’s first recession in 30 years
The government has indicated it might bring forward income tax cuts in next month’s budget, but as our senior economist Matt Grudnoff explains in this episode, income tax cuts for high income earners won’t be effective at stimuluating the economic.The Australia Institute // @theausinstituteHost: Ebony Bennett, deputy director at the Australia Institute // @ebony_bennettGuests: Matt
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