Media release QLD mining boom to destroy 20,000 non-mining jobs Queensland’s massive mining boom is likely to destroy one non-mining job for every two mining jobs it creates, costing around 20,000 jobs, according to a new analysis by The Australia Institute. Job creator or job destroyer? An analysis of the mining boom in Queensland by

The mining boom continues to drive international tourists away from Cairns and Far North Queensland on the back of the high Australian dollar, according to a new analysis by The Australia Institute, a Canberra-based think tank. The analysis shows that in Far North Queensland international tourism numbers have slumped from 868,303 to 648,959 over the

Everyone has heard how good the mining industry is for Queensland but is this actually the case for industries other than mining? There currently is a huge and unprecedented expansion of coal and coal seam gas mining under way across Queensland . There is no doubt that this will destroy existing jobs in tourism and

Everyone has heard how good the mining industry is for Queensland but is this actually the case for areas like Cairns and the Far North? The world’s largest coal mine is being developed 400km inland from Cairns, with a proposal to ship coal through the Whitsundays. There is no doubt that it will destroy existing

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 alleged benefits to NSW communities from Santos’ plans to develop coal seam gas (CSG) reserves in the north west of the state should be questioned in the light of inconsistencies and flaws in the economic modelling used to support the project, according to The Australia Institute. Santos recently commissioned the Allen Consulting Group to

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

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

This edition of the Institute’s newsletter features: A great year -2011 in review Dr Richard Denniss Help needed: billions of tax dollars looking for a problem Lin Hatfield Dodds Big change or a lot of hot air? Dr Richard Denniss The rhetoric and reality of the mining boom David Richardson Bulky billing David Baker Why

The China First mine proposed for Queensland is so large that even the economic impact statement prepared by the mine’s proponents finds that it will drive more than $1.2 billion worth of manufacturing offshore, cause 3,000 job losses and result in higher housing costs and a less equal distribution of income. Dr Richard Denniss, Executive

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

Public perceptions of the size and significance of the mining industry to the Australian economy are radically different to the facts, a new survey by The Australia Institute reveals. When asked what percentage of workers they believe were employed in the mining industry, the average response was around 16 per cent, when according to the

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

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

The mining industry, not Australian workers, should be shouldering the blame for Australia’s flagging productivity growth, according to a new analysis by The Australia Institute. In a speech last night Dr Martin Parkinson, the new head of Treasury, quoted figures showing that Australia’s annual productivity growth slipped from 2.1 per cent in the 1990s to

What is the true value of the service we get when buying something at a shop? It can be quite high when the shopping experience adds to the pleasure of the purchase, such as getting you out of the house, friendly sales staff and nice food next door. The value added can be particularly high

There has been a lot of talk about the need to ‘reframe’ the debate about climate change among the Australian environment groups who have tasked themselves with persuading our politicians to reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions. Unfortunately, their attempts to reframe the debate have been as unsuccessful as their attempts to persuade our politicians. The

In October 2009 the Australia Institute conducted an online survey of 1,807 main grocery buyers in Australia and New Zealand. Respondents were asked about the food they throw out and their attitudes and behaviour in relation to food waste.

For the past two or three decades we have been told that globalisation and free trade will speed up the pace of capitalism and deliver innovation and efficiency to the benefit of all. Now we have a classic case study unfolding before our eyes: the changing structure of the Australian retail industry. Change of course

What a year it has been! We’ve witnessed the fall of a Prime Minister, the rise of a woman to the top job, a hung Parliament, a drawn AFL final, a visit from Oprah, the Wikileaks exposé and supposedly a ‘new paradigm’. 2010 has had something for everyone. For The Australia Institute it has been

This edition of the Institute’s newsletter looks at 2010 in review, the consequences of ongoing work-life imbalance, the recent mortgage rate rise, Christmas public holiday pay, poverty traps and an article by Georgia Miller from Friends of the Earth on why we should approach nanotechnology with circumspection.

Last year six million, or one in three, Australians received one or more Christmas presents that they never used or later gave away, a new survey by The Australia Institute reveals. Asked about their Christmas gift habits, more than one in four respondents also expect that some of the presents they give this Christmas will

Between the Lines is the Institute’s selective analysis of the policies and politics affecting the wellbeing of Australians. This edition looks at reforming the banking sector and financial behaviour.

Proponents of a new debate about the role of nuclear power stations in Australia should start with a discussion about their location, said The Australia Institute.

This edition of the Institute’s newsletter looks at the 2010 federal election, the market power of Australia’s big four banks, green jobs, income quarantining, the case for a carbon price and a review of Nobel-prize winning economist Jospeh Stiglitz lecture at the Sydney Opera House.

Wouldn’t it be funny if we spent so long arguing about what to do about climate change that we ran out of cheap oil first? No, it wouldn’t really, it would be catastrophic. But given the government’s delay in producing an Energy White Paper and the steady backsliding on the need to actually reduce our

Between the lines is the Institute’s selective analysis of the policies and politics affecting the wellbeing of Australians. This edition looks at corporate behaviour, the influence of the resources sector on the climate change and RSPT debates, and corporate donations to political parties.

A proposal by Victoria’s Premier John Brumby to shut down one quarter of Hazelwood power station, Australia’s dirtiest power station, shows that effective action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is actually cheaper than the symbolic action favoured by the Rudd and Gillard Governments, according to The Australia Institute’s Executive Director Dr Richard Denniss.

Between the lines is the Institute’s selective analysis of the policies and politics affecting the wellbeing of Australians. This edition looks at the nature of green jobs and their creation; the return of dog whistling in political speech; donations to political parties.

This edition of the Institute’s newsletter looks at the mining super profits tax, a charter of human rights, Australians missing out on government assistance, the war in Afghanistan, free trade agreements and the PBS, the Institute’s Measuring what Matters project, and peak oil.