It has taken ten years of cheap politics and bad policy decisions to deliver Australians high energy prices, high greenhouse gas emissions and low levels of reliability. Rather than listen to scientists, engineers or economists Australia’s energy policy has been shaped by lobbyists, political strategists and shock jocks. It’s hard to see how things went

The Australia Institute has outlined the key challenges for the Finkel Review.  The objective of the Finkel Review is to provide a blueprint for national policy, legislative, governance and rule changes required to maintain the security, reliability, affordability and sustainability of the national electricity market. The objective of a policy instrument such as a LET

Following pressure from Australian civil society organisations, Australia’s export credit agency, Efic, has shelved plans to lend Australian taxpayers’ money to the Boikarabelo coal project in Limpopo Province, South Africa. While Efic has not ruled out future funding of this project and other overseas coal mines, Senate Estimates were told last week that Efic does

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

A well designed Low Emissions Target (LET) could be the basis for the needed integration of climate and energy policy in Australia according to Canberra-based policy think tank The Australia Institute. “The key will be to ensure any scheme accelerates the transition away from coal and does not lock in support for fossil fuel generators,”

It’s not clear whether Adani will win its battle to build its enormous new coal mine. But what is clear is that the coal industry, and the political right, have already lost the war. The enormous subsidies required to make the Adani mine “commercial” have killed once and for all the myth that coal mining

Australia isn’t trying to stop global warming, we’re subsidising it. While here in the ACT we’re on track to source 100% of our electricity from renewable energy by 2020, in Queensland the state government is doubling down on the number one contributor to climate change – coal. Despite banks, economists and the Australian people showing

A new report by The Australia Institute provides in-depth analysis of the proposed Hume Coal project, finding that it could damage the economy of the Southern Highlands region in NSW. The Southern Highlands economy is based on service industries with mining accounting for just 2 percent of employment in the region. Compared to NSW as

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

The Palaszczuk government has reportedly made a deal to give away $320 million dollars-worth of the state’s coal, for free, to an Indian mining giant.  The Adani project and government assistance: $320 million dollars in free coal in the form of a reported ‘royalty holiday’ deal. $900 million dollar subsidised loan to build a coal-only

The big banks have just discovered what Australia’s unemployed have known for some time, in modern Australia it is risky to be the underdog. For the last decade, at least, Australian politics has revolved around what you can get away with, not what the country needs, and the results have been nasty. And as the

Following media report that the Queensland Government and Adani are negotiating a discount on the royalties the company would pay to extract the state/s coal resources, The Australia Institute has calculated the potential cost of a ‘roylaty holiday’ to the taxpayer. The Courier Mail reported that the government and Adani working on this deal: Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk

Steel order of 56,000 tonnes would be less than 1% of Whyalla steelworks capacity. Today’s announcement that the Adani coal project would ‘throw a lifeline’ to South Australian steel producer Arrium is the latest piece of deception from a company renowned for breaking its big economic promises. Canberra-based think tank The Australia Institute, which has

The Australia Institute has made a submission to the Northern Territory’s inquiry into fracking and unconventional gas development. The Canberra-based research organisation finds that fracking would reduce energy security and could represent a net economic loss to the Territory. Energy security would be reduced because the NT already has plenty of conventional gas to cover

New polling shows that more than twice as many Australians (56%) support moratoriums on fracking as oppose them (20%), despite concerted lobbying from the gas industry to allow them further access to land. The poll, conducted by The Australia Institute, asked respondents if they support or oppose state bans on fracking. Question: Some states and

Barnaby Joyce says the federal Coalition’s desire to subsidise Adani’s Carmichael coal mine means the government will attract “some flak” from environmentalists. No doubt there will be, but he might do well to prepare for some friendly fire as well. [This article was first published in the Australian Financial Review – here] The government should expect some flak

The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has acknowledged the need for a key reform in the 5-minute settlement rule, but in the same statement said it does not plan to implement the rule change for 3 years. The ‘5-minute rule’ would help address price spikes and load shedding by changing market price periods. This would

New polling shows that despite a concerted campaign from sectors of the federal government and coal and gas industries, public support remains very high for renewable energy, and for the strengthening of state and federal targets.  The poll, conducted by The Australia Institute through Research now, asked a representative sample of 1420 Australians about renewable

‘5-minute rule’ identified as key to immediate and responsible fix for peak-load issues. The Australia Institute has today published an open letter to the Prime Minister calling for three market reforms to address the ‘energy trilemma’: security, cost and emissions. The letter appears as a full-page advertisement in the Australian Financial Review. Prominent signatories of

This was first published in EcoGeneration online on 8 March 2017 and in the print edition. The common view of invention is that it is unexpected. The people who do it are extraordinary individuals. There are risk takers but also naturally creative geniuses. Ancient Archimedes came up with his theory of buoyancy by his spontaneous

This was first published in EcoGeneration online on 20 Jan 2017 and in the print edition. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull put innovation on the national agenda when he defeated PM Tony Abbott in the leadership spill, in September 2015. Turnbull said “We have to recognise that the disruption that we see driven by technology, the

Are there any economic rationalists left in the Australian business community? Where are the fiscal conservatives when you need them? [This article was first published in the Australian Financial Review – here]  Hard headed budget hawks are missing in action when it comes to our governments giving a $1 billion subsidy to help build the

ReachTEL polling for The Australia Institute of Dickson, the seat held by Peter Dutton, has shown strong support for Labor’s renewable energy target and opposition to government backing of the Adani coal mine.   Polling of the marginal Queensland electorate showed very strong opposition to subsidies going to the Adani Carmichael mine project. [FULL RESULTS IN

As the $5 billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) considers a $1 billion concessional loan to foreign coal company Adani, a new report from The Australia Institute raises major concerns about the NAIF’s political independence, governance, resourcing and public transparency. Widespread media coverage during December that NAIF had ‘conditionally approved’ the $1 billion proposal was

New polling of Dawson, the seat held by George Christensen, conducted by ReachTEL, commissioned by The Australia Institute, shows support for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party at level pegging with the LNP at 30% of the primary vote. Issue-based questions in the same poll revealed strong support in Dawson for an increase to the renewable

The Australia Institute says Turnbull must discuss coal with Jokowi Indonesian President Joko Widodo will visit Australia this weekend, as The Australia Institute releases new research on Indonesian energy policy. The Institute has called for coal, energy and climate to be on the agenda for talks with President Widodo. Australia and Indonesia are the world’s

‘How conservatives can lead on climate action in the age of Trump’ Republican Congressman, Bob Inglis, National Press Club address: We’re in the midst of 2 weeks of travel in your magical land. We’ve been in Sydney where we enjoyed the beauty and the fun of the beach at Manly, the Circular Quay precinct, productive

In Australia as a guest of Canberra-based think-tank The Australia Institute, former Republican Congressman Bob Inglis had initially assumed that climate change was nonsense. From South Carolina’s Republican heartland, Bob Inglis tells Adam Morton in a Fairfax interview: “I didn’t really know anything about it except that Al Gore was for it, and, as I