Politics in the Pub – Father Frank Brennan AO Australia’s 20 year search for a coherent, workable and moral asylum policy 2012 marks 20 years since the policy of mandatory detention of asylum seekers was introduced by the Keating Government. Today, more than 4000 asylum seekers are being held in immigration detention, 460 of those

12 – research papers, compared to eight in the first six months of 2011 (on issues ranging from the impact of the mining boom, to the inadequacy of unemployment benefits, access to legal aid, pokies reform and the use and abuse of economic modelling) 18 – the number of years since The Australia Institute was founded

On Valentine’s Day in February we launched our LOVE YOUR THINK TANK fundraising drive with the goal of reaching 100 people who each month can help us work towards a more progressive Australia.  We’re delighted to say that we are just over half way towards reaching our target, with 54 people now signed up as

In the coming weeks we will be publishing new research on the rise and rise of the big banks, the economics of coal seam gas and fugitive emissions, and mapping loneliness in Australia. Further down the pipeline is work on the availability, affordability and quality of childcare, the importance of the co-operatives sector, and as

We don’t want our research to sit on a shelf collecting dust – our aim is to influence the debate, whether that’s via Lateline, Today Tonight, Crikey, The Global Mail, Sky, The Project, Triple J or Radio National Breakfast. And sometimes we’re lucky enough to land two spots on the ABC in one night, like

The Treasurer has just done the books for Australia and many of you will be preparing to do your own as the end of the financial year approaches. Don’t forget that all donations of $2 and above to The Australia Institute are tax-deductible. So if you’ve enjoyed receiving Between the Lines, please consider donating before

Thank you to all our Facebook and Twitter fans who contributed to the great success of our ‘Is Australia a high tax country?‘ infographic. It has had more than 25,000 views and more than 1,700 shares. Not bad for our first attempt! Over the coming months we hope to release a steady flow of infographics

 As the miners look tough, the government looks weak, Crikey, 7 May  Super changes penalise rich, ABC (PM), 3 May NAB keeps a bit on the side, giving rivals excuse to avoid full rate cut, The Canberra Times, 3 May Banks hoard rates cut despite huge pressure, The Daily Telegraph, 3 May End the price

TAI

Reading this year’s budget one is reminded of the cargo cult mentality that was expressed by Treasury in the late years of the Fraser government. Substitute Japan for China and this could be 1979 or 1980. At the time, then Treasury head John Stone lectured the nation on how it needed to import more rather

 In spite of the Treasurer’s boast of an economy “that has earned us a AAA-rating from all three major ratings agencies for the very first time in our history”, with a GDP of 1.5 trillion dollars, low unemployment (4.9%), low inflation (1.6%) and low interest rates (3.75%), the 2012 budget has failed to find an

The government’s obsession with achieving a surplus of one per cent of GDP seems to be the new medium term goal around which spending decisions have to conform. As the budget papers put it: In current circumstances, fiscal policy should be concerned with restoring the budget to a position consistent with the Government’s objective of

Budget speeches are always carefully scripted to try and influence how the media frames its coverage. This year the main message the government wanted conveyed was that it is spreading the benefits of the mining boom. But as is so often the case, the budget papers belie the priorities outlined in the Treasurer’s speech. Beyond

Budgets are usually summarised with clichés: smoke and mirrors, robbing Peter to pay Paul or the devil is in the detail. If this budget had a cliché it would be ‘missed opportunity’. The government, having locked itself into a political commitment to ensure the budget is in surplus by 2013, was forced to confront a

Note to Joe: Australians support a rise in the Newstart Allowance Your tax dollars helping the mining industry …. …. while they inflate the amount of tax they pay. Recent publications Recent media Events Note to Joe: Australians support a rise in the Newstart Allowance Could you live on $245 a week? Many recipients of

 Survey indicates unemployment benefits are not enough to live on, The Canberra Times, 24 April What lies beneath, The Global Mail, 19 April Thousands miss out on parent payments, The Sydney Morning Herald, 18 April What’s good about a surplus? The Canberra Times, 14 April What electricity will really cost under a carbon tax, Crikey,

Are unemployment benefits adequate in Australia? R Denniss and D Baker, 23 April Pouring fuel on the fire: The nature and extent of Federal Government subsidies to the mining industry, M Grudnoff, 18 April Match making: Using data-matching to find people missing out on government assistance, D Baker, 18 April Showing their helping hand: The

 News this morning that workers at a Ford car plant in Melbourne might be temporarily stood down because of problems with a supplier provides an opportunity to consider whether unemployment benefits in Australia are adequate to cover the cost of living. It follows the decision by Toyota to lay off 350 workers at its Altona

pramSince early 2010, The Australia Institute has researched the extent to which Australians who are entitled to government assistance are missing out. Given the populist focus on ‘welfare cheats’ we thought it would be interesting to examine the flip side of the coin. In Missing Out: Unclaimed government assistance and concession benefits we estimated that

Firms are keen on self regulation. They claim it works because they are transparent, accountable and good corporate citizens. In March, Rio Tinto released a voluntary report called Taxes paid in 2011, which showed the amount of tax that Rio Tinto paid worldwide. Rio was upfront in its press release on why it had produced

At a time when the mining industry is earning record profits you might be surprised to learn that it is also receiving $4 billion worth of government subsidies and concessions each year. In a new paper commissioned by GetUp, The Australia Institute provides a breakdown of the amount of support the industry receives, which includes

Labor’s short memory Who wins, who loses from the mining boom? FREE PUBLIC FORUMS IN CAIRNS AND BRISBANE Why do we subsidise industry? LOVE YOUR THINK TANK – help us reach our target of 100 Recent publications Recent media Events Labor’s short memory This week we have seen the adjectives fly after news leaked of

 After Durban, is climate change on the backburner? The Australia Institute will host Politics in the Pub in Canberra on Wednesday 14 March. Ian Fry is the International Environmental Officer for the Government of Tuvalu. He has represented Tuvalu as part of their delegation to climate change meetings since the start of the Kyoto Protocol

Solar subsidies just the tip of the enery policy iceberg, Crikey, 1 March Coal seam gas, Alan Jones 2GB, 14 February Economic models: uses and abuses, Counterpoint, 13 February The budget surplus and the banks, Weekend Sunrise, 11 February Super rort for wealthy, The Canberra Times, 3 February The very model of a future based

CSG economic modelling: On the alleged benefits of the Santos coal seam gas project in North West NSW, D Richardson, 14 February The use and abuse of economic modelling in Australia, R Denniss, 1 February Casual labour: A stepping stone to something better or part of an underclass?, D Richardson, 27 January Rubbery figures: An

 In 2004 we published a lengthy analysis of the role of non-government organisations under the Howard Government called ‘Silencing dissent’. In 2011 we were one of the first to provide a detailed critique of the view that everyone benefits from a mining boom in our paper ‘Mining the truth: the rhetoric and reality of the

”The cost-benefit analysis to taxpayers … is not just about the car industry jobs … it’s also about the importance of that skill system and that ability to innovate and that kind of equipment and machinery to the whole of manufacturing – and manufacturing employs around 1 million Australians.” Prime Minister Julia Gillard, 6 February

 The Australia Institute will host two events in Queensland in the coming fortnight to discuss the impact of the mining boom on the State’s tourism, manufacturing and agriculture industries. The events will focus on the 99 per cent of Queenslanders who don’t work in mining. CAIRNSTuesday March 13 6.00 – 8.00pm Civic Reception Room, Council

One of the first things the Rudd Government did when it came to power was remove gag clauses in government contracts with the not-for-profit sector. This was an attempt to start rebuilding relationships with the sector which had broken down so badly under the Howard Government’s culture of silencing dissent. In an interview with The

Things you helped us achieve: 2011 wrap-up  Here at The Australia Institute we’re a big fan of the Sydney Morning Herald’s Irvine Index. Each week, economist Jessica Irvine condenses topical issues into salient numbers. After such a busy year at the Institute we thought it might be fun to create our own index which reflects