First published in the Australian Financial Review – here.  The only thing that Paul Keating likes about conservative economic policy is implementing it. Last week, with trade mark cut-through, he was back to his favourite trick of visibly attacking the right while strategically undermining the left. For decades Keating has stood tall in the crowd by taking the

Adopting a proportional traffic fine system would be fairer and offer modest increases in revenue for most states, according to a new report from The Australia Institute. Several countries have proportional fines. In its report Finland’s fine example The Australia Institute has researched how Finland’s system could be implemented in Australia, seeing lower income drivers

First published by the Australian Financial Review – here.  Economic models are like skin care products: the magic is all in the marketing. Just as honest dermatologists regularly remind consumers that expensive face creams are just “hope in a jar”, honest economists regularly remind politicians and journalists that the “results” of macroeconomic modelling are no more reliable than

A ReachTEL poll of 1,139 Tasmanians showed 61% of residents were opposed to an increase in the GST rate and just 26% supportive. (See Question 1 below) Respondents also indicated where they would like additional revenue from a GST increase to go. 52.2% wanted more money for health, education and government services. Only 3.4% wanted

No tax concession does less to stimulate innovation or employment than the capital gains tax exemption on luxury homes. Indeed, by encouraging the most wealthy Australians to park billions of dollars in spare bedrooms that gather dust and detritus from Christmases past, the exemption simply diverts capital away from productive uses. A government that is

The single largest tax concession in the revenue strapped Australian Federal Budget is the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) exemption on the primary residence. The exemption forgoes $46 billion annually – a greater sum than the government spends on the Age Pension, Defence or Medicare.  A new report by The Australia Institute, with modelling commissioned from

Polling in key Liberal and National Party seats shows strong opposition to reducing Sunday penalty rates for retail workers, according to new ReachTEL polling commissioned by The Australia Institute. Polling conducted across the electorates of Page, New England, Warringah and Dickson on 17th December shows that between 65% and 79% of people in these electorates

Most voters in former Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s electorate want him to retire at the next election, according to new polling conducted by ReachTEL for The Australia Institute as part of research about tax and climate change issues. “The polling indicates that the electorate is quickly moving on from the Tony Abbott era,” said Ben Oquist,

First published by The Australian Financial Review – here. The mining boom tax cuts have left the Australian budget unable to collect the revenue needed to fund the services that Australians expect from their government. The Treasurer’s insistence that there is no revenue problem, combined with the received political wisdom that the family home is

In the lead-up to the 2013 election both the Coalition and the ALP pledged to make no changes to the superannuation system in the coming term of government. Stability, we were told, was what the system needed. Less than three years later both major parties are promising to change the superannuation system. Reform, we are

New research by The Australia Institute examines proposals to cut company tax rates.  A report from The Australia’s Institute’s senior research fellow David Richardson analyses the effect of cutting the company tax rate from 30% to 25% and finds that:  Federal Government revenue would be down almost $27 billion over the next decade Australia’s four

New costings from the Parliamentary Budget Office show the government could help retirees boost their own incomes at nearly no cost to the budget by making the Pension Loans Scheme (PLS) available to all who wish to use it.  The costings complement research by The Australia Institute which made the economic case for expanding the

New costings from the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) show the government could help retirees boost their own incomes at nearly no cost to the budget by making the Pension Loans Scheme to available to all who wish to use it to have a comfortable retirement while living in their own homes. Costings requested by Senator

Go Home On Time Day is a national initiative which encourages employers and employees to raise awareness of the importance of a healthy work-life balance.

Recent Australian Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) over promise and under deliver.  Analysis by The Australia Institute of FTAs past and proposed reveals that claims of job creation and economic growth contradict available data.  On Monday the Senate will debate the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA). On Friday last week the text of the Trans Pacific

Australians are getting older and almost all of us want to live in our homes for as long as we can. But can we afford the services that will keep us living at home? Research released today by The Australia Institute shows that around 80 per cent of Australians are worried that they won’t be

After decades in public life some Australian corporate leaders are figuring out what first-year philosophy students grasp in their first lecture: it’s hard to define “ethical”. But as Transfield Services’ chairman Diane Smith-Gander has discovered, the stakes are a bit higher than undergrad debating prizes. Losing the debate over the ethics of running offshore detention centres

The mining and forestry lobby campaign to remove tax-deductibility for certain non-for-profit organisations they deem contrary to their business interests, does not have the support of the Australian public, according to new polling. Hearings are ongoing in the Government’s inquiry into the administration, transparency and effectiveness of the Register of Environmental Organisations. Many Coalition politicians

The new report Charity ends at home: The decline of foreign aid in Australia examines the history of Australia’s Official Development Assistance scheme – known as foreign aid.  The research by The Australia Institute, in collaboration with Jubilee Australia Research Centre, outlines that the former Labor Minister, Stephen Smith, and Liberal Minister from the 70’s,

As new Resources and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg announces that the $5 billion Northern Australia fund could be used to subsidise coal projects, including the Adani mine in the Galilee, research shows support ranging from 65% to 78% for a policy shift.  According to a series of polls, commissioned by The Australia Institute as part

First published in the Australian Financial Review – here It’s bizarre that people blame Tony Abbott’s demise on his inability to communicate. He was a great communicator, and people knew exactly what he stood for. No politician was as relentlessly ‘on message’.  Abbott’s problem wasn’t the clarity of his message; it was the incoherence of

Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) of government bill estimates only 88 Australian seafarer jobs will remain under the Department’s preferred option for policy change (table below). This represents a loss of 1,089 Australian seafarer jobs, or 93 per cent of the current workforce. A submission to the inquiry into Shipping Legislation Amendment Bill 2015 by The

The Queensland Treasurer, Curtis Pitt, has brought a welcome reality check to discussion about the Adani coal mine, pointing out the danger of overstating the importance of the mine to the state’s economy. Queensland has workforce of 2.3 million people. Adani’s own economic expert has said the mine will create around 1400 jobs, or a

The Abbott Government’s move against environmental law is an unjustified overreaction according to a review of legal action under the EPBC act by The Australia Institute. 3rd party appeals to the Federal Court have only affected 0.4% of all projects referred under the legislation.  — Download briefing paper available below — “Proper third party appeals

Since Tony Abbott took office, 101,900 more Australians are unemployed, but the Prime Minister is determined to create a new scapegoat – that of environmental legal victories – rather than face up to fundamental issues in the economy. “We’re seeing a deliberate effort from the Government to blame environmental law for job losses, despite all

A new report has exposed Australia’s wine tax system as corporate welfare, with Australians paying a billion dollars a year to subsidise the wine industry. Unlike beer and spirits, which are taxed based on their alcohol content, wine is taxed on its wholesale value. As a result, cheap wine attracts far less tax than beer

Queensland spends less on social services than the rest of Australia in per capita terms, a new report from The Australia Institute has revealed. (Table 1 below) The state is the nation’s biggest spender of public funds in one area though; subsidies for mining projects.  Currently public schools face a $268 million maintenance backlog, and

The mining industry is furious that if you make a donation to an environment group, your donation is tax deductible. You know the drill. You give someone in a koala suit anything over $2, they give you a receipt and go off to save an owl, hug a tree or, more likely, make a submission

While the public are rightly outraged at the callous tone of the Treasurers ‘get a good job’ remarks in response to housing affordability, economists should be equally disturbed about the bizarre logic behind the government’s approach to the issue. Joe Hockey seems to be increasingly confused about what housing affordability is. Hockey and Abbott believe