A rather small convoy of constitutional confusion today rolled into Canberra calling for a double-dissolution election. The impending carbon price, the ban on live exports and the imminent threat of one world government were all cited by participants as motivating their demands. But no matter how sincere their confused calls for a double-dissolution election, they

For all the talk about the rising cost of living in Australia it is amazing that there isn’t more concern expressed at the high mark-ups that big Australian retailers charge. Australians pay far more for clothes, computers and most other consumer goods than customers in the rest of the world. There are two main reasons

The Australia Institute and Sustainable Population Australia will host a talk by Kelvin Thomson MP on the evening of Thursday 25 August 2011. Kelvin will discuss the topic ‘The witches hats theory of government: How increasing population is making the task of government harder’. Providing food, water, energy, housing, education, jobs, health, liveable cities and

Australian politicians have spent more than 20 years thinking up reasons not to tackle climate change, but the latest from Tony Abbott really must take the cake. According to the Opposition Leader, it now seems that until Communist China introduces a market-based mechanism to reduce their emissions, Australia shouldn’t either. That should buy us some

The most profitable retailers are the ones who can get you to pay far more than something is worth. In Australia, Tiffany jewellery, Levi’s jeans and even Coca-Cola cost far more than they do in other countries. The brands, the retailers and the shopping centres are the big winners out of this sad state of

The Australia Institute today called on Opposition Treasury spokesman Joe Hockey to outline how many public servants they will require to administer their ‘direct action’ climate change plan, in light of his comments about disbanding the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. Mr Hockey has said that the Coalition is considering disbanding the Department

Last week Tony Abbott branded the Government’s target to reduce emissions by five per cent by 2020 as ‘crazy’, but the crazy thing is that the Coalition has the same target. Was this just Mr Abbott getting over excited in his attacks on the Government? A slip of the tongue similar to when he told

This edition of the Institute’s newsletter looks at: ‘Closing the Gap 2011’; Silencing dissent in Environment Victoria; The rise of online retail; The macroeconomics of online shopping; The future of the republican movement in Australia; and Australia’s surplus fetish. It also looks at the hidden cost of maternity leave.

With the release of the Gillard Government’s plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions we can finally compare the government’s carbon price with the Coalition’s Direct Action Plan. Two different policies with the same goal, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by five per cent on 2000 levels by 2020. While large amounts have been written about

The Coalition’s proposed Direct Action Plan to combat climate change is likely to cost $11 billion per year, require hundreds of new, highly-trained public servants to administer it and would still be unlikely to achieve any meaningful abatement, a new analysis by The Australia Institute reveals. The Direct Action Plan is a form of competitive

Economics is often called the dismal science. The accusation was justly made after Thomas Malthus predicted that “misery and vice” were the only check on world population growth. Of course these days many economists argue the exact opposite and suggest that population growth is essential for community wellbeing, but despite the U-turn the dismal tag

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

Once upon a time the justification for delivering the federal budget speech at 7.30pm was so that the stock market and money market would have time to absorb the information before the next day’s trading began. But these days, with many Australian shares listed on international stock exchanges and the Australian dollar traded just as

Budget one-upmanship in Australia has moved beyond the balanced-budget obsession of the 1990s to the new aim of producing an ongoing surplus, the bigger the better, under which it is taken for granted that everyone will be better off. Despite the recent natural disasters offering good reasons for the Gillard Government to reassess its commitment

We’ve all heard that the Australian Public Service’s superannuation schemes are generous, and a look at the budget papers would seem to confirm this, revealing that the Government is spending $14.1 billion on this entitlement. Put another way, public servants’ super appears to be a staggering 73 per cent of the $19.2 billion spent on

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

While we might not ever be able to agree on whether advertising works or not, or why it is that companies who say it doesn’t are so determined to spend a fortune doing it, it is easy to answer a slightly different question: do politicians think advertising works? Based on the way they conduct election

The threat by big tobacco companies to slash cigarette prices if the Government presses ahead with its plan to legislate for plain packaging is proof that smokers in Australia are being ripped off to the tune of $500 million per year, according to analysis conducted by The Australia Institute. “The tobacco companies are saying that

The bipartisan obsession with returning the federal budget to surplus has provided a convenient distraction from the genuine debate which is needed in Australia about when we will invest in infrastructure and social welfare, according to a new paper by The Australia Institute released today. Surplus fetish: The political economy of the surplus, deficit and

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

The Senate Economics Committee report into the banking sector, released today, is a disappointing missed opportunity to initiate much-needed reform to rein in the power of Australia’s big four banks which exploit their market power at the expense of consumers and small businesses, according to The Australia Institute. Senior Research Fellow David Richardson said the

The Defence establishment must find it pretty hard not to chuckle when they hear people talking about climate change policy. Climate change has been described as a fundamental challenge to democratic decision making. The problem, we are told, is that while the costs are up front the benefits are both uncertain and will arise in

The only thing that big business in Australia wants more than certainty is the certainty that they will get their own way. When they aren’t certain about that, it’s amazing how much uncertainty they are willing to tolerate. It seems it’s better to have a chance of a win than be certain of a loss.

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.

Picking teams in Australian policy debates used to be as simple as picking sides in old movies; the good guys wore white, the bad guys wore black, and the audience knew where everybody stood. But life just isn’t that simple especially when we consider the milk price war that is raging at the moment. Am

This edition of the Institute’s newsletter looks at the foundations of Australian attitudes to boat people, patenting human genes, the politics behind the carbon tax, what “Made in Australia” really means and the consequences of high ATM fees. It also examines gambling revenue and the consequences that gambling reform will have on state and territory

Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s decision to give U.S. President Barack Obama an iPod of Australian music speaks volumes about the ongoing evolution of the strong relationship between Australia and the United States. While successive leaders have demonstrated their warm commitment to the international relationship, it is hard to imagine John Howard, or even Kevin Rudd,

The announcement today that the Gillard Government and the Greens have agreed on the broad architecture of a carbon price mechanism for Australia is a welcome sign of progress on what has been a long march towards a comprehensive approach to tackling climate change in Australia, according to The Australia Institute. The Australia Institute’s Executive

Between the Lines is the Institute’s selective analysis of the policies and politics affecting the wellbeing of Australians. This edition looks at ATM fees, children in detention and the prime ministership of Kevin Rudd.

Each and every day millions of Australians pay financial institutions to access their own money. Some pay more while others pay less, depending on the way they do it. Sometimes, as with EFTPOS transactions, the price consumers pay for their own money is largely invisible, being factored into the prices of goods and services. In