by Richard Denniss[Originally published by The Guardian Australia, 1 April 2020] The Coalition just announced a $130bn wage subsidy when the budget is already in deficit. As that sinks in, try to absorb the fact that the $130bn wasn’t targeted at any vulnerable group and had absolutely no “mutual obligations” attached to it. It was not “funded”

How the secretive trillionaire superannuation funds are using your money to reshape capitalism

by Richard Denniss[Originally published by the Australian Financial Review, 31 March 2020] After a $62 billion shot of adrenalin designed to keep businesses going through the coronavirus crisis, the Morrison government has finally ditched its strategy of “targeted and temporary” measures based on existing policies. Instead, it now wants to put large parts of the Australian

E&OE TRANSCRIPT — PRESS CONFERENCE 1.45pm SUNDAY, 22 MARCH 2020 MURAL HALL, PARLIAMENT HOUSE Response to Second Stimulus Package Dr Richard Denniss, Chief Economist, The Australia Institute Matt Grudnoff, Senior Economist, The Australia Institute Dr Richard Denniss: The Australia Institute welcomes the announcement by the prime minister and treasurer today of the second round of

For decades, Australians have been sold an imagined poverty. We have been told we need to “rein in” government spending – that if we want to spend more on health or education, we will need to spend less on the age pension or childcare. The Coalition even has an arbitrary cap on the size of

If you thought the prime minister was slow to respond to the bushfire crisis, take a look at his response to Australia’s ailing economy. Morrison is currently trying to pivot away from the government’s economic inaction using the coronavirus outbreak as cover, but the only reason the coronavirus might push Australia into recession is because the economy has been languishing since the Coalition took office in 2013.

by Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Financial Review, 02 March 2020] In the summer of 2010, devastating floods hit Queensland killing 33 people, causing billions of dollars in damage, shutting coal mines, and knocking an estimated $30 billion off GDP. The then Labor Government’s promise of a budget surplus was washed away too. Fast

A part-time cleaner earning $18,000 a year will receive zero tax concessions for their compulsory superannuation contribution; meanwhile, a chief executive of a big bank can get tens of thousands of dollars every year in taxpayer support for their “retirement nest egg”. This is the strange world of Australia’s retirement income system: a world in

by Richard Denniss[Originally published on Guadian Australia, 19 Feb 2020] After a summer of catastrophic bushfires, the most brutal evidence of the impacts of climate change, the Government has managed to move the debate towards the ‘pros and cons’ of setting a long-term net zero emissions target for 2050. Well played, Scott Morrison. While #Scottyfrommarketing

by Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Finacial Review, 24 Feb 2020] If you think Ministers handing out sports grants to marginal electorates is a waste of taxpayer money, you need to take a look at the Coalition’s plans to hand out coal fired power stations as well. The former free marketeers in the Coalition

by Richard Denniss[Originally published on Guardian Australia, 05 February 2020] If you think the quality of debate about climate change and bushfires is bad, allow me to give you a glimpse into the debate over the link between the supply and demand of fossil fuels and their price. Spoiler alert – according to the Morrison

by Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Financial Review, 04 February 2020] Scott Morrison loves to say that Australia is on track to ‘meet and beat’ our climate targets, but he’s a lot quieter about where that track leads. Admittedly, saying he plans to double Australian coal exports does provide some big hints. If all

by Richard Denniss[Originally published on Guardian Australia, 22 January 2020] Would the prime minister rule out protecting Australians from terrorism if it cost a single job? Would he promise that no nurse, teacher or other public servant would be sacked in pursuit of a budget surplus? Of course not. But when it comes to preventing

by Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Financial Review, 21 January 2020] Scott Morrison loves to say that Australia is on track to ‘meet and beat’ our climate targets, but he’s a lot quieter about where that track leads. Admittedly, saying he plans to double Australian coal exports does provide some big hints. If all

by Richard Denniss[Originally published by the Guardian Australia] If only Scott Morrison was as willing to spend money preventing climate change as he is to spend it on disaster repair. The idea that a “stitch in time saves nine” and “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” was once central to the conservative approach

by Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Financial Review, 07 Jan 2020] If Australia and other countries meet their current emission reduction targets bushfires are still going to get much, much worse. Over the past century, humans have caused the world to warm by one degree, but if Australia and the rest of the world

by Fergus Green & Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Financial Review, 26 November 2019] The amount of fossil fuels that companies and governments around the world expect to extract over the coming decade is startlingly out of kilter with the imperative to maintain a stable climate system – and Australia is a large part

by Richard Denniss[Originally published on the Guardian Australia, 13 November 2019] It’s not just climate protesters who powerful voices are trying to silence in Australia, it’s anyone who wants to talk about the bigger-picture causes to the problems Australia is facing. In modern Australia it has become “inappropriate” to talk about why our rivers are

by Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Financial Review, 11 November 2019] Despite Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s best efforts, Australia has a target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions in 31 years’ time. His suggestions that Labor’s renewable energy target of 50 per cent by 2030 is an economic “wrecking ball” is as pointless and wrong

by Richard Denniss[Originally published on Guardian Australia, 30 October 2019] The Government’s top two economic advisers are in stark disagreement about something straight forward: whether the Australian economy would benefit from a bigger budget deficit or not. The Governor of the Reserve Bank says he is running out of room to cut interest rates any

by Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Financial Review, 30 October 2019] After decades of pursuing free trade at the expense of local jobs, the conservatives in the Coalition — aping Donald Trump and Boris Johnson — have decided to pivot to populism. Gone is the rhetoric of Alexander Downer and Julie Bishop about how

by Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Financial Review, 16 October 2019] When Barnaby Joyce starts making more sense about inequality than Scott Morrison, you know the Coalition is heading for choppy waters. In July, the former Nationals leader suggested that the unemployment benefit needed to rise significantly. “Certainly $555 or thereabouts a fortnight is difficult, especially

by Richard Denniss[Originally published on The Guardian Australia, 02 October 2019] Teams full of similar people underperform. While sameness can create cohesion, cookie-cutter teams can’t successfully compete with diverse teams that can draw on a broad range of talents, perspectives and insights. At least that’s what empirical data from lefty organisations including McKinsey, Credit Suisse and the IMF have to

by Richard Denniss[Originally Published in the Australian Financial Review, 17 September 2019] The Prime Minister has called on business groups to stop “virtue signalling” and to focus on the main game. Hear, hear! And not before time. For too long business peak bodies have concerned themselves with symbolism and ignored economics. It’s time to get

by Richard Denniss[Originally Published on Guardian Australia, 18 September 2019] In the same week that the prime minister told chief executives not to get “distracted” by issues like climate change, his National Party colleagues declared war on almond milk. Talk about focusing on the big issues. Needless to say, most business leaders paid as much attention to

by Richard Denniss[Originally published on The Guardian Australia, 04 September 2019] Are free markets more important than free speech? We aren’t supposed to ask such questions because each of those libertarian goals was supposed to reinforce the other. But they clearly don’t, so it’s time to take a closer look at what “freedom” really means

by Richard Denniss[Originally published in the Australian Financial Review, 02 September 2019] Neoliberalism has made Australia more fragile, fractious and open to foreign influence. We talk a lot about the rise of Chinese influence but there’s less discussion about the decline in our national self-confidence. Despite living in the world’s 14th largest economy with some

by Richard Denniss[Originally published on The Guardian Australia, 21 Augustr 2019] Australia isn’t transitioning away from extracting fossil fuels, it is doubling down on them. That’s right – even though Australia is already the third largest fossil fuel exporter in the world, the federal government still wants to double our coal exports, drill for oil in