Articles & Opinions

Melbourne houses

The four things (mostly) missing from the major parties housing platforms

by Jack Thrower

The housing crisis continues to grip Australia and it’s a central part of this election campaign. Unfortunately, while both major parties have made housing policies key parts of their election platforms their policies mostly tinker around the edges and fail in four key ways. They do not address Australia’s distortionary, expensive, and regressive tax concessions

Off the Charts

Uni Canberra is spending big on things not needed, while cutting staff to save money

by Joshua Black

Australia’s beleaguered university sector is never far from the headlines these days. Former Labor leader and current University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Bill Shorten probably doesn’t envy his former ministerial colleagues who are currently on the campaign trail, but nonetheless, he’s in the news today. The Canberra Times reports that Shorten is announcing a new voluntary

All Charts

Between the Lines Newsletter

Looking forward, looking back | Between the Lines

The Wrap with Amy Remeikis In October 1980, before almost half the people voting in this election were born, Ronald Reagan posed what became one of the defining questions of modern politics. Are you better off today than you were four years ago? Reagan would go on to beat Carter and along with Margaret Thatcher,

The biggest stories and the best analysis from the team at the Australia Institute, delivered to your inbox every fortnight.

Coal Mine Tracker

Since May 2022, the Federal Environment Minister has approved 10 new coal mines or expansions.

There are 22 additional proposals for new or expanded coal mines currently waiting for Federal Government approval.

If approved, the lifetime emissions from all 32 projects would be equivalent to keeping all of Australia’s coal-fired power stations operating for an additional 95 years.

×95 years

Hunter Valley Mine Watch

No new coal mines are needed in the Hunter Valley. Avoiding dangerous climate change requires keeping coal in the ground, and with the world moving away from coal as an energy source new coal mines will simply compete with existing coal mines for a declining market.

Total coal production gap

Actual
150
Approved
241.5
million tonnes per year
Production gap
91.5
million tonnes per year

Rehabilitation cost shortfall

Bond
$3.3
Est. cost
$11.5
billion
Shortfall
$8.2
billion

HeatWatch

HeatWatch puts current Australian research about temperature increases due to global warming into context, using data from the Bureau of Meteorology and the CSIRO.

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