Australia’s big choices | Between the Lines
The Wrap with Amy Remeikis
The world is at a crossroads and so far, Australia is reacting by sticking its head in the sand and pretending nothing is changing.
Leaders from across the globe are about to meet at the 80th UN General Assembly, in a nation which has cancelled the visas of Palestinian Authority delegates, is disappearing people off its streets, carrying out extrajudicial death sentences in its waters, and openly threatening war.
These are not normal times. Pretending they are, is part of what got us here in the first place.
The meeting will kick off on Tuesday, when the incoming president, Annalena Baerbock, a former German foreign affairs minister, will outline her agenda which runs until September 8 next year. She is taking the reins at a time where the UN director at the International Crisis Group, Richard Gowan, says “illusions have been rather stripped away” about the world, and how people feel about its leaders. “It’s now very, very clear that both financially and politically, the UN faces huge crises,” he said.
“Now the question is, is there a way through that?”
And indeed, what role does Australia play in that?
Australia is part of the nations who have agreed to give conditional recognition to Palestine, but it remains unclear at this point what that will look like at the meeting.
A lot remains unclear when it comes to Australia’s positioning. We still don’t know why Richard Marles made a whirlwind dash to the United States, what we have agreed to when it comes to AUKUS, or why our government remains so stubbornly committed to a strategic arrangement that benefits everyone but Australia.
Australia is also still fighting to hold the Cop31 UN climate meeting (which, with Türkiye refusing to back down is one of the reasons Anthony Albanese is keen to attend the coming UNGA – to resolve it) but you also have to wonder why we are so desperate to hold the meeting when we show no indication of lifting our own climate ambitions.
Australia is still to release the National Climate Risk Assessment – a report which outlines the end of life as we know it, and which will set the scene for the 2035 climate target. Both will come now that the Pacific Island Forum has been held, but given Chris Bowen is already testing the waters to not legislate the target shows you exactly the world we are living in. The government has blamed the domestic political situation for not wanting to legislate the target, but the truth is, the domestic political situation gives the Albanese government all the space in the world to be ambitious.
But it has proven time and time again that ambition isn’t on the agenda of doing the least it can do – and with the Coalition (if indeed, it still exists in this form) unlikely to hold power for the better half of the next decade, you can only conclude that Labor doesn’t want to legislate this target – because it will be responsible for meeting it.
And that seems to be a responsibility the Albanese government doesn’t want to meet.
Which takes us back to the responsibility of the upcoming UNGA. Australia has a choice. The world order is remapping itself and what was, is no longer what is. Australia can either recognise that – and choose its own path of self direction – where it retains strong relationships with the United States and other fading powers, but also forges new relations with the emerging super power, China – or it can choose a path of self-destruction, remaining stubbornly hitched to an empire intent on burning itself down.
So we will be watching this coming meeting closely – for how Australia reacts, what it ignores, and what direction it takes moving forward. There is no more time to pretend the world isn’t changing. Choosing to ignore we don’t have agency – and opportunity – to create our own path is not just bad politics, it’s consigning us to the idea there is only one future.
There isn’t. It’s ours to forge. If only we had the bravery.
With your support, we’ll keep making that clear.
Take care of you. Amy x
— Amy Remeikis is the Chief Political Analyst at the Australia Institute
The Big Stories
Local governments face soaring cost of climate change
The insured costs of climate change are now 12 times higher than 20 years ago, while local government revenue is only three times higher, new research from the Australia Institute revealed.
The algal bloom that has devastated sea life in South Australia has already cost $28 million of taxpayers’ money. It’s just the most recent example of the many dimensions of the climate crisis and the costs that will be inflicted on communities. And it’s why the Australia Institute has been calling for a National Climate Disaster Fund, paid for by a levy on fossil fuel exports.
Rather than communities being forced to pay the escalating costs of repair work after fires, floods, and storms, we could put a climate compensation levy on gas, coal, and oil exports. A levy of $30 per tonne of carbon pollution caused by coal, oil, and gas production would have raised $44 billion this year alone.
Big fossil fuel exporters are making a killing from climate change. It’s time they started paying for it.
Corporatisation of universities results in students paying more for less
If you read the AFR this week, you might have spotted this opinion piece from a former Vice Chancellor, declaring “Unis must be run like a business, whether academics like it or not.”
The author bemoans how hard it is to run a university, and how sacking staff is often their only option left.
“The truth is, we cannot have world-class universities on the cheap. If we want institutions that produce cutting-edge research, train skilled graduates and contribute to national life, we must allow them to raise the money they need.”
We agree that universities need proper funding. But surely we need a rethink if the focus on “raising money” results in skyrocketing student fees and sponsorships from big polluters, all while paying VCs some of the highest pay packets in the world, and spending hundreds of millions of dollars on external consultants, marketing, and travel.
Corporatisation is the problem, not the solution.
While universities might run like businesses, they are not applicable to the same standards of consumer law that businesses are. Nor are they subjected to the scrutiny that the public sector receives from Parliament.
In the Canberra Times, Richard Denniss explained that “the leaders of Australian universities are enjoying the best of both worlds when it comes to the way they are regulated, but students are getting the worst.”
“If we want to go further down the neoliberal path of treating students like customers, then we need to make sure they have the protections a customer expects.
“Or if we want to pull back from the (failed) experiment of running universities a bit like businesses then we need to quickly clarify our expectations of these public institutions and ensure the transparency and accountability to Parliament meets community expectations.”
Proposed changes to Freedom Of Information scheme don’t add up
The Government’s proposal to limit FOI requests by charging fees instead of fixing the broken system misdiagnoses the problem.
“The amount governments spend processing a single FOI request has more than doubled since John Howard was Prime Minister. Successive governments have made the FOI process slow and arbitrary, and now are blaming applicants for the fact that the process is expensive,” said Bill Browne, Director of the Australia Institute’s Democracy & Accountability Program.
“When FOI decisions are reviewed, it’s often the government that got it wrong. Why should citizens pay when it is the government that is keeping information from them? If the Albanese Government is serious about improving productivity, it can start with its own freedom of information scheme, which is half as efficient as it used to be.”
The Win
Victoria tables treaty legislation in parliament
Victoria has taken a significant step of reconciliation and became the first state or territory in Australia to introduce a treaty to its parliament.
“Treaty offers us a chance to reshape the story of this country,” said Ngarra Murray, Co-chair of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria.
Treaty, along with Truth and Voice, is one of the three pillars of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, an invitation for reconciliation built on the largest consensus of First Nations peoples in Australian history.
The Bin
North West Shelf approval expected imminently
After the Government’s conditional approval of Woodside’s North West Shelf gas project in May, Woodside was given 10 days to respond to the conditions. Now, 15 weeks later, the Government looks set to give the green light for the gas export hub to operate until 2070.
The sticking point in the negotiations had been strict limits on nitrogen dioxide emissions to protect the ancient Indigenous Murujuga rock art.
Woodside said that these limits were “not technically feasible.”
Now, the media is reporting “significant progress” had been made on the negotiations and final approval could be imminent, subject to new conditions.
At the time of writing, it remains to be seen whether the Government has caved in its negotiations around acceptable levels of emissions. Regardless, extending the operation of this gas export terminal for another 45 years represents a disaster on five fronts.
The Quote
“Going down the fossil fuel production expansion is an internationally wrongful act under international law. So that’s something that Australia should consider.”
– Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu Minister for Climate Change, when asked about Australia’s intention to approve an extension of the North West Shelf gas export facility.
Podcasts
Even war must have limits | After America
On this episode of After America, Maskym Dotsenko and Illya Kletskovskyy, the Director General and Deputy Director General of the Ukrainian Red Cross, join Allan Behm to discuss the impact of the Russian invasion on Ukrainians, the role of the Red Cross in armed conflict, and the importance of international humanitarian law in saving lives and reducing suffering.
Listen now:
No right to know? | Follow the Money
The government’s proposed changes to freedom of information laws represent a “serious attack” on Australia’s democracy, according to former Senator Rex Patrick.
He joined Bill Browne and Ebony Bennett to discuss the failing freedom of information system and why the proposed changes could make government less transparent – not more.
Listen now:
Robodebt and super tax: Rob the poor, feed the rich? | Dollars & Sense
When our most vulnerable are treated with suspicion, and our wealthiest get massive tax cuts, what does that say about our priorities?
On this episode of Dollars & Sense, Matt tells Elinor about the massive class action lawsuit settlement the Government made with the victims of Robodebt, Labor potentially getting cold feet on superannuation tax concession reform, and what they both tell us about how Australia views our poorest and wealthiest people.
Listen now:
What’s On
Save Tuvalu, Save the World | Documentary screening and Q+A
Sydney 23 Sept | Canberra 24 Sept | Melbourne 25 Sept
This original documentary from The Australia Institute takes viewers to the front line of the destruction that climate change is causing. In the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, sea water is being pushed up through the land, destroying traditional crops and making water unfit to drink.
This documentary presented by Walkley Award winning journalist and former ABC 4 Corners reporter Stephen Long, Save Tuvalu, Save the World, will be screened, with a Q&A featuring Stephen Long and climate campaigner and Tuvalu resident Gitty K Yee to follow.
Bernie Fraser Oration
Tuesday, 28 October | Canberra
Join us at the inaugural Bernie Fraser Oration, delivered by its namesake, Bernie Fraser, who lays claim to being the only person to have led the two main pillars of economic policy management in Australia, the RBA and Treasury.
As a prelude to The Australia Institute’s 2025 Revenue Summit, Bernie Fraser will lay out his ‘big picture’ view of global trends and how they relate to Australian financial markets and the economy in general. While financial leaders typically favour conservatism, Bernie Fraser doesn’t hold back and will present his ideas for raising revenue and detail Australia’s desperate need for a new wave of brave leaders.
Revenue Summit 2025
Wednesday 29 October | Australian Parliament House
Australians need a tax system that fits the needs of our community for a more equitable society. After this year’s historic election win, the ALP government has a unique opportunity to reform the taxation system and set a bold agenda, or as Anthony Albanese himself calls it – show some “progressive patriotism”.
This year the Australia Institute’s Revenue Summit brings together economists and leading experts to discuss revenue options to meet Australia’s spending needs. The 2025 Revenue Summit is an opportunity to contextualise debt, explore potential new means of revenue, challenge paradigms and reassess public spending priorities.
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