How Inequality Creates Insecurity | Between the Lines
The Wrap with Dr Emma Shortis
More often than not, Australia’s relationship with the United States highlights and reinforces the worst in our politics, and the worst in theirs.
Here at home, the week began with some shamefully racist politicking by federal parliamentarians. A “hardline” Liberal Party immigration proposal was “leaked” to the Australian media. Straight from the Trump playbook, the proposal mooted banning immigrants from 37 regions, deporting 100,000 asylum seekers and visa holders, and even vetting the social media of aspiring migrants. To followers of American politics, that might sound very familiar.
Photo: AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi
— Dr Emma Shortis is the Director of The Australia Institute’s International & Security Affairs Program
The Big Stories
New poll shows support for gas export tax across political spectrum
New polling has revealed that One Nation and Greens voters strongly support a 25 per cent tax on gas exports. The idea was suggested by the Australian Council of Trade Unions last year, and this polling confirms there is support across party lines.
Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz: Australia ‘seems foolish’ not to properly tax gas giants
Nobel Prize-winning economist Professor Joseph Stiglitz has advised Australia to “auction off your resources for the highest value. Get the highest value from whoever can extract your resources.”
David Pocock is right: more tax is raised from beer than from petroleum resource rent tax (PRRT)
Senator David Pocock has produced viral social media content claiming that Australia’s beer tax raises more revenue than the gas industry pays in Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT). Can more public money really come from beer tax than gas tax?
‘Rage, paranoia, kleptomania: the future of art, culture and technology
“The future of art, culture and technology and the future of humanity are intertwined – but that’s not how most people working in the field understand their influence. This was the key insight from last week’s Future of Art, Culture And Technology symposium – or more aptly, FACT,” writes Esther Anatolitis in The Point.
Adelaide gets its bit of AUKUS
“On Sunday 15 February, Prime Minister Albanese and Defence Industry Minister Conroy, with South Australian Premier Malinauskas in tow, launched the new AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine construction site at Osborne, to the west of Adelaide. Defence Minister Marles was conspicuously inconspicuous,” writes Allan Behm in The Point.
Available Now – What We Owe the Water (Vantage Point Issue 4)
From the flood-soaked streets of Lismore to the rising waters in the Pacific, the effects of climate change are here. Australia stands at a profound crossroads. It can continue to fuel the climate crisis as one of the world’s largest fossil fuel exporters or it can become a true partner to its Pacific neighbours and lead the transition toward a fossil-free future.
Written by Kumi Naidoo, What We Owe the Water imagines a future where Australia stands as a courageous ally using its resources and power to build a better future rather than staying as a climate pariah, and where the Pacific becomes the lighthouse guiding the way.
The Win
ANU study ranks The Australia Institute among top 20 organisations shaping Australia’s climate policy
ANU research has identified 20 organisations responsible for the majority of climate policy activity in Australia, with The Australia Institute among this small group of influential voices.
The list includes industry groups and fossil fuel producers alongside research and advocacy organisations. The Australia Institute plays a pivotal role in both pushing for stronger climate action and challenging the power of those who benefit from the climate crisis!
The Bin
Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Australia
“[Last week] Australia rolled out the red carpet for a world leader who has been accused of inciting genocide, while NSW police were caught on camera bashing people protesting against genocide.
“Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit was always going to deepen divisions within Australia, not heal them. Social cohesion can’t be built on a bedrock of police violence, criminalising protest, silencing dissent and ignoring international law,” writes Ebony Bennett in The Canberra Times.
The Quote
“Lightweight Libs have Labor laughing all the way to an early election.”
– Amy Remeikis, Chief Political Analyst at The Australia Institute, on why Labor could be set for victory should an early election be called.
Podcasts
Joseph Stiglitz on super profits, capital gains and why corporate tax is good for democracy | Follow the Money
Nobel Prize-winning economist Professor Joseph Stiglitz joins Ebony Bennett and Dr Richard Denniss to discuss why Australia should get a better return for its natural resources, the power of corporations to mark up prices and push down wages, and why democracies should collect more corporate tax.
Listen now:
The “president of peace” is helping revive the nuclear arms race | After America
Jon B Wolfsthal, former Special Assistant to President Obama for National Security Affairs, joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss the expiry of the New START nuclear weapons treaty between the United States and Russia, AUKUS and Australia’s nuclear capabilities, and why “nuclear weapons are back with avengeance”.
Listen now:
Real wages are down, but apparently inflation is all your fault | Dollars & Sense
Greg Jericho examines why Coles is in court over its pricing, whether it’s time to panic with government debt set to hit $1 trillion, and the role of corporate profits in driving inflation.
Listen now:
What’s On
Stolen Man on Stolen Land with Tyree Barnette
Friday, 27 February | Online
Join author Tyree Barnette talking about his new book, Stolen Man on Stolen Land.
When Tyree Barnette moved to Sydney from North Carolina, he knew little of his new home. On first arriving, he was pleasantly surprised: the police treated him with respect and Black American culture seemed to be widely admired and celebrated.
But in time, Tyree saw the darker side to Australia’s relationship with African American culture – a relationship that often tipped from admiration into fetishisation. The undercurrents of racism in Australia came into view, as did the ongoing struggles of Indigenous Australians against injustice.
This is the perspective that has been missing from the race discussion in Australia, one that considers how privilege and race can shift across time and borders. Stolen Man on Stolen Land is both a love letter to Australian multiculturalism and a clear-eyed exploration of its successes and its failings.
An Afternoon with Yanis Varoufakis and Friends
Sunday, 1 March | Adelaide
Join us for An Afternoon with Yanis Varoufakis and Friends, featuring Yanis Varoufakis, Dr Bob Brown, Professor Clare Wright, Hannah Ferguson and Dominic Guerrera.
The event will centre on a panel discussion with Yanis Varoufakis and award-winning historian and author, Professor Clare Wright, hosted by The Australia Institute’s Director of International & Security Affairs, Dr Emma Shortis.
This will be preceded by a panel discussing culture, community, and the stories we tell, featuring environmentalist, doctor, campaigner, and former Parliamentary Leader of the Australian Greens, Dr Bob Brown. Bob is the founder of the Bob Brown Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that works to protect nature through direct action, legal defence, and science. He will be joined by Hannah Ferguson, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cheek Media Co., and Dominic Guerrera, Ngarrindjeri and Kaurna poet, writer, artist and curator, recipient of the 2021 Oodgeroo Noonuccal Indigenous Poetry Prize and 2024 David Unaipon Prize. This panel will be hosted by the Australia Institute’s Director of Strategic Partnerships, Noah Schultz-Byard.
Books from Australia Institute Press and the authors attending will be available for purchase at the venue. A book signing will follow the event.
[Webinar] In Conversation with Yanis Varoufakis
Wednesday, 4 March | Online
Join Yanis Varoufakis and Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director of The Australia Institute, for an exclusive webinar on Wednesday 4 March at 11am AEDT.
An Evening with Yanis Varoufakis and Friends
Thursday, 5 March | Sydney
Join us at An Evening with Yanis Varoufakis and Friends, featuring Yanis Varoufakis, Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah and Leanne Minshull, for a wide-ranging conversation about resistance, courage and social fracture.
Yanis Varoufakis will discuss Raise Your Soul, his most personal book yet, tracing his political awakening through the extraordinary lives of five women against the backdrop of the West’s tumultuous history from 1924 to the present. Leanne Minshull reflects on disruption and why bravery alone is not enough in her essay in A Time for Bravery: What Happens When Australia Chooses Courage?, while Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah explores silence, privilege and social fracture in her novel, Discipline.
All three books will be available for purchase, and a book signing will follow the event.
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