Negative Gearing, Dodgy Specials, and New Coal Mines
Labor gearing up for a change?
28 September 2024
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The Wrap with Ebony Bennett
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek approved three new coal mine extensions this week, completely undermining the government’s credibility on climate change.
At the same time Foreign Minister Penny Wong was at the United Nations General Assembly talking about sea level rise being a threat to the Pacific, Plibersek was granting approval for three massive coal mine extensions – one of the key sources of sea level rise – to operate until nearly 2070. Together, the three coal mines approved will produce more than 1 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over their lifetimes.
As world leaders are gathered in New York for Climate Week, let’s remember the United Nations, the International Energy Agency and the world’s scientists have been clear about what’s required to avoid dangerous climate change: no new gas and coal mines or extensions.
That’s why the Australia Institute united a group of Australia’s leading climate and environment organisations to publish an open letter in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times this week. The letter calls on the federal government to tell Australians when it will stop approving new coal, oil and gas projects and end native forest logging.
It’s hard to argue the clean energy ‘transition’ has begun while approvals for new fossil fuel projects continues.
You can add your name to the open letter here.
— Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director of the Australia Institute
— Ebony Bennett, Deputy Director of the Australia Institute
The Big Stories
Gearing up for a change
With reports that Labor could be considering changes to negative gearing, a small number of property moguls have gotten very fired up that their wealth accumulation scheme could be limited.
“Negative gearing is basically a legalised tax rort,” Greg Jericho explained on the Project. But crucially, the capital gains tax discount must also be looked at.
The combination of negative gearing and the 50% capital gains tax discount has worked to push up house prices, well above wages.
ACCC supermarket allegations could be just the “tip of the iceberg”
The ACCC launched legal action against Coles and Woolworths this week for allegedly misleading consumers through dodgy discount claims — but the bad behaviour may not stop there.
Coles and Woolworths also seem to take turns offering items on sale, Australia Institute research has revealed, showing that they are more concerned with protecting their market power than competing against each other.
“This is not what competition looks like,” said Greg Jericho, Chief Economist at the Australia Institute.
Nuclear too costly for Australians
The IEEFA Institute has calculated how much nuclear would add to Australians’ power bills: a whopping $665 per year of extra costs.
Our research found that, for the vast majority of Australians, they are not interested. Just 4% of Australians would be willing to pay an additional $5o0 to have nuclear power.
The Value of Independence: José Ramos-Horta, President of Timor-Leste
Is Australia’s independence at risk?
The Australia Institute is delighted to bring the President of Timor-Leste and a Nobel Peace Laureate, José Ramos-Horta, to Australia as part of our 30th anniversary celebrations.
José Ramos-Horta has dedicated his life to fighting for Timorese independence and has direct experience building a democracy from scratch.
Join us at the Sydney Opera House on 8th October for an evening of conversation about what Australia can learn from Timor Leste’s fight for independence, and what is at risk when a nation loses geopolitical autonomy.
George Monbiot: Neoliberalism, Nature and Negative Consequences
It is clear that neoliberal thinking has failed Australians, and that privatisation of essential services has overwhelmingly benefitted shareholders, not the public.
We were delighted to be joined by George Monbiot, renowned journalist and author, for a webinar with Polly Hemming, Director of the Australia Institute’s Climate and Energy program.
Watch the recording:
Transparency Summit 2024: Secrecy is not security
A lack of transparency and integrity lies near the heart of every political issue facing Australia. Flimsy excuses obscure even flimsier decision-making. So, how can we reverse a culture of secrecy?
Join our inaugural Transparency Summit in Canberra. Register now to secure your seat for a series of discussions about the future of transparency in Australia.
The Win
Stealthing is now criminalised in Queensland
This week, Queensland’s new sexual consent laws came into effect, including making stealthing a crime: the non-consensual removal of a condom during sex.
Research from the Australia Institute in 2022 showed that just 15% of Australians were familiar with the term, and more than half of Australians (56%) did not know the legal status of stealthing in their state or territory.
This aligns Queensland with NSW, Victoria, the ACT, South Australia and Tasmania, where it is also illegal.
The Bin
“Shocking”: Government approves three new coal mines
The approval of three new coal mines in the Hunter Valley, during a rapidly escalating climate crisis, is shocking given the federal government’s stated commitment to climate action.
This decision will extend the operating life of these coal projects into the 2060s.
“The fact that these new coal mines can be approved, despite the government’s Safeguard Mechanism being in place, shows just how inadequate the policy is.”
Rod Campbell, research director at the Australia Institute, joined 10 News First to discuss.
The Quote
“I cannot see the logic of AUKUS at all…How we can commit so much money to a really doubtful operation, I don’t know.”
– Don Watson, author of High Noon: Trump, Harris and America on the Brink, speaking to Dr Emma Shortis on After America.
Podcasts
Offsetting into oblivion with George Monbiot | Follow the Money
By relying on uncertain and unethical carbon offsets to combat the climate crisis, society is setting itself on a path to destruction.
George Monbiot, author, Guardian columnist and environmental campaigner, joins Polly Hemming to discuss the impact of neoliberalism on our climate, the folly of carbon offsets, and why “bollocks” incrementalism won’t lead to systemic change.
Listen now:
The church of Trump with Don Watson | After America
Author and former speechwriter Don Watson joins us to discuss political violence, America’s deep divisions and the “mad” AUKUS agreement.
Listen now:
Is the government gearing up for a housing change? | Dollars & Sense
Despite claims that it’d lead to some sort of housing armageddon, reforming negative gearing and the capital gains tax concessions would make the system fairer.
On this episode, we Greg Jericho and Hayden Starr discuss the allegations of dodgy conduct against the big supermarkets and the government’s apparent interest in negative gearing and capital gains tax reform.
Listen now:
What’s On
Sydney: A Pathway out of Native Forest Logging with Dr Sophie Scamps
New South Wales continues to delay the inevitable end of native forest logging: an industry that is a relatively small employer, subsidised by the taxpayer, and one that causes climate change and habitat loss.
Policy School: How parliaments share power when no single party has majority control
In this webinar, the Australia Institute’s Democracy & Accountability Director Bill Browne explains the history of power-sharing parliaments in Australia, how they work and why voters keep electing them in defiance of the warnings.
Webinar: A Periodic Tale: My Sciencey Memoir with Dr Karl Kruszelnicki
Join the fabulous Dr Karl Kruszelnicki to discuss A Periodic Tale: My Sciencey Memoir, our Australia’s Biggest Book Club book for October 2024.
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