Where is our public inquiry on AUKUS? | Between the Lines
The Wrap with Matt Grudnoff
What we know at The Australia Institute is that change is difficult and hard fought. We have made real progress with Labor supporting these reforms to capital gains tax, negative gearing, and trusts.
But the change hasn’t passed the parliament yet, and vested interests are going to continue to push the Labor Government to water down or scrap these important reforms.
I have covered over a dozen Federal Budgets, and this is the first time I have felt optimistic that housing affordability will get better not worse. Young people deserve to be able to buy a home of their own and have the security that comes with that.
Let’s not let them down.
Photo: AAP Image/Jason O’Brien
P.S. Australia Institute research and analysis cuts through the spin and exposes bad policy, as well as who benefits from it. We can only do this because we’re independent, non-partisan and funded by people like you. We’ve just launched our End of Financial Year Appeal, and your donation today will power us to continue championing good ideas and holding vested interests and governments accountable. Thank you.
— Matt Grudnoff is Senior Economist at The Australia Institute
The Big Stories
There’s nothing more fair dinkum than getting a fair return for Australia’s gas
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called on The Australia Institute to be “fair dinkum” about its calls for a 25% gas tax.
Last week, The Australia Institute took out full-page advertisements in newspapers around the country to remind the Prime Minister that there’s nothing more fair dinkum than getting a fair price for Australian gas to pay for essential services like hospitals, schools, public housing and supporting Australians living with disabilities.
The advertisements remind readers that Australian nurses pay more tax than the gas industry pays.
SA fracking ban backflip “senseless and unnecessary”
Last week The Australia Institute took out a full-page advertisement in today’s Adelaide Advertiser to remind South Australians that Premier Peter Malinauskas’ decision to overturn the state’s ban on gas fracking is not only irresponsible, but also unnecessary.
Co-CEO of The Australia Institute, Dr Richard Denniss, said everyone from former Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to current One Nation MPs in South Australia understand there is no need to extract more gas from South Australia.
“Australia has never had a gas shortage. What we have is a gas export problem,” Dr Denniss said.
No wonder the rich are complaining. New research reveals that revenue equivalent to a quarter of Australia’s GDP flows through trusts.
With changes to the way trusts are taxed soon to be introduced to parliament, new research by The Australia Institute reveals that revenue equivalent to almost a quarter of GDP now flows through trusts.
The analysis conservatively estimates that family trusts alone cost the Commonwealth budget $4.9 billion a year in foregone revenue.
The report uses Treasury data which shows that trusts are overwhelmingly used by the wealthiest Australians: the top 10 percent of income earners receive 63 percent of trust distributions, while the bottom 10 percent receive just 1%.
NACC resignation an opportunity for much-needed fresh start
The resignation of Commissioner Paul Brereton is an opportunity for the National Anti-Corruption Commission to make a fresh start under new leadership, according to transparency experts.
“The National Anti-Corruption Commission was founded three years ago with great hope that it would expose federal wrongdoing, but it has so far failed to live up to its promise,” said Bill Browne, Director of The Australia Institute’s Democracy & Accountability Program.
“The next Anti-Corruption Commissioner will have to rebuild public trust. This is best done in the open, so Australians can see the NACC at work – but the existing restrictions on public hearings make that difficult.”
Australia deepens AUKUS gamble amid fresh scrutiny
Australia’s $368 billion AUKUS pact is facing fresh scrutiny as the Albanese government continues to deepen its investment in a program critics warn may never deliver promised nuclear-powered submarines.
Defence spending continues to rise, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers’s fifth budget allocating $62.6 billion to defence projects in 2026-27 alone, and an additional $53 billion over the next decade.
Notably, it included an additional $431 million over four years for the Australian Submarine Agency to manage the AUKUS deal, increasing its resources by roughly one-third.
The Win
Keating backs CGT reforms, says Howard changes made house prices “blast off”
Former Prime Minister Paul Keating has stepped into the debate on changes to the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) announced in last week’s budget with a full-throated defence of the Government’s proposals.
In a statement to media outlets, Mr Keating noted that he was the Treasurer who introduced capital gains tax in 1985 because “the takeover merchants were taking over industrial companies, closing down the businesses, selling off the assets, taking the profits free of any taxation”.
He noted that when the CGT was introduced the gains were taxed “at the same tax rates that employees paid on ordinary incomes though importantly, washing the inflation from the calculation – taxing only the ‘real’ gain.”
The Bin
Doubling down on secrecy. Government delays releasing FOI documents about FOI changes to avoid scrutiny in Senate Estimates
In an ironic act of secrecy, a Freedom Of Information (FOI) request by The Australia Institute has exposed how the Attorney General’s Department deliberately avoided scrutiny of the government’s bungled attempt to change the nation’s FOI laws.
Last September, The Australia Institute launched an FOI request for more information about the proposed changes, which would have allowed the government to deny requests to documents with a remote connection to cabinet and introduce a new charge for lodging a request.
The government had sought to justify the changes by claiming the system was being bogged down with frivolous requests generated by artificial intelligence.
The Quote
“Blink twice if you need help, Prime Minister.”
– Louise Morris, Advocate at The Australia Institute, on the increasing pressure facing the Albanese Government to introduce a gas export tax.
Podcasts
How about we just tax gas? Examining One Nation’s gas policy | Dollars & Sense
On this episode of Dollars & Sense, Greg Jericho and Elinor Johnston-Leek discuss Pauline Hanson’s gas policy announcement, the failure at the heart of Australia’s employment services system, and what the latest inflation data could mean for interest rates.
Listen now:
Online gambling “reshaping a whole generation” as government reforms fall well short | Follow the Money
On this episode of Follow the Money, Martin Thomas from the Alliance for Gambling Reform and Morgan Harrington from The Australia Institute join Ebony Bennett to discuss how Australians came to have the biggest per capita gambling losses in the world, how online sports betting is turbocharging the damage caused by gambling, and the government’s straw man argument about “balance” when it comes to reform.
Listen now:
Australia gambles on AUKUS as Trump rides Iran merry-go-round | After America
On this episode of After America, Guardian Australia journalist Ben Doherty joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss the likelihood of the Australia ever receiving a nuclear-powered submarine, the “dangerously undemocratic” secrecy around key elements of the AUKUS agreement, and Australia’s significantly changed strategic environment.
Listen now:
Fair dinkum! The Prime Minister called us out over a gas tax | Dollars & Sense
On this episode of Dollars & Sense, Greg Jericho and Angus Blackman discuss why Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Australia Institute needs to get “fair dinkum” about gas exports, the post-budget meme-wars over capital gains tax, and the “death tax” scare campaign.
Listen now:
What’s On
Politics in the Pub: Rich Kid Poor Kid
Wednesday 3 June | 6:30pm AEST | Verity Lane Market & Online
Join Jane Caro AM and Dr Richard Denniss, discussing Jane’s new Vantage Point Essay, Rich Kid Poor Kid: The battle for public education.
For decades, Australia has been pumping money into private education while public schools struggle. Whether it’s crumbling classrooms, overworked teachers or cuts to music and STEM programs, the system is reaching breaking point. At the same time, with higher rates of private school attendance and the marketisation of education, parents have increased anxiety when faced with the decision of where to send their child. The current system contributes to greater inequity, decreased integration of different communities and even traffic jams as parents are more likely to drive their kids to a private school further from their house.
Copies of Rich Kid Poor Kid: The battle for public education will also be available for purchase on the night, or can be purchased online on The Australia Institute website.
Tune into the livestream here.
In the dark on AUKUS: Where is our public inquiry?
Thursday 4 June | 11am AEST | Online
Australia is in the dark on AUKUS. The UK has had a review, the US has had a review, but not Australia.
Australian foreign and security policy has long been hidden behind closed doors – it makes Australia more vulnerable, and compromises our ability to make independent decisions.
66 per cent of Australians support a Parliamentary Inquiry into the AUKUS security agreement, according to polling commissioned by The Australia Institute.
Over 40,000 people have signed The Australia Institute’s petition calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the deal.
Join Leanne Minshull, co-CEO of The Australia Institute, and Dr Emma Shortis, Director of International and Security Affairs, as they discuss the need for public scrutiny of the AUKUS pact.
Politics in the Pub: Safeguarding the fossil fuel industry?
Wednesday 24 June | 6:30pm AEST | Verity Lane Market & Online
As the Federal Government prepares to review the Safeguard Mechanism in 2026, major questions abound about whether Australia’s flagship climate and emissions policy is reducing pollution – or just allowing fossil fuel companies to keep polluting through so-called carbon offsets.
Join Associate Professor Fergus Green, University College London and Dr Richard Denniss for a timely Politics in the Pub discussion exploring the future of climate policy and the growing controversy surrounding carbon credits and offset markets that the Safeguard Mechanism relies upon.
Tune into the livestream here.
Between the Lines Newsletter
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