The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,002 Australians about their attitudes towards their favourite music artists’ potential involvement in various forms of climate action. The results show that very few Australians have participated in any kind of climate action in the past 12 months – less than 20% in most cases, and

Five news polls conducted for The Australia Institute reveal an overwhelming majority of Australians want a gas export tax to fund improvements in services like health and aged care.

Australia’s wealth of natural gas reserves mean that the Commonwealth could be benefitting from the high prices caused by conflicts in Ukraine and Middle East. If a 25% tax on Australia’s natural gas exports had been enacted in 2022 it would have already raised $63.8 billion, which could fund a range of social services for

Fossil fuel subsidies cost Australian governments $16.3 billion in 2025–26, an increase of 9.4% on the previous year. This is a larger increase than the 7.6% growth of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Growth in fossil fuel subsidies is driven by the federal government’s Fuel Tax Credit Scheme, which cost $10.8 billion in 2025–26. Growth

War in the Middle East will likely increase global energy prices. Australian Government choices will determine how hard this price spike hits Australian households, how huge gas export company profits are and how much tax revenue Australia will collect.

UComms conducted a survey of 1,281 members across the Federal Seat of Farrer on behalf of the Australia Institute. Three quarters (77.7%) agreed or strongly agreed that Australia exports too much gas. 75% of voters strongly agreed (48.1%) or agreed (26.9%) with the statement Gas export corporations should pay a flat 25% tax on gas

Low-income workers are suffering the most from falling real wages. LITO changes could give them a $2,300 tax cut. This would be fully paid for by a 25% tax on gas exports. Key beneficiaries would be young people and those in regional areas, with National Party electorates benefiting the most.

Australians are suffering from climate disasters that are accelerating as climate change worsens. Climate change is spurred on by the historical and present emissions of the fossil fuel industry. A levy on fossil fuel exports could make the fossil fuel industry pay for the harms it has caused and raise up to $100 billion every year.

Do beer drinkers pay more tax than gas companies? Yes, they do! Independent Senator David Pocock recently asked Treasury officials whether beer excise raised more money than a key tax on the gas industry, Australia’s Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT). A video of the response – that yes, more money comes from beer excise than

Redbridge, on behalf of The Australia Institute, surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2,010 Australians about their knowledge of, and opinions on, Australia’s gas exports. One Nation voters are more likely to correctly respond that more than 59% of gas is exported and are among the most supportive of taxing Australian gas exports.

Through official communications that amplify fossil fuel industry narratives, exaggerate progress, and promote false solutions, it undermines science, delays decarbonisation, and legitimises fossil fuel expansion. Addressing this requires systemic reforms to prevent and hold government accountable for misleading climate information. This report is submitted to the Senate Inquiry into Greenwashing. The original submission and related

Greenwashing in Australia is a symptom of deeper regulatory and economic failures—primarily, the failure to require, enable, and reward genuine emissions reductions and environmental protection. Without structural reform that mandates and incentivises environmental performance, greenwashing will remain a rational, government-enabled market strategy. The original submission and related documents can be found here.

Unlimited gas exports over the past decade have increased energy prices for Australians, worsened climate change and raised little money for the public. Most gas exports pay zero royalties and Australia’s petroleum tax collects less revenue than HECS. The Albanese government’s response is a ‘gas reservation scheme’. While the details are currently being negotiated, the

The Albanese Government has acknowledged Australia’s gas export problem. However, rather than implement a tax that would reduce domestic prices, raise revenue and help the climate, the government looks to be weighing options that favour either Santos or its rivals Origin and Shell.

Despite long standing international commitments to spend 0.7% of national income on foreign aid, Australia’s support for developing countries has declined significantly over the past fifty years. In recent years, Australian governments have begun to shift their emphasis away from their failure to meet promised Official Development Assistance (ODA) and towards poorly defined commitments to

In the past five years, Australian governments have allowed export gas volumes equivalent to 20 years worth of Australian domestic usage. Gas exports, not green tape, are undermining Australia’s energy security and driving up energy prices for Australians.

The Bill should not pass because the Energy Roadmap proposals could increase Queensland’s emissions by 310 million tonnes to 2050, almost a years’ worth of Australia’s national emissions. This increase from the electricity sector will impose abatement costs of perhaps $98 billion on other parts of the economy. Within the Energy Roadmap there is an

The Australia Institute made a submission opposing the proposal to extend Peabody’s Wilpinjong Coal Mine, located near Mudgee, NSW.

The Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) mines are among the largest coal expansion proposals in Australia, representing potentially over a billion tonnes of total greenhouse gas emissions. The Australia Institute made a submission to the NSW planning process opposing the latest proposals. As with previous proposals to extend HVO North and South, emissions costs are underestimated and project

Adani sold coal for $100/t through a period that saw relevant coal prices reach $280/t, resulting in apparent royalty underpayments of almost $400 million. The Queensland Government’s decision to abandon its pursuit of these royalties may be linked to regulatory action around Adani’s Abbot Point coal terminal.

How Australian Governments game their climate targets to conceal their lack of climate action.

The costs of climate change are increasing rapidly, while local government revenues grow slowly. Climate costs will become increasingly onerous on local government unless new revenue sources are created, such as a climate disaster levy on fossil fuel companies.

Soon after his election victory in May 2025, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke of “doing things the Australian way, not looking towards any other method or ideology from overseas”. He summarised this approach as “progressive patriotism”. Progressive patriotism should be urgently applied to gas policy in Australia. Despite being one of the world’s largest exporters

Scholarships, grants and other links between Australian universities and fossil fuel industries

Australia Institute research has long documented the comprehensive failure of government policies to prioritise the interests of Australians over multinational gas exporters. Our view is that the incremental technocratic policies of successive governments to solve these issues have failed, and that a fresh approach is needed. The ACTU’s proposal for a 25% tax on gas

The upcoming roundtable appears set to ignore climate change and its impact on the economy. Climate change is already driving up the cost-of-living, and this is only likely to get worse. Climate change will substantially harm productivity, particularly if action is not taken to mitigate its extent and adapt to its impacts.

Until the mid-2010s, wholesale gas prices in eastern Australia were low.

On July 2, 2025, the Executive Director of The Australia Institute, Richard Denniss, wrote to the Minister for the Environment and Water, Senator Murray Watt. The letter follows the minister’s provisional approval of the expansion of Woodside’s North West Shelf gas export operation in Western Australia, asking that he make public the conditions imposed on

YouGov conducted a national survey of 1,522 voters on behalf of The Australia Institute between 27 June and 3 July 2025, using an online survey polling methodology.

Over the past 10 years $125 billion worth of liquified natural gas was exported from Gladstone in Queensland.