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August 2019
Mulga Rock uranium project
The proposed Mulga Rock uranium mine is unlikely to be in the WA community interest. Aside from the environmental risks inherent in uranium mining, the feasibility study for the proposal uses improbable market scenarios and does not illustrate a credible range of project outcomes.
December 2018
Volatile gas: Economics and gas in Western Australia
Western Australia’s economy is heavily impacted by the resource sector. 22% of gross state production comes from resources, making it heavily exposed to the booms and busts of global resource markets. The established gas industry in Western Australia comprises large-scale offshore gas fields focussed on export markets and a number of smaller onshore gas producers
November 2018
The economic impacts of unconventional gas in Western Australia
WA’s moratorium on fracking has been overturned without consideration of economic impacts. Economic logic, and the lived experience of Queensland and the USA, shows the industry has an incentive to expand as much and as fast as possible. This has a negative impact on communities, provides few jobs, little revenue and could increase domestic gas
October 2018
Gas and the Wide Bay Burnett Economy
Gas exploration is being undertaken in the Wide Bay Burnett region. Development of gasfields would present a risk to the region’s diverse services, tourism, agricultural, and manufacturing economy. Summary points include: Blue Energy is exploring for gas in the Wide Bay Burnett region, a region that features high-value horticulture and sugar cane crops and the
September 2018
Unspoken alternatives to expensive housing
Most housing subsidies end up increasing landlord and developer profits rather than reducing costs for residents. However, Public Land Rent Schemes that provide discounted land access to owners, and private Community Land Trusts, are proven ways to ensure that subsidies reduce costs for homeowners. This report explores how to get cheap, secure, housing without inflating landlord profits.
August 2018
Down in the dumps
Conservation SA commissioned economic think tank The Australia Institute to examine more closely the Federal Government’s claims of an economic windfall for the communities under consideration for a National Radioactive Waste Management Facility (NRWMF) – the Flinders Ranges and Kimba on the Eyre Peninsula. TAI examined the claimed economic benefits to regional communities associated with
July 2018
The impact of Galilee Basin development on employment in existing coal regions
Development of the Galilee Basin would displace production in other coal regions. Galilee mines would be more automated and less job-intensive than existing mines. Based on coal industry analysis, central estimates of employment reduction are 9,100 in the Hunter Valley, 2,000 in the Bowen Basin & 1,400 in the Surat Basin compared to a no-Galilee
June 2018
Deception on the Downs: Jobs and the New Acland mine
Queensland’s New Acland Coal mine, near Oakey on the Darling Downs, has been controversial due to its huge impacts on the town of Acland, which is now neardeserted, and its environmental effects and conflicts with agricultural land uses. The Queensland Land Court recommended rejection of New Hopes’ New Acland Coal (NAC) Stage 3 mine expansion
May 2018
Exporting coal myths: How a coal mine that destroyed a town now claims it will save one
The decade-long fight over the controversial Stage 3 expansion of the New Acland Coal (NAC) mine looks set to continue with the Queensland Supreme Court disagreeing withan earlier Land Court decision that the mine should not be granted approval, a decision followed by the Queensland Department of Environment and Science (DES). Prior to the latest
The Consequences of Fiscal Austerity in Western Australia
This report critically responds to the call for fiscal austerity and public sector downsizing, being made in response to the emergence of fiscal deficits in Western Australia (WA). Those deficits arose in the wake of the slowdown in mining activity and corresponding deceleration of employment and economic growth. Many observers immediately conclude that the only
April 2018
Australia – the low tax country
OECD data shows Australia raises less tax revenue than almost all developed countries [Full report see PDF below] Australia is a low-taxing country. While tax debate in Australia tends to focus on tax rates, with endless comparisons of different countries’ rates of different taxes, these debates ignore the fact that Australia raises far less tax
February 2017
SUBMISSION: Rocky Hill coal project
Economic assessment of the Rocky Hill project understates costs and overstates benefits. It is unlikely to be in the economic interest of NSW or the Gloucester community to approve this project.