The Australia Institute made a submission to the Senate Economics Committee inquiry into Corporations Legislation Amendment (Deregulatory and Other Measures) Bill 2014. Our key concern is that the repeal of the rule permitting 100 members to call an extraordinary general meeting . Repealing this rule would be an obstacle to civil society, which increasingly plays

This inquiry has been established to examine the so called “Asset Recycling Program”. In 2013 state, territory and federal treasurers agreed to the program, under which the states would receive incentives from the federal government to privatise assets in order to promote the building of new infrastructure projects. The asset recycling program will cost the

The Senate referred an inquiry into corporate tax avoidance to the Senate Economic References Committee. The Australia Institute submitted a submission to the inquiry focusing, in particular, on non-arms length licensing royalties between related parties. This submission does not address the whole field of tax avoidance. 

The Australia Institute made a submission to South Australia’s Natural Resources Committee Inquiry into unconventional gas. Our submission focuses on the potential net economic outcomes to the region and the rest of the state. The net economic effects of gas development in South Australia are likely to be small: There would be minimal impact on

The Australia Institute made a submission to the Select Committee inquiry into Certain Aspects of Queensland Government Administration related to Commonwealth Government Affairs. Our submission focused on the use of economics in major project assessment processes. Approval processes for major projects in Queensland have seen the misuse of various tools of economic assessment. In particular

In December 2014, the Queensland Government sought submissions on the Preliminary Documentation around two related proposals to expand the coal port at Abbot Point. The Australia Institute made a submission on the Preliminary Documentation. Our submission showed that the Preliminary Documentation is inadequate as it contains no cost benefit analysis and no economic assessment of

The draft NSW Minerals Industry Action Plan presents recommendations that maximise the interests of the minerals industry. While this is not surprising, the aims of the NSW government should be to maximise the welfare of the community rather than any particular industry. In some areas, the interests of the industry and the government are aligned,

The Senate Community Affairs References Committee inquiry into the extent of income inequality in Australia asked The Australia Institute for some background briefing on how the role of dividend imputation in Australia was relevant to the committee’s deliberations. This brief provides some supplementary information on dividend imputation and franking credits.

The Airly mine is an underground thermal coal mine in the Capertee Valley, NSW. A proposal to expand the mine is currently being assessed by the NSW Department of Planning and the Environment. The Australia Institute made a submission on the expansion proposal relating to its economic assessment. The Economic Assessment of the Airly Mine

In September 2014 the Australia Institute made a written submission and in-person presentation to the NSW Planning and Assessment Commission on the proposal to extend the Invincible and Cullen Valley mines, owned by Coalpac. The mines are in a sensitive environmental area near the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. The key points of our submission

The Australia Institute (TAI) gave evidence to the NSW Planning and Assessment Commission on the Terminal 4 project. The proposal is to expand the capacity of the coal terminal at the Newcastle Port managed by Port Waratah Coal Services (PWCS). TAI was asked to provide an expert report on the economic assessment of the project

The Mount Thorley-Warkworth mine complex is a large open cut coal mine operation near Singleton, in the Hunter Valley, NSW, owned by multinational mining giant, Rio Tinto. The mine achieved notoriety in April 2013 when the NSW Land and Environment Court ruled that it should not be approved as the benefits of the project did

The Queensland Government is conducting an inquiry into a proposal to declare an official “State Development Area” over prospective coal projects in the Galilee Basin of Central Queensland and across the area between the Galilee Basin and proposed coal export terminals at the port of Abbot Point. The effect of the Galilee Basin State Development

In 2013 The Australia Institute released Trouble with childcare, which analysed the level of difficulties reported by families regarding the affordability of; access to; and quality of early childhood education and care services. The paper includes data and a number of findings relevant to the Inquiry into the delivery of quality and affordable early childhood

The key points of this submission are that: Economic assessment of the projects does not comply with Director General’s Requirements (DGRs); That the justification of the project is based on incorrect information about the Australian East Coast gas market, and that the Department’s EAR is incorrect in relation to the implications of the project for

The proposed Watermark Coal Project is for the construction of an open-cut mine into agricultural land and native forest, in the Liverpool Plains region, 25km south south-east of the township of Gunnedah and to the immediate west of the village of Breeza, within the Gunnedah Local Government Area. The proposal is for a 30-year open

The Bulga Optimisation Project is a proposal to extend the Bulga open cut coal mine near Singleton, in the Hunter Valley, NSW. The Australia Institute made a submission on the economic assessment done as part of the response to submissions on the original Environmental Impact Statement. The revised assessment by Deloitte Access Economics is a

The Renewable Energy Target (RET) has been a very successful policy at reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by increasing renewable energy generation. This submission from The Australia Institute recommends that the RET be strengthened to take advantage of the imminent retirement of gas fired electricity generation from the NEM.  This submission will focus on three

The Australia Institute made a submission to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee on the Tax Laws Amendment (Temporary Budget Repair Levy) Bill 2014 and related bills. This levy has the effect of increasing the marginal tax rate from 45 to 47 per cent on incomes over $180,000. Inclusive of the Medicare Levy and the DisabilityCare

The Australia Institute recently made a submission to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee on the Trade and Foreign Investment (Protecting the Public Interest) Act 2014 which seeks to protect Australian laws by banning investor-state dispute settlement provisions. This submission looks not only at ISDS but also other elements of trade agreements which impact

The Coalpac project is a proposal to expand two coal mines owned by Coalpac, near Lithgow, NSW. In May 2014, The Australia Institute made a submission to the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process, focussing on the economic assessment of the project. Key points: The coal price used in the EIS is either inaccurate or assumes

Angus Place is an underground coal mines near Lithgow, NSW. It is owned and operated by Centennial Coal, a subsidiary of Thai energy company, Banpu. The mine is located in environmentally sensitive areas, adjacent to several state forests and near the Gardens of Stone National Park. The Australia Institute made submissions on the Environmental Impact

Springvale Colliery is an underground coal mine near Lithgow, NSW. It is owned and operated by Centennial Coal, a subsidiary of Thai energy company, Banpu. The mine is located in environmentally sensitive areas, adjacent to several state forests and near the Gardens of Stone National Park. The Australia Institute made submissions on the Environmental Impact

The Australia Institute has made a submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications, References Committee Inquiry into environmental offsets. We argue that while offsets are often imperfect and need to be well managed, they have a place in environmental management. Our submission relates to the economics of environmental offsets and our experience

The Australia Institute has made a submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on the Environment inquiry, Streamlining environmental regulation, ‘green tape’, and one stop shops. Our submission draws on earlier TAI research conducted jointly with the Minerals Council of Australia, which found that there is considerable room for improvement in environmental regulation.  A

The Australia Institute has published a number of papers on the finance industry. This submission examines various aspects of the financial services industry including banking, superannuation, cooperatives, the budget and consumer issues. 

The Cobbora proposal is to develop an open cut coal mine near the towns of Gulgong and Dunedoo, east of Dubbo, NSW. The mine would extract up to 20 million tonnes per annum of run of mine coal. The mine is proposed by the NSW government-owned Cobbora Holding Company.  Our submission focuses mainly on the

The Australia Institute’s submission addresses the effect of policies designed to encourage home ownership and residential property investment. More broadly this submission focuses on the theme of housing equality and examines the inequality that exists between generations and income groups. In doing so it considers the impact of not having a long-term, national affordable housing

The Australia Institute’s submission addressed the following points of the Inquiry’s terms of reference: the trend in out-of-pocket expenses; the impact of co-payments; key areas of expenditure including primary care visits, pharmaceuticals and diagnostic testing; the role of private health insurance; the effectiveness of safety nets; and other options to achieve savings for Australians and the

The proposal is to develop an underground coal mine near Wyong, situated between Newcastle and Sydney, NSW. The mine would extract up to 5 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of coal which would require little further processing to reach saleable quality. The mine has attracted controversy due to its potential impacts on the local environment,