Report on what we do and don’t know about mines, closures and rehabilitation in New South Wales. Little data is available to the public on the clean-up from the mining boom. State government agencies often lack basic information on how many mines are in operation, with still less published on closures and abandonments.

In the context of One Nation’s presence in the Australian Senate, indications of increased voter support for the party and wider populist trends in the United States and Europe, Australians need to understand One Nation’s world view – especially where the party’s ideas come from.  It is important to chart One Nation’s ideological and political

The ABC is not biased against business according to the recent ABC Editorial Review of business and economics coverage. Far from being anti-business, research released today by The Australia Institute finds that the ABC’s ample coverage of business and economics skews towards big business. Big business receives three to five times more ABC coverage than

The Forest Products Commission (FPC) is a statutory body wholly owned by the Western Australian government. Its primary function is to conduct forestry activities on a commercial basis in state-owned forests, including softwood plantations, sandalwood and native forests. The FPC is responsible for most of Western Australia’s (WA) native forestry, which occurs in the state’s

The NAIF will spend $5 billion of public funds in Northern Australia on infrastructure that is unable to attract commercial financing, which could include subsidising the controversial Adani Carmichael coal mine.  Australians don’t want their money funding infrastructure for coal and gas companies under the $5 billion Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF), national polling released

Australia sends asylum seekers to offshore camps wherethey are detained indefinitely and subjected to well documented abuses, in violation of their human rights. The Australian Government outsources the operations at the camps, and Spanish company Ferrovial has responsibility for the system’s largest operational contracts, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Broadspectrum. Investors in Ferrovial, including the Norwegian

Voting and electoral participation are part of Australia’s culture, expressed through our long history of electoral reform as well as modern trends such as the social media tag #democracysausage. Ensuring that everyone’s vote is counted is consistent with our ethos that everyone gets a “fair go”. Australia has among the highest electoral participation rates in

Gas industry funding and direct involvement in research committees of GISERA, the research body that conducts research on social and environmental impacts of CSG, is potentially compromising the scientific independence of CSIRO. The five main Queensland gas companies provide the lion’s share of funding to the Gas Industry Social and Environmental Research Alliance (GISERA) – the Gas Industry Social

The Australia Institute has an ongoing program of research into policy options around the ABC. Several of our research papers relate to the ABC’s operations in rural and regional Australia and the ABC Charter. Most recently, polling we commissioned in January 2016 shows strong public support in Tasmania for increased funding for the ABC in

Since our last submission we have published a research report relevant to this inquiry, No politics at Aunty’s table: Depoliticising the governance of the ABC. This report addresses the issue of political interference in the governance structures of the ABC, including its charter. A copy has been uploaded with this submission. The Australia Institute advocates

New research from Canberra based think tank The Australia Institute supports the need for additional regulation of Australia’s banking sector. In some of the most comprehensive polling ever released into attitudes to the banks in Australia, polling of over 1400 Australians finds: 68 percent of respondents supported a Royal Commission or similar inquiry. Only 16 percent

Australia has a long history of prioritising fossil fuels over renewables in research and development (R&D) funding. ARENA turned this around, making Australia a world leader in renewables. Government plans to cut ARENA’s funding while providing new funds for fossil fuel R&D risks putting Australia back decades in energy R&D.

A new national poll of more than 10,000 Australians has shown the continued strong support for minor parties and independents in Senate voting intentions. The poll also measured opinion on the proposal to cut Newstart. 55% of respondents said the Senate should vote down the cut, just 32% said the Senate should pass the government

Australian businesses have recently been implicated in serious labour abuses, both within and beyond Australia’s borders. Recent examples to capture public attention are slave labour in the production of surf products by Australian brands in North Korea, human trafficking and labour exploitation in Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai fishing industries (the top suppliers of prawns to

Tasmania is home to a substantial aquaculture industry. Intensive salmon farming in particular has grown quickly, attracting growing concerns about the industry’s impacts, how it is regulated and its financial contribution to the state. The Australia Institute commissioned ReachTEL to conduct state wide polling, as a first assessment of Tasmanian attitudes to the issues around intensive salmon farming.

Post-election polling of 2875 voters from across Australia showed the majority of Labor, Green and Independent voters prefer negotiations with cross bench MPs to form government rather than calling another election. 47.0% of all respondents support negotiations with independents and minor parties to form government while 46.3% said ‘call another election’. — Polling results in

Climate of the Nation is Australia’s longest running survey benchmarking community attitudes on climate change.

New research shows a rising number of the Australian adult population are not enrolled, not casting a vote or voting informally.  Combined with the sinking major party vote, nearly 40% of Australian adults did not vote for either party able to form government in 2013. The trend has been on the rise over the past decades,

Between 23 May and 3 June 2016The Australia Institute conducted a national opinion poll of 1437 people through Research Now, with nationally representative samples by gender, age and state or territory. The poll asked questions about voting intentions in the House of Representatives and the Senate, as well as questions about the Senate voting system.

A new report analysing findings from across several corporate regulatory bodies and related agencies finds widespread wrong-doing in the Australian private sector.  Meanwhile the six major regulatory bodies and other agencies have seen 3,926 staff cut (or 14.9%) between the 2013-14 and 2015-16 budgets – meaning there are less cops on the corporate beat. The

Between 29 February and 8 March 2016 The Australia Institute conducted a national opinion poll of 1412 people through Research Now, with nationally representative samples by gender, age and state or territory. The poll included questions about voting intention for both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Polling conducted by ReachTEL in South Australia, Queensland and the electorate of New England found very high support for fixed terms for Australian political elections. Reported on by Michelle Grattan on The Conversation – here.

A national Research Now poll, commissioned by The Australia Institute, found only 11 per cent support for an anti-corruption body for the building industry, while 65 per cent supported a national ICAC. The poll also asked opinion on the political tactic of calling a double-dissolution election. Polling in attachment below. Reported in The Australian Financial Review – here.