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April 2024
Buildings as batteries
If buildings shifted one third of their peak electricity consumption to the middle of the day, this would save $1.7 billion annually and add additional peak capacity equivalent to 52% of Australia’s existing coal generation fleet. It would reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions from electricity by 1.9% (2,780,000 tonnes) per year and accelerate decarbonisation by
Submission on restart of Redbank Power Station
The Australia Institute made a submission to the NSW Department of Planning, Infrastructure and Housing on the proposal to convert the defunct Redbank coal-fired power station to run on woodchips and other biomass. Redbank is located in the Hunter Valley, NSW.
Submission – PRRT: Delivering fairer and bigger returns, always
Submission to Senate Standing Committees on Economics inquiry into the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Accountability and Fairness) Bill 2023 [Provisions].
March 2024
Submission: Glendell Mine Modification 5
A submission made by The Australia Institute to the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure regarding the Glendell Mine Modification 5. The Modification should be rejected on both economic and environmental grounds. At the very least, it should be subject to a comprehensive economic assessment before a planning decision is reached. The Australia Institute
Saying ‘no’ to Santos: Submission regarding the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Environment) Regulations 2023
Offshore gas must not bypass genuine consultation with traditional owners or the wider community. Adequate consultation will always challenge the crumbling social license of fossil fuel operations – perhaps that is why there are proposals to “clarify and improve” consultation and approvals?
Submission: NSW Planning system and the impacts of climate change
The Australia Institute made a submission to the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into the NSW Planning system and the impacts of climate change on the environment and communities.
February 2024
Polling – Fossil fuel levy
The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,017 Australians about a proposed levy on fossil fuel exports. 508 respondents were asked whether they would support a levy of $1 per tonne of emissions (raising around $1.5 billion per year) and 509 whether they would support a levy of $20 per tonne (raising around
January 2024
Congestion-Free City Centres
As cities across the world strive to increase livability and sustainability cars have become a key focal point. Many European cities are in the process of redesigning streets to reduce vehicle access and instead make more room for pedestrians and cyclists. In Nordic countries, this is just the latest chapter in a longer history of inclusive urban planning. Oslo’s car-free Livability Programme and Denmark’s cycle-friendly infrastructure offer useful models of how Australian cities could increase social, health and environmental benefits for all residents.
Missed opportunity: How fossil fuel investment is crowding out roads and renewables
Public road and rail projects worth $7 billion have been sidelined due to Australia’s ‘clogged’ infrastructure pipeline. Meanwhile, the coal and gas industries have committed to $41 billion worth of new fossil fuel projects with similar construction and engineering inputs. Fossil fuel expansion will crowd out both road and rail projects and drive up the cost of the approximately $58 billion in renewable energy infrastructure projects also planned by the Federal Government.
December 2023
Bush Firefighter Reserves?
An overwhelming majority (85%) of Australians support better conditions for volunteer firefighters through an Army Reserve style model in the face of longer and more ferocious bushfire seasons.
Submission: Climate Active Program Direction
There is no evidence that self-regulation and/or voluntary environmental certification schemes result in better outcomes for the environment or consumers. In fact, the opposite is often true, with these initiatives facilitating misleading claims by the private sector.
Submission to Tasmania’s draft Transport Emissions Reduction and Resilience Plan
The Tasmanian Government’s draft Emissions Reduction and Resilience Plan (ERRP) for transport lacks all ambition. It introduces no new targets, actions or timelines to decarbonise the sector, and in its current form, is unlikely to lead to a reduction in transport emissions. Without significant revision, the ERRP will leave Tasmania with some of the weakest transport emissions reduction commitments in Australia. The Australia Institute recommends that the final ERRP adopts a range of targets and actions that demonstrate a commitment to climate action.
November 2023
Submission: Climate Change Amendment (Duty of Care and Intergenerational Climate Equity) Bill 2023 Inquiry
The impacts of climate change on young people and future generations are enormous, approaching unfathomable.
Polling: Climate Change and Health
The Australia Institute surveyed a sample of 1,535 Australians about their concerns regarding the impacts on human health from fossil fuel projects.
Gas Bagging
Despite the claims to the contrary by the Northern Territory government, development of the Beetaloo Basin’s gas resources will be of little benefit to Territorians. Modelling used by the NT government itself shows that the development of the Beetaloo Basin will not diversify the NT economy, aid the transition to net zero emissions, provide cheap
October 2023
The economic impacts of gas development in the Northern Territory
Gas development has few economic benefits beyond those that flow to the gas industry itself. The industry is a small employer, systematic non-payer of tax and crowds out other industries.
Submission: NSW Net Zero Future Bill 2023
The Bill is unlikely to facilitate actions that would result in genuine emissions reductions in NSW, including elimination of fossil fuel subsidies, a moratorium on coal and gas development and decarbonisation of industry and transport. While the goals of the Bill are laudable, fiscal responsibility is a subjective guiding principle and open to creative interpretation
Submission to Tasmania’s Sustainability Strategy
The delivery of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) must be integrated into national and subnational planning if there is to be any chance of success at a global level. Tasmania’s forthcoming Sustainability Strategy provides an opportunity to identify sustainability issues in Tasmania and develop a roadmap to address them. Achieving the SDGs at a state level requires ambition from all sectors, but it hinges on a strong commitment from the Tasmanian government to take strong action to address sustainability issues.
September 2023
Submission: Climate Change Authority Modelling
Avoiding the worst impacts of climate change demands urgent action. This urgency ought to be driven by fulsome and transparent information. Current economic modelling by the CCA could be an important contribution to this task, if done properly and shared with all.
Climate of the Nation 2023
The Australia Institute’s annual Climate of the Nation report provides a comprehensive account of Australian attitudes towards climate change, its causes and impacts, and the integrity of Australia’s current and proposed climate solutions.
NeuRizer underground coal gasification project – economic considerations
The Australia Institute welcomes the opportunity to make a submission on the Syngas and Power Generation, Stage 1 Commercial Development, NeuRizer Urea Project, which is currently open for public comment under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act Public Portal.
Community-owned wind: Lessons from Denmark
In Denmark, renewable wind power generates 54% of all electricity. The rapid expansion of wind power has been driven by policies that ensure citizens have a financial stake in its development.
August 2023
Get Your Skates On: Tasmania’s Next State of the Environment Report
Tasmania has not published a State of the Environment Report since 2009. Nationally, alarming declines of natural and cultural values are underway. Without a state-focused analysis, Tasmanians are in the dark about the scale and detail of concerns and government decision-makers are flying blind.
Emissions from the Tamboran NT LNG facility
The NT LNG facility aims to produce up 20 million tonnes of LNG per year for export using gas fracked from the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin.
Submission on the sea dumping and carbon capture and storage bill 2023
This Bill appears primarily aimed at facilitating the Santos Barossa Project, its related Bayu-Undan carbon capture and storage (CCS) project and other fossil fuel projects off Australia’s northern shores. CCS is a technology that has failed for decades, a fact omitted by public agency submissions relating to this Bill.
July 2023
Submission: Senate inquiry into greenwashing
The Australia Institute made a submission to the senate inquiry into greenwashing.
Polling – Advertising in SA Sports
The Australia Institute surveyed a representative sample of 604 South Australians about advertising at sporting events and in sporting broadcasts. Respondents were told that promoting tobacco products in sport is banned in South Australia and were asked whether they agree or disagree with a policy of extending that ban to prohibit the advertising of other goods and services.
June 2023
Little Authority
This is the Australia Institute’s response to the Climate Change Authority’s (CCA) Issues Paper Setting tracking and achieving Australia’s emissions reduction targets. We are concerned that both the potential of this review and the quality of advice the CCA provides to government in general are undermined by two fundamental problems:
A Fair COP31
The Australian Government has proposed that Australia host the 2026 UN Climate Conference, in “partnership” with Pacific nations.
May 2023
Lake Vermont-Meadowbrook Coal Mine Extension
The economic assessment of the Lake Vermont project heavily understates its costs and overstates its benefits. At the USA Environmental Protection Agency’s central social cost of carbon estimate, the cost of the direct emissions alone is $4.1 billion, greater than the estimated royalty revenue – $1.1 billion.