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.

The impacts of climate change on young people and future generations are enormous, approaching unfathomable.

Australia’s public broadcasters (the ABC and SBS) should remain independent and free from political interference.

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

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.

Experts from the Centre for Future Work recently made a submission to the Senate committee studying the “Closing Loopholes” bill, which would make several reforms to the Fair Work Act.

The audit, assurance and consulting industry has failed to meet expectations. The industry needs clear standards, better monitoring and strong sanctions for misconduct.

Truth in political advertising laws are recommended, supported, and overdue in Victoria.

In 2018, the Victorian Parliament made major changes to electoral law in the state, including introducing real-time disclosure of donation, banning foreign donations and limiting anonymous donations.

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.

The problems attached to over-use of consultants are becoming clearer. The experience in New South Wales accords with the national experience: dependency on consultants hollows out public sector capacity and leads to bad government decisions.

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.

FOI is a crucial part of the beneficial information feedback loop between the government and the people. However, our FOI system is broken and cultural and legal changes are needed to fix it.

A submission made by the Australia Institute to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security on the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Prohibited Hate Symbols and Other Measures) Bill 2023.

The Australia Institute made a submission to the Northern Territory Government’s Consultation for designing an ad valorem mineral royalty scheme. In our view, It is unclear that there is a need to change the NT mining royalty system. Following reforms in 2018, royalty revenue has increased substantially, and mining exploration investment is at a 10-year

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.

The Australia Institute’s Centre for Responsible Technology made a submission to the Federal Government’s consultation on Safe and responsible AI (artificial intelligence) in Australia. To make AI safer and more responsible, the Australia Institute recommends:

The Australia Institute made a submission to the senate inquiry into greenwashing. 

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:

After decades of ignoring evidence of overfishing, the Tasmanian Government is finally playing catch-up on the state’s depleted fish stocks, resetting fishery rules in the context of out-of-date legislation and the absence of relevant policies.

The Australia Institute made a submission to the Senate Standing Committees on Environment and Communications’ inquiry into the Nature Repair Market Bill 2023. The Australian Government has provided no economic or environmental justification for the proposed Nature Repair Market (NRM). Instead, it has repeatedly referred to, and quoted figures from, a report by consultants PwC

Native bird hunting benefits few South Australians and imposes costs on many. Only 5% have ever shot ducks or quail, and of those people, just 40% intend to do so again. 76% of South Australians support a ban, including 48% who “strongly” support the idea. The economic impact of ending native bird hunting would be

The South-east Commonwealth Marine Parks Network is a patchwork of poor protection that provides minimal conservation benefits.

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.

The Australia Institute made a submission to the consultation on Administrative Review Reform.

The Australia Institute made a submission on the Boggabri coal mine’s latest expansion proposal.

The over-use of consultancies has corroded Australian democracy. It hollows out public sector capacity and leads to bad government decisions.

The Draft Harvest Strategy Policy for Wild Fisheries is a significant step towards strengthening fisheries management in Tasmania. However, it does not commit to recover overfished stocks or prevent future overfishing.

The Australia Institute made a submission to the inquiry into the administration of the referendum into an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

Tasmania’s Draft Climate Change Action Plan is a plan for inaction. Without radical improvement, this plan will do little to reduce emissions or mitigate the impacts of climate change.