-
Economics
- Banking & Finance
- Employment & Unemployment
- Future of Work
- Gender at Work
- Gig Economy
- Industry & Sector Policies
- Inequality
- Infrastructure & Construction
- Insecure & Precarious Work
- Labour Standards & Workers' Rights
- Macroeconomics
- Population & Migration
- Public Sector, Procurement & Privatisation
- Retirement
- Science & Technology
- Social Security & Welfare
- Tax, Spending & the Budget
- Unions & Collective Bargaining
- Wages & Entitlements
- Young Workers
- Climate & Energy
- Democracy & Accountability
- Environment
- International & Security Affairs
- Law, Society & Culture
October 2008
The tax treatment of capital investments in renewable energy
Examines the treatment of capital expenses in the renewable energy sector with particular emphasis on the need to introduce accelerated depreciation provisions to help encourage new investment in alternative sources of power. Accelerated depreciation refers to the capacity for selected industries to claim bigger tax deductions for the cost of their investments in new equipment
September 2008
Who are the (un)intended losers from emissions trading?
The emission trading scheme will provide compensation for the price rise for final users. However such policies do not apply to state governments, local governments, the community sector, and the federal government. In total the ETS would cost these public sectors $3.5b annually.
August 2008
The Impact of an Emissions Trading Scheme on State Government Budgets
The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) places a $20 per tonne of CO2 price on carbon pollution. While the government advocates schemes to help businesses pay this increase, no such scheme has been passed onto the states and territories. The states and territories would pay a projected $1.5b, or 15,000 teaching, policing and nursing jobs.
June 2008
Climate of the Nation 2008: Australian attitudes to climate change and its solutions
In the aftermath of what has been described as the world’s first “climate change” election, public interest remains strong on climate issues. The public appear to be cautiously sceptical about the major parties and their commitment to climate change. There remains a strong desire for further initiatives backed by meaningful targets.
January 2008
October 2007
Climate Change and Australian Coastal Shipping
This report investigates how coastal shipping compares to the other major freight transport modes in terms of energy and emission intensity. It further considers the extent to which increasing shipping’s share of the domestic freight task could reduce Australia’s emissions.
August 2007
Carbon Offsets: Saviour or cop-out?
Note: The report contains updated information on the services offered by Carbon Planet.
July 2007
Do politicians deserve to go to heaven? Public attitudes to prominent Australians.
This piece focuses on if the electorate believes that prominent politicians should go to heaven. Out of the six politicians John Howard scored the lowest with less than half of the population believing he should go to heaven, while Peter Garrett scored the highest at 74%. When split into political parties Howard was the most
Australia’s 21st Century Carbon Budget: How much have we consumed?
Australia has already blown its 21st century greenhouse budget targets according to a comprehensive analysis of the rate at which Australia is emitting carbon dioxide. The new Australia Institute report shows Australia consumed almost 30 per cent of a 100-year carbon dioxide budget in just five years. The finding is made in Australia’s 21st Century
June 2007
University Capture. Australian universities and the fossil fuel industry.
In recent years, universities have been at the centre of a vigorous debate about the role of higher education in society. In particular, concerns have been raised about the effects of commercialisation of Australian universities on academic freedom and the quality of teaching. This paper explores the increasingly close relationships between Australian universities and the
Climate of the Nation 2007: Australians’ attitudes to climate change and its solutions
The Climate Institute has commissioned both qualitative and quantitative market research on the attitudes of the Australian community to climate change and climate change solutions over the past year. This paper summarises research by the Australian Research Group (ARG) and draws on broader market research on public opinion on climate change. This report is the
May 2007
A Flight Risk? Aviation and climate change in Australia
This paper considers whether the unconstrained growth of the aviation industry in Australia is compatible with reducing the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions to levels that are required to avoid dangerous climate change. To do this, the paper projects aviation emissions over the period 2005 to 2050, compares the projections to likely emission reduction targets in
March 2007
January 2007
December 2006
October 2006
Wind Farms: The facts and the fallacies
In recent times, concerns have been raised about the growing number of wind farms and their impacts on communities and the environment. Many of these concerns have been fuelled by well-organised anti-wind groups attempting to persuade many people, including several prominent politicians, that wind energy does not have a legitimate role to play in addressing
May 2006
Competitiveness and Carbon Pricing: Border adjustments for greenhouse policies
This paper outlines a radical new proposal to pay rebates to export industries adversely affected by greenhouse gas emission taxes thereby preserving the international competitiveness of energy-intensive exporters whilst maintaining the carbon price signal with the domestic economy. Implementation of the proposal would thus effectively remove the main argument used against the ratification of the
February 2006
September 2005
July 2005
May 2005
April 2005
Off to Work: Commuting in Australia
Compares commuting times by city, occupation and socio-economic group and considers the effects of long commuting times on family relationships and social life.