The Australia Institute made a submission to the NSW Independent Planning Commission’s May 2019 consideration of the United Wambo coal project. The latest assessment by Deloitte, commissioned by the mine proponents, confirms Australia Institute analysis that mine voids can be filled leaving a $139 million surplus, based on EIS figures. This submission follows from The

The Australia Institute and Homeshare Australia made a joint submission to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. The submission outlines the wide range of economic and social benefits homeshare programs provide, such as alleviating loneliness and avoiding entry into residential care. The Royal Commission has an opportunity to recommend government investment in

Most Australians want 100% renewable energy, a stamp duty to land tax swap and pill testing at music festivals in their own state, new national polling from The Australia Institute shows.

Australian energy companies and regulators claimthat introducing Time of Use pricing will benefitconsumers and move their consumption to timeswhen the network is less congested. On closer examination, further adoption will impose increased costs on households and appears more likely to increase the profits of electricity companies than to assist consumers.

New research from The Australia Institute has shown that South Australians consider the privatisation of their energy network to be the number one reason for the increasing cost of electricity. Price gouging from power companies was considered the second most likely cause of increasing energy costs, according to the survey.

Welcome to the June 2019 issue of the NEEA Report, providing a comprehensive, up-to-date indication of key electricity trends in Australia. Key Points:+ The government has belatedly released the National Inventory Report 2017 and December 2018 National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Quarterly Update and they show concerning upward trends in emissions from coal and gas extraction. +

July 1 marked the implementation of the next stage of reduced penalty rates in the retail and hospitality industries in Australia. It is now two full years since the first reductions were imposed for Sunday and holiday work in several segments of retail and hospitality. Once fully phased in, these reductions will reduce wage payments in the two broad industries by an estimated $1.25 billion per year – at a time when concerns over weak wages and their impacts on the Australian economy are growing.

Australia’s economy continues to endure historically slow growth in wages and salaries, that is undermining household incomes, consumer spending, and economic growth. The Commonwealth government continues to predict an imminent rebound in wages – like in its most recent budget, where it yet again forecast wage growth accelerating quickly to 3.5% per year. But is the government willing to actually do anything to support wages?

Victoria’s brown coal fired power stations suffer from frequent breakdowns and Loy Yang A is the responsible for largest number of breakdowns on the National Energy Market, since monitoring began in December 2017, and Loy Yang A’s Unit 2 is the most unreliable unit on the grid.

Decisions by the Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) to flood the Barmah-Millewa forest and drain Menindee Lakes have reduced water for NSW Murray general security holders, who have zero allocation for 2018-19. We estimate an allocation of between 16% and 61% could have been possible had MDBA complied with its official Objectives and Outcomes.

Vocational and university education in Australia and Nordic countries – Report for roundtable discussion at the Embassy of Finland Canberra

New research from The Australia Institute has found that two out of three voters want the State Government to make up the $517 million GST shortfall announced in the Federal Budget by increasing taxes on wealthier South Australians and property investors.

International evidence is clear that there is a strong, positive correlation between a country’s protection of labour freedoms, and the organising success and economic influence of unions. Improvements in basic labour rights and freedoms tend to be associated with increases in union membership (as a share of total employment). And stronger union membership, in turn, is associated with broader collective bargaining coverage, less poverty among working people, and less inequality.

The final stage of the Morrison Government’s unlegislated income tax plan, stage 3(a) will, over the five years after it is introduced in 2024-25, deliver a $33 billion benefit to those earning more than $180,000, according to a new distributional analysis from The Australia Institute’s senior economist Matt Grudnoff. The Morrison Government is yet to

The projected rise in extremely hot days as a result of global warming presents a serious risk to the health and wellbeing of the Queensland community. There has already been a clear increase in numbers of these extreme heat days over recent decades, as demonstrated in our profiles on: The Gold Coast; Brisbane; The Sunshine

The Australia Institute released new research showing Adani is not “ready to go” with its Carmichael coal mine and there are a number of significant reasons why Adani is not ready to proceed with its mine. “One thing that can be said with certainty about the Adani coal mine is that whether it goes ahead

Key points: + Australia’s national energy emissions are down 21% since 2008, due to growth of renewables and declining demand. Emissions from Australia’s electricity sector continue to decline. They are 21% below 2008 levels, even lower than the lowest emissions of the carbon price period. This reduction is due to the rise of renewable energy

$18 billion dollar gamble on climate action loophole The Government’s reliance on dated carbon credits to extinguish over half of its Paris Agreement target might not be authorised, forcing it to purchase last-minute international permits or drastically reduce emissions to cover huge gap.    New analysis by the Australia Institute identified numerous legal, diplomatic and

The Australia Institute made a submission to the NSW Rail Access Undertaking – Review of the rate of return and remaining mine life – Draft Report (‘Draft Report’). The review assesses aspects of charges that apply to access several rail networks in NSW. Specifically, it considers the rate of return Government-owned RailCorp, can use in

Documents obtained by the Australia Institute shows that mining is experiencing a crisis in public trust among Queenslanders, with coal mining particularly unfavourable.  The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) commissioned polling company Ipsos to conduct this research on the industry’s reputation because it has observed a “decline in positive (public) sentiment” about the QLD resource sector, and can

The Australia Institute made a submission on the AEMC’s draft determination on the Northern Gas Pipeline – Derogation from Part 23. The Northern Gas Pipeline from the NT was given special treatment outside the National Gas Rules. The exemption is problematic and based on an “anomaly”. It should be revoked for future pipelines, to prevent

New analysis of income tax data confirms a dramatic slowdown in Australian wages in recent years – and the slowdown is worse than previous statistics indicated.

Tomorrow the Australian Bureau of Statistics will release its quarterly Wage Price Index: the most commonly-reported measure of wage growth in Australia’s labour market. Given the importance of public debates about wages and wage policy in the current federal election campaign, this release is timely and politically important.

This briefing note reviews some methodological issues related to the WPI. It also considers recent data confirming the visible impact on the WPI of last year’s strong increase in the national minimum wage.

Debate about the cost of climate action is a recurring feature of Australian politics and has been central to the political turmoil of the last decade. Advocates for delaying or limiting climate action often point to modelling that claims to show the costs of action are very high. Australia’s current climate targets, of 26% below