The Labor party has announced a policy to limit the deduction that can be claimed for managing your tax affairs to $3,000. The complexity of the tax system means that some people are spending large amounts of money on accounting advice to take advantage of tax loopholes to significantly reduce their taxable income. They can then reduce their disposable

New polling from The Australia Institute shows almost two thirds (64%) of Australians oppose a taxpayer-funded subsidised loan to the Adani coal mine project, as reports emerge the Queensland Government is considering an additional $320 million subsidy to Adani in the form of a ‘royalty holiday’. —For polling brief see attachement below— “Providing a billion

New polling from The Australia Institute shows the majority of Australians think US President Donald Trump will not honour a deal to take refugees from Manus Island and Nauru to be resettled in the United States. Half of respondents (51%) disagreed with the statement ‘Donald Trump will follow through on the agreement’ while 28% agreed

New research from The Australia Institute has found that the Prime Minister’s electorate is the biggest reaps the greatest benefit from capital gains tax discount, by a large margin. CGT discount expected to cost the budget $9.6 billion dollars this year (2016-17) $44 billion over the next four years. Historical data also shows that, in

The economic assessment of the Narrabri Gas Project is misleading and does not comply with NSW assessment guidelines. The benefit cost analysis by consultants GHD is contradicted by the proponents’ financial statements and analysis commissioned by the Australian Energy Market Operator.

Developing northern Australia is a priority for the Turnbull Government, like many governments before it. The focus of these efforts is often on capital-intensive major projects such as irrigation dams or mining infrastructure. Such investments generally provide terrible returns to the taxpayer, generate few jobs and fail to ‘develop the North’. For example, the Ord

Media reports suggest that the Palaszczuk Government intends to give Adani a discount on the royalties the company would pay to extract the state’s coal.  If the Queensland government settles on a royalty holiday for Adani’s proposed coal mine, similar to that used earlier by the NSW government, the cost to Queenslanders will be almost

As a regional community, Tasmanians have historically enjoyed higher rates of home ownership than their mainland counterparts. However, as wages continue to stagnate, housing prices start to increase, and the State attracts more investment, the number of Tasmanians owning and occupying their own homes is falling.

As Australians debate the Fair Work Commission’ decision to reduce penalty rates for retail and hospitality workers, the Centre for Future Work has published new research on the prevalence of weekend work in other sectors of Australia’s economy – and the macroeconomic importance of extra income generated by weekend penalty pay. The analysis is based

The Australia Institute welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Scientific inquiry into hydraulic fracturing in the Northern Territory. Our submission focuses on Theme 7.7 of the Background and Issues Paper, economic impacts and also addresses other themes that the Institute has conducted research on.

Contrary to recent media commentary, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party continues its political rise.  Examination of the Western Australian state election results shows that while One Nation’s vote fell short of Senator Hanson’s hopes and expectations fuelled by some opinion polls, the far-right party doubled its support in Western Australia in the seven months between

Development of large coal mines in Queensland’s Galilee Basin will reduce thermal coal prices. This also reduces royalty revenue received by NSW. The Adani project alone is likely to reduce NSW revenue by nearly $50 million per year. The NSW government should oppose subsidies to Adani.

From 17 March to 24 March 2017 The Australia Institute surveyed 1420 Australians about Donald Trump’s election as President of United States of America.

A new report conducted by the country’s largest union, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF), in conjunction with The Australia Institute has revealed high-levels of exploitation and human rights abuses suffered by low-wage workers involved in the overseas production of every-day medical goods used by Australians. 

A new report by the Melbourne Energy Institute, commissioned by The Australia Institute, shows that coal seam gas (CSG) extraction could be significantly increasing methane emissions from underground gas deposits. The report raises questions as to the role CSG plays in causing gas bubbles in Queensland’s Condamine River. Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham ignited the bubbling

The Wallarah 2 Coal Project (Project) proposes to produce 4 to 5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of thermal coal for export. The project is located on the Central Coast of NSW near Wyong. The proponent is Kores, a South Korean government owned corporation. The Australia Institute welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to

As the mining boom winds down and the mining clean up boom begins, mine site rehabilitation and mine abandonment are emerging as major issues for Australian communities, governments and taxpayers. All stakeholders will need information on the status of mines and their rehabilitation efforts to ensure this is carried out in a way that does

A comparison of the Queensland and NSW anti-corruption commissions. The Queensland CCC has major design flaws that render it far less effective than the NSW ICAC, leading to fewer corrupt conduct findings and minimal public exposure of systemic corruption.

Polling conducted by Research Now for The Australia Institute reveals continued popularity of renewable energy

The Australia Institute welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Select Committee on the Establishment of a National Integrity Commission. With recent polling conducted by the Australia Institute revealing 85% of Australians believe there is corruption in federal politics, and ongoing scandals showing evidence of this, it is time for a National Integrity

Research from the Australia institute has calculated the impact of the recent Fair Work Commission decision to cut penalty rates on the Commonwealth Budget. The paper from Richard Denniss, Chief Economist at The Australia Institute, found reduced income tax collection from lower wages as well as greater welfare assistance for low income earners is, based on

Government and business leaders have proposed a range of possible “transition” mechanisms to ease the economic hardship, and defuse political anger, following the Fair Work Commission’s decision to cut penalty rates for work on Sundays and public holidays in the retail and hospitality industries.  This briefing note critically reviews several of these proposals.  Whether they

The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) has released a new advertising campaign titled ‘Making the future possible’. The campaign involves two videos and a website promoting mining’s role in the Australian economy and the benefits of new coal-fired electricity generators. However, some claims are incorrect and many are misleading, being presented without context and conflating