The present submission questions the Business Council of Australia’s (BCA) Commitment to increasing investment, employment and wages in the event that the outstanding tax cuts are legislated. We looked specifically at the 10 corporate CEOs who made the commitment on behalf of their companies and found some half of those paid no tax. One wonders what their commitment could possibly mean.

Over the last two years the average tax paid by the companies calling for the Senate to pass the tax cuts was 12.35%; half of them paid no tax last year.

The Tasmanian Liberal Party’s new gambling policy would increase taxes for pubs and clubs by around $10 million per year, while cutting taxes for the state’s casinos by $9 million per year, if the gambling industry’s proposed benchmark is used. Taxpayers would also contribute an extra $1.7 million to counter the costs of problem gambling.

In recent years, Tasmania has seen economic growth and development. However, the benefits have not been evenly distributed. Hobart has received the lion’s share with less going to the regions. This report focuses on the West & North West region of the state, an area that mostly overlaps with the electorate of Braddon. This electorate

The number of members of Parliament and senators has not kept up with Australia’s population growth. Parliamentarians represent three times as many people as their counterparts did in 1901.  The last substantial increase in parliamentary numbers is now over thirty years old, meaning that federal representatives have never been spread as thinly as they are now. This lack of

Most countries do not have poker machines.  Australia is unusual in using poker machines as its main form of gaming machine, in having so many of them, and in allowing them in non-gambling venues (“pubs and clubs”).  [PDF of full report below] Australia has about 0.3% of the world’s population, but 2.5% of its gaming

Few electorates will be clear winners if the Adani coal mine goes ahead, new research from The Australia Institute reveals. A limited export market means that Galilee Basin coal projects like the Adani coal mine could come at the expense of Bowen and Surat Basin coal projects. A report released today by The Australia Institute

Salmon farming is a hot topic in Tasmania. The industry is responsible for over 2% of Gross State Product and over 1% of employment, including considerable full-time employment. This economic contribution is due to substantial growth. The industry tripled in size over the past decade, and plans to double again in the 20 years to 2030. The industry

The Minerals Council of Australia featured in 1,594 Australian news stories in the last year mentioning coal. This was three times more than iron ore, far more than any other mineral. Yet only 16 of the MCA’s 45 members mine coal at all. Just 3 are entirely focused on thermal coal. The biggest members, BHP

With the Tasmanian Joint Select Committee on Future Gaming Markets considering the future of poker machines in Tasmania, community pressure is growing for poker machines to be banned from hotels and clubs, limiting them to casinos and the Spirit of Tasmania vessels. Concern that this proposal would reduce government revenue is misplaced. Recent modelling by

What we do and don’t know about mines, closures and rehabilitation in Victoria. Little data is available to the public on the clean-up from the mining boom. State government agencies often lack basic information on how many mines are in operation, with still less published on closures and abandonments.

The Tasmanian Joint Select Committee on Future Gaming Markets is currently considering the future of poker machines in Tasmania, including a possible reduction in the number of machines and whether to retain the monopoly position of Federal Group (set to expire in 2023). The Committee has received 148 submissions and held six days of public hearings. This paper looks

A new report has mapped current polling trends to predict the make-up of the Australian Senate over the next two terms of Parliament. The results show a likely outcome is an entrenched cross bench with an increased One Nation presence and a stable Greens block. 

The Australian Government has put $1.3 billion of taxpayers’ money towards Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) initiatives since 2003, with zero large scale operational projects to show for it. A new report from The Australia Institute’s, Money for nothing, has found that despite years of generous taxpayer funding, there are no large-scale CCS projects operating

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.

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

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

Report on what we do and don’t know about mines, closures and rehabilitation in New South Wales. Little data is available to the public on the clean-up from the mining boom. State government agencies often lack basic information on how many mines are in operation, with still less published on closures and abandonments.

The Forest Products Commission (FPC) is a statutory body wholly owned by the Western Australian government. Its primary function is to conduct forestry activities on a commercial basis in state-owned forests, including softwood plantations, sandalwood and native forests. The FPC is responsible for most of Western Australia’s (WA) native forestry, which occurs in the state’s