A price on carbon is widely regarded as an essential element of an efficient response to climate change, yet such an approach has been described as a ‘great big tax on everything’ by opponents. While there is no doubt that putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions will lead to an increase in the price

Despite a great deal of enthusiasm about green jobs, there has been surprisingly little interest in what the concept actually means. Given that the precise definition of a green job will ultimately determine both the environmental effectiveness of the growing body of green-collar workers and the value received in return for significant public investment, the

‘Minerals in the Australian economy’ is of course a big topic. On the one hand that means it is inevitable that major issues are not discussed. On the other hand it means that the contributor has a lot of scope to select what to talk about. The position here is not to question the peak

Banks were portrayed as the villains of the global financial crisis; many of the big international banks and their executives were associated with greed and excessive risk-taking. Regulators were obliged to step in with unprecedented rescue packages to save the financial systems in the US, the UK and, to a lesser extent, the major European

Senator Stephen Conroy, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, has asked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to review Telstra Corporation Limited’s (Telstra) price control arrangements and has called for public submissions. The ACCC is to report by 12 March 2010 and the ACCC has asked for written submissions by 12

Examines the experience of Australian women during recent recessions in order to construct a framework within which the policy response to the current recession can be assessed and improved. The recessions of the early 1980s and the early 1990s are examined and compared with the brief experience so far of the present recession.

The perception of most Australians is that the mining boom delivered unambiguous benefits for the Australian economy, including more jobs, exports, tax revenues and, for the majority of people, higher incomes. But was this the case? This paper looks more closely at the extent to which Australians have, in fact, benefitted from the boom, which

In responding to the release of the recent Productivity Commission (PC) draft report into paid parental leave, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd stated: ‘This Australian Government believes the time has come to bite the bullet on this and we intend to do so’. He did not however commit to addressing the issue before the 2009 Federal

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

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. 

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.