The Australia Institute’s annual Climate of the Nation report provides a comprehensive account of Australian attitudes towards climate change, its causes and impacts, and the integrity of Australia’s current and proposed climate solutions.

Education has long been recognised as a vital determinant of both personal life chances and broader economic and social performance.

In 2022–23, Australian Federal and state governments provided a total of $11.1 billion worth of spending and tax breaks to assist fossil fuel industries.

Key results The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,002 Australians about their attitudes towards the Federal Government’s response to the housing crisis. The results show that: Two in three Australians (68%) disagree that the Federal Government is doing enough to tackle the housing crisis, including 65% of Labor voters, and 83% of

The 20 electorates that will benefit the most from Stage 3 are all classified as metropolitan, with 10 in Sydney, five in Melbourne, three in Brisbane, and one in Perth and Canberra. Of the 20 electorates that benefit the least, 12 are classified as rural.

Since the global financial crisis there has been a fundamental change in the operation of the Australian economy. Since World War Two, the majority of the benefits of economic growth have flowed to the bottom 90 per cent of income earners. However, as shown in Figure 1, between 2009 and 2019 the top 10 per

Australia’s light duty vehicle fleet is among the least fuel efficient in the world, using 24% more fuel per kilometre travelled than the UK. If the UK’s modest standards could be met here, Australian drivers would save $13 billion a year in fuel costs and overall transport emissions would be 17% lower.

If NSW had adopted Queensland’s progressive coal royalty system in 2021-22 it would have raised an additional $2.8 billion. For 2022-23 this figure is estimated at between $4.2 billion and $6.2 billion.

Tax breaks for superannuation will cost the Federal Budget $52.5 billion in 2022-23, almost equal to the $55.3 billion spent on the aged pension. Super concessions benefit the rich, while the pension is important for the poor. Major reform is overdue.

Australian coal export revenue increased by $73b, or 186% in 2021-22. Between $21b and $39b of this is directly attributable to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Between 4 and 7 October 2022, the Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,003 Australians about their understanding of the impact of poverty and their attitude to the appropriate level of income support. The results indicate an overwhelming majority of Australians support the principle that income support payments should keep people out of

In November, The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,001 Australians about their views on possible government interventions in the gas industry. The results show strong support for the government to intervene in the gas industry, either by imposing export controls on gas exporters if they do not meet local demand, or by

The new Albanese Labor government has tabled a revised budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year, revising revenue and spending forecasts originally contained in the March budget (from the previous Morrison government), and providing new funding to support several new programs and policies.

The present PRRT generates no revenue until the project sponsor gets back all their capital together with the permitted uplift factors. The problem with this approach is that no PRRT revenue is generated for many years which might exceed the life of the project and/or outlast the high returns—the economic rent that should be taxed.

Energy prices spiked worldwide following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting restrictions on Russia’s gas exports. This has in turn increased the value of Australian LNG exports and the profits of LNG companies. We estimate the war related windfall gain to LNG companies in 2021-22 at between $26 billion and $40 billion.

In October, The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,003 Australians about their views on the stage 3 tax cuts. The same question was asked of 1,409 Australians in September.1 The results show that support for the Labor Government repealing the stage 3 tax cuts has increased since September, while the number of

Australians want more public services that will require more government revenue. This paper summarises Australia’s tax system, its international context, and principles to guide its reform.

Key results The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,409 Australians about their views on the stage 3 income tax cuts. The results show that the stage 3 tax cuts are not widely supported. • Respondents were most likely to correctly identify that high income earners would benefit most from stage 3 income

Key results The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,001 Australians about their attitudes towards a windfall profits tax on the oil and gas industry to support Australian households. The results show that: Two in three (67%) Australians support the introduction of a windfall profits tax on the oil and gas industry to

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg have stated repeatedly that their government’s approach to stimulus spending in the wake of the covid crisis was for ‘temporary and targeted’ measures to boost economic activity in the short term without creating ‘structural pressure’ on the budget. For example, in announcing first of three stimulus packages

The Commonwealth Government has tabled its budget for the 2022-23 financial year. As the nation emerges from two years of lockdowns and border closures, with less than two months until a federal election, this budget is focused on getting the government re-elected – rather than addressing the challenges of public health, stagnant wages, and sustainability facing Australia.

The Business Council of Australia (BCA) is again proposing a cut in company tax rates. There is little that is new: the BCA has been advocating this proposal or a similar one ever since it came into existence in the early 1980s. Currently, the BCA proposes to cut by way of increasing the threshold below

Proposals to halve the beer excise would cost around a billion dollars over the next five years and undermine policies to reduce the abuse of alcohol.

The stage 3 tax cuts will give occupations like CEOs of large corporations, surgeons, and federal politicians a $9,075 a year tax cut. While aged care workers, hairdressers, and café workers will get nothing. When the LMITO ends teachers, nurses and chefs will pay $1080 more in tax.

The Australia Institute made a submission to the consultation process regarding Recommendation 14.1 of the NT Fracking Inquiry, “That prior to the granting of any further production approvals, the Government designs and implements a full cost-recovery system for the regulation of any onshore shale gas industry.”

The stage 3 tax cuts will go mainly to male, high income taxpayers. Half will go to the top 10%, 72 per cent going to the top 20 per cent while the bottom half get only five per cent and the bottom 20 per cent get nothing. Men will get twice as much of the tax cut as women.

An electorate analysis of the Federal Government’s current plan to scrap the LMITO (Low and Middle Income Tax Offset) after 2021-22, shows most taxpayers will be worse off when the legislated Stage 3 tax cuts to high income earners comes into effect in 2024-25. Key Findings: Scrapping the LMITO will see 90% of taxpayers pay

The LNG industry portrays itself as essential to WA’s economy, a sentiment echoed by the WA Government. However, LNG industry contributes just 1% of the WA state budget and two thirds of Western Australia’s gas is effectively given away by the Western Australian and Australian Governments with almost no royalties or tax being paid. The

$3.9 billion has been spent by grants programs with ministerial discretion since 2013. $2.8 billion, or 71%, has been allocated to projects in Coalition seats. Funding has clearly favoured marginal seats at the expense of safe Labor seats and, in some cases, safe Coalition seats. In per capita terms, marginal Coalition seats have received $184

The offshore oil and gas industry provides minimal economic benefit to the Australian community. Any benefits are eroded by decommissioning costs falling on governments as the industry attempts to avoid its liabilities. The proposed levy represents an opportunity to limit the costs to the public from the Northern Endeavour disaster, further measures are needed to protect the public interest.