Bringing forward personal income tax cuts would see more than 50% of benefits go to the highest 10% of income earners and 79%-91% of benefits to the top 20% of earners. Just 3%-4% of the benefit would go to the lower half of all income earners. High income earners would save some or all of

Rather than dumping JobKeeper, we can reform it in such a way that more of the payment is clawed back by the government and that can be done by making it taxable at a much higher rate than other business income. This can be achieved very quickly, merely by increasing the rate at which JobKeeper

The health response to COVID-19 has resulted in large increases in measured unemployment and underemployment as well as large falls in the total number of hours worked. While the size of these labour market effects has been widely discussed, the gender distribution of these impacts has not.

The provision of free childcare provides the rarest of economic policy opportunities – it’s both an effective form of fiscal stimulus in the short term and has the capacity to boost the long-term participation rate and, in turn, the long run rate of economic growth.

New research from The Australia Institute has found that the economy and climate change are the two most important issues for voters in the seat of Eden-Monaro, with a majority of voters saying economic stimulus following the COVID-19 crisis should also address and build our resilience to climate change.

Treasury forecasts unemployment rising to 10 per cent in the June quarter and that without the JobKeeper allowance unemployment would be 5 per cent higher at 15 per cent. The Government responded with a series of spending packages with a cumulative total of $193.6 billion. That inevitably means more deficit spending over and the next

COVID-19 had an immediate economic and social effect on all Australians. As businesses shut, state borders closed and millions of Australians lost all or part of their income, State Governments stepped in and provided immediate relief. This report compiles state government spending in support of existing businesses and community organisations in response to the COVID-19

If the Australian economy shrinks by 10 percent in the first half of 2020 it will likely take at least 21 months before Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reaches the levels achieved in the December quarter of 2019. Australia has never experienced such a deep and long-lasting reduction in the level of its national income. In

The economic crisis brought on by the coronavirus pandemic requires fast, large, effective and well targeted fiscal stimulus. While the size of the federal government’s initial three spending packages is appropriate as an initial response, both the shape of that response and the design of future spending measures need to be carefully evaluated. While the

The economic crisis brought on by the coronavirus pandemic requires fast, large, effective and well targeted fiscal stimulus. While the size of the government’s initial three spending packages is appropriate as an initial response, both the shape of that response and the design of future spending measures need to be carefully evaluated. This paper argues

On Sunday 22 March the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, and Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, announced a package of measures as part of their Economic Response to the Coronavirus (ERC). That response included a new Coronavirus Supplement to the Jobseeker Payment (formerly Newstart) to be paid at $550 per fortnight. This is a significant and unprecedented increase in

New research from The Australia Institute has found strong support amongst South Australians for land tax aggregation, funding for affordable housing and measures that would require politicians to reveal personal interests before voting on land tax legislation.

If Norwegian company Equinor is given permission to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight, it will likely pay the Norwegian Government more than it will pay in Australian Government taxes and up to 27 times more than they will pay to the South Australian Government, a new report from The Australia Institute has

‘Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care and necessary social services’. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 25

Aggregating the land portfolios of property investors in South Australia, so that they pay tax on their investments as a whole, is a fair reform that will help to raise the revenue required to fund public services. Drastically reducing land tax rates in a way that primarily helps property investors with portfolios valued over $1

Monetary policy is recognised as being less effective as official interest rates approach zero. There are two main reasons. First, spending in Australia on investment is not very responsive to reductions in interest rates. Second, any reduction in official interest rates is mediated by the banks and other financial institutions. For practical reasons deposit rates

The economic benefit of the salmon industry to Tasmania is weighted strongly against its environmental and social impacts. Yet it accounts for just 1% of jobs in the state. Over 5 years $3.8 billion worth of fish were sold, but just $64 million tax paid, while $9.3 million in subsidies were received in 2 years.

As Queensland’s Government and Opposition compete to sweeten deals for the coal industry, open-cut coal mines in Queensland already get up to 17% of their coal for free compared with similar mines in NSW. At average export prices over the past decade, the benefit to Adani’s mine would have been $223 million and $1.3bn to

The Australia Institute made a submission to Commonwealth Treasury’s Petroleum Resource Rent Tax Gas Transfer Pricing Review. Australians are being short changed by the LNG industry and the way it is taxed. A shift in the way the PRRT estimates transfer prices between a project’s upstream extraction and downstream liquefaction to ‘netback only’ pricing, could

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.