Research

The first National Manufacturing Summit was held at Australian Parliament House, Canberra, in June 2017, organised by the Centre for Future Work and the Australia Institute. The event was attended by over 100 delegates from the full range of stakeholders concerned with the future of Australia’s manufacturing sector: including businesses, industry peak bodies, trade unions, government departments, academic institutions and vocational training prov...

The Australian Government bought 29 gigalitres of water for $80m in the Condamine-Balonne valley. The vendors originally insisted on $2,200 per megalitre. But after negotiation, the Government paid a higher price - $2,745 per megalitre. Worse, the water has no legal status outside the farm gate and shouldn’t be counted towards the water recovery target.

The number of days over 35oC in Darwin has increased from 5.6 per year to 22.2 per year. CSIRO modelling estimates that without climate action this could rise to 132 days per year in 2030 and 275 days per year in 2070. Such extreme heat would have profound effects on human health, industries and ecosystems. Given the NT’s vulnerability to climate change, development of emission-intensive oil and gas reserves are not in the Territory’s interests.

The number of days over 35oC in Darwin has increased from 5.6 per year to 22.2 per year. CSIRO modelling estimates that without climate action this could rise to 132 days per year in 2030 and 275 days per year in 2070. Such extreme heat would have profound effects on human health, industries and ecosystems. Given the NT’s vulnerability to climate change, development of emission-intensive oil and gas reserves are not in the Territory’s interests.

On the 10 year anniversary of Bear Stearns collapse, Wayne Swan, with the GFC+10 project, launches report on executive pay in Australia. GFC+10 is a research program and series of events marking the ten-year anniversary of the Global Financial Crisis. It was launched by then Economic Secretary to the Treasury in the UK, Ed Balls, and Australian Treasurer during the GFC, Wayne Swan. The report released today analyses CEO pay in Australia, finding...

Uber's rapid growth in point-to-point transportation services has become the most potent symbol of the growth of the so-called "gig economy": where people perform work on an irregular, on-demand basis, paid by the task, and without the stability or security of traditional paid employment. The expansion of this model has raised concerns regarding the erosion of labour standards and entitlements (including minimum wages, paid leave, and superannuat...

As Australians face sea level rise, extreme weather and increasing heatwaves polling shows most want adaptation costs to be footed by fossil fuel companies, not ratepayers. The polling also found two third (67%) of Australians (east coast states) believe state and federal governments are not doing enough to prepare for the impacts of global warming. Less than one in five (18%) believe they are doing enough.[Polling brief see PDF below] “56% of Au...

FOI documents show Barnaby Joyce and Steve Ciobo’s “letter of support” for Adani’s coal project sent to the Chinese government was in response to Adani’s request “to help secure Chinese financing”. DFAT also met Korea’s Ex-Im Bank in 2016 to discuss the project, on Adani’s request. Despite an earlier FOI initially capturing “several hundreds of pages” about securing foreign funding for Adani, DFAT now says there are no pages to release.

On behalf of The Australia Institute Tasmania, ReachTEL conducted a survey of 925 residents across households in the Tasmania during the evening of 14th February 2018.Questions:What impact do you think having pokies in hotels, pubs and clubs has on the community?Based on your general impressions, approximately what percentage of Tasmanian state governmentrevenues are from pokies in hotels, pubs and clubs?Do you agree or disagree with this st...

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.