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Money for nothing

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 in Australia and no planned coal CCS projects at any stage of development.

Several proposed coal plants with CCS received federal grants, but all have since been cancelled or liquidated.

Posted on:

30 May 2017

Adani and the end of subsidy denial

It's not clear whether Adani will win its battle to build its enormous new coal mine. But what is clear is that the coal industry, and the political right, have already lost the war. The enormous subsidies required to make the Adani mine "commercial" have killed once and for all the myth that coal mining is driven by market forces and is a major contributor to government revenue. At the same time Chevron is squealing at the thought of paying income tax, Adani is demanding it gets free coal. That's 10 years' worth of expensive mining PR down the drain right there.

Posted on:

30 May 2017

Queenslanders don’t want Adani subsidies: Poll

A new ReachTEL poll of 1,618 Queenslanders shows strong opposition to state and federal subsidies for the Adani coal proposal, including among LNP and One Nation voters.

-Polling results in attachment below-

59% of Queenslanders oppose Federal and State taxpayers’ money being used to fund Adani’s project. 37% said they were strongly opposed and just 19% supported subsidies.

Half of voters (50%) think Premier Palaszczuk would be breaking an election promise by giving Adani a $320 million dollar royalty holiday; including 42% of Labor voters. 24% did not think it would be breaking an election promise.

Posted on:

25 May 2017

Palaszczuk and Turnbull governments are Adani mine's lonely fans

Australia isn’t trying to stop global warming, we’re subsidising it.

While here in the ACT we’re on track to source 100% of our electricity from renewable energy by 2020, in Queensland the state government is doubling down on the number one contributor to climate change - coal.

Despite banks, economists and the Australian people showing little interest in handing Indian coal giant Adani billions of dollars to dig up a heap of carbon, many politicians just can’t say wait to throw your money at it. The Queensland government’s enthusiasm is exceeded only by the Turnbull government, which has taken to fondling lumps of coal on the floor of Parliament.

Posted on:

25 May 2017

For Hume the Bell Tolls

The Southern Highlands has a diverse economy, with its band of towns and its proximity to major cities giving it an economic structure similar to NSW as a whole, but with a special focus on tourism, agriculture and manufacturing.

Local businesses and community members are concerned about the potential effects of the proposed Hume Coal Project on the region. This report is based on interviews with a range of businesses and other stakeholders in the Southern Highlands region.

Posted on:

23 May 2017

For Hume the Bell Tolls: Impacts of the Hume Coal project on Southern Highlands businesses

A new report by The Australia Institute provides in-depth analysis of the proposed Hume Coal project, finding that it could damage the economy of the Southern Highlands region in NSW.

The Southern Highlands economy is based on service industries with mining accounting for just 2 percent of employment in the region. Compared to NSW as a whole, the Southern Highland’s big industries include accommodation, food services, retail and agriculture, the industries that underpin the region’s food and agriculture-focused tourism sector.

The report conducted 14 interviews with local businesses and Wingecarribee Shire Council.

Posted on:

23 May 2017

African white elephant: Australian taxpayers could finance South African coal

African white elephant, a report released today by Jubilee Australia and The Australia Institute examines the proposal for Australia’s export credit agency to fund a coal mine in South Africa.

The tax payer-backed Export Finance and Insurance Corporation, known as Efic, is considering a loan to develop the Boikarabelo coal project in Limpopo Province, South Africa.

The Boikarabelo mine has approval to extract 32 million tonnes per year of raw coal, making it a similar size to some proposals in Australia’s Galilee Basin. Like Adani’s Carmichael mine, this project could lead to the development of an enormous new coalfield – the Waterberg Basin.

Posted on:

19 May 2017

Should Australian taxpayers finance a South African coal mine?

Australia’s export credit agency, Efic, is a government-owned, taxpayer-backed organisation that aims to assist Australian exporters with financial services.

Efic is currently considering a loan to a South African coal project. The Boikarabelo coal project has approval to produce 32 million tonnes of raw coal each year. The development of this project would likely contribute to the development of other projects in the enormous Waterberg coal basin, a resource of around 75 billion tonnes.

Posted on:

19 May 2017

Almost two thirds of Australians oppose billion dollar loan subsidy to Adani: poll

New polling from The Australia Institute shows almost two thirds (64%) of Australians oppose a taxpayer-funded subsidised loan to the Adani coal mine project, as reports emerge the Queensland Government is considering an additional $320 million subsidy to Adani in the form of a ‘royalty holiday’.

---For polling brief see attachement below---

“Providing a billion dollar taxpayer-subsidised loan to the Adani coal mine project is unpopular with a majority of people, no matter which political party they vote for or where they live in Australia,’ said deputy director of The Australia Institute Ebony Bennett.

Posted on:

19 May 2017

‘Royalty Holiday’ AKA giving away Australian coal for free

The Palaszczuk government has reportedly made a deal to give away $320 million dollars-worth of the state’s coal, for free, to an Indian mining giant.

The Adani project and government assistance:

Posted on:

18 May 2017

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