Economy

New Research from The Australia Institute has revealed that a majority (62%) of Australians support a national target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 or earlier.

While every Australian State and Territory already has a target of reaching net zero emissions by 2050, the Federal Government has refused to commit to the policy. The research has been released ahead of Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor’s appearance at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 25, in Madrid this week.

Key findings:

A new report from The Australia Institute has shown that potential Government plans to outlaw so called ‘secondary boycotts’ would require significant legislative reform, could threaten the implied freedom of political communication in the Australian Constitution and ignores a long history of consumer choice protests in Australia.

“Attempts to outlaw consumer choice amount to a clamp down on freedom of expression and personal liberty in Australia,” said Ben Oquist, Executive Director of The Australia Institute.

New research from The Australia Institute has found that, for the first time, more than four in five South Australians (84%) support World Heritage Protection for the Great Australian Bight. That is a 7% increase, when compared to polling undertaken in March of 2019.

The research also shows that two out of three South Australians (66%) believe the Bight would be a more productive asset for the state as a World Heritage listed marine park, than it would be as an oil field.

Key Findings

New research from The Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work estimates that Australian workers are currently working an average of 4.6 hours of unpaid overtime each week, which translates to 6 weeks of full time work without pay, per employee, per year – with an annual worth of $81.5 billion for Australian employers.