by Ebony Bennett,
[Originally published in The Canberra Times, 04 May 2019]
Trust in politicians is at an all-time low, the national debate is coarse and toxic, and the bar for what is judged politically acceptable is so low now that it feels like a cockroach could clear it. It's not unique to this election, but it feels like there has been a steep decline in recent years.
Out-of-pocket health costs have skyrocketed compared with all other prices as measured by the Consumer Price Index, shows new analysis by The Australia Institute.
The analysis using ABS data shows that health costs have more than doubled the rise in CPI with a 24 per cent increase in health costs compared with 11 per cent increases for all prices—mainly caused by a 33 per cent increase in the cost of medical and hospital services.
Key findings:
The Coalition is spruiking local pork barrel projects because its poorest supporters won't benefit from its massive tax cuts.
by Richard Denniss
[Originally published in the Australian Financial Review, 29 April 2019]
by Ebony Bennett
[Originally published on The Canberra Times, 22 April 2019]
Australia is having a huge national debate about taxes and tax reform that's mostly missing the point. There's too much focus on costings and not enough analysis of who is getting the biggest slice of pie - here's a hint: it's not those struggling to make ends meet.
New research from The Australia Institute, released just weeks out from the Federal Election, shows that a majority of South Australian voters want the government to mobilise all of society, “like they mobilised everyone during the world wars”, to tackle global warming.
New Australia Institute modelling shows that at least $77 billion of the lost revenue from the Morrison Government’s top-end tax cut plan will benefit those earning more than $180,000, and $64 billion of that figure will go to those who earn over $200,000.
The Government has claimed that the difference between its tax cut plan and Opposition’s is $230 billion over ten years. The analysis also reveals that after the Government’s tax plan is fully implemented in 2024-25, high income earners will pay a smaller proportion of tax (4% less) and low and middle income earners will pay a larger proportion of tax.
by Richard Denniss
[Originally published on Guardian Australia, 17 April 2019]
When a magician says you must look carefully at the cards that they’re shuffling, they don’t want you to see what their assistant is doing. And when a politician tells you to focus on one key economic issue, it’s a sure thing they don’t want you looking at the bigger picture.
New analysis from the Australia Institute shows the gender distribution from the Government’s plan, announced in the Federal Budget, to flatten the income tax scales is skewed against women.
When the tax cut is fully implemented, for every dollar of benefit that goes to women, two dollars goes to men.
Figure 1. Gender Distribution of Income Tax Cut when fully implemented
