Matt Grudnoff is senior economist at the Australia Institute. He has published widely on a multitude of subjects, including taxation, the federal Budget, poverty & inequality, free trade agreements, housing affordability, energy economics and climate change.
The inflation figures released today confirm what we already know: inflation is being driven by higher fuel costs. This points to a supply shock rather than demand-driven inflation, meaning increasing interest rates will just heap more pointless pain on Australian households.
Changes to land taxes in Victoria pushed landlords out of the market — but didn’t reduce housing supply or drive up rents, showing that scrapping the CGT discount could improve affordability nationwide.
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The Coalition’s solution to the energy crisis is to double down on fossil fuels. But is this a real solution, or are they merely adding more fodder to the culture wars? Well, you guessed it, "drill, baby, drill" doesn't work in reality.
There are persistent rumours that the Federal Government will be making changes to the capital gains tax (CGT) discount and possibly negative gearing – perhaps as soon as the next budget. This is great news for everyone who wants to see housing become more affordable.
While the PRRT has collected a fraction of the revenues from oil and gas company profits over the past 10 years, Australians have been contributing more to the government’s coffers in HECS repayments, beer, tobacco and spirits excises, and the Major Bank Levy. Even foreigners have been contributing more in visa application fees.
Corporate tax transparency data shows that for the 10th straight year, Santos has made zero corporate tax payments from nearly $47 billion in sales. This covers the period from 2013-14 to 2023-24 (the most recent data available).
Economists and other inflation watchers are claiming that the cut in the fuel excise will be inflationary. This is not true, as this claim ignores everything else that is happening in the economy right now.
Australia’s population size is always a hot button political topic – perhaps more so now given the various conservative parties coming out strongly against further migration – but the reality is much calmer.
The health of the economy was revealed this week with the release of economic growth figures showing the economy grew at a better-than-expected rate of 2.6% for 2025. This compared to the forecast of just 2.2%.
The debate over the capital gains tax discount comes down to a very simple question: who do you think should pay more income tax? Should a high-income executive who makes a $400,000 capital gain (that is, a profit) from selling an investment property pay a higher tax rate than a full-time retail worker on minimum wage who decides to pick up a few extra shifts?
