Richard Denniss is a prominent Australian economist, author and public policy commentator, and has spent the last twenty years moving between policy-focused roles in academia, federal politics and think-tanks. He is a regular contributor to The Monthly and co-chief executive of the Australia Institute.
Faced with a choice between saving the planet from climate change and saving some jobs in the gas and coal industries, successive governments have told us that jobs must come first. And then along comes so-called ‘artificial intelligence’ (AI).
The Greens' recent leadership change from Larissa Waters to David Shoebridge was both rapid and polite. But while the change might have come as a surprise, what is more predictable is the hand wringing from much of the commentariat and the Prime Minister about whether the Greens should be 'populist' or 'pragmatic', and whether they should act like a ‘party of government’ or a ‘party of protest’.
One Nation’s historic victory in the once safe Labor seat of Secret Harbour was of no more surprise than their recent defeat of the Liberals in the Farrer by-election, but the failure of the Greens to pick up any of the votes Labor is shedding has attracted far less attention.
As a long-term critic of the Productivity Commission, and someone who has called for their abolition, even I think the Prime Minister’s recent attack on the government-funded think tank was unfair and inaccurate.
This is an edited extract of More Fool Me (Vantage Point Issue 6) by Richard Denniss, published by The Australia Institute. Available from the 4th of August.
Ever since the Liberals and Nationals split and reunited twice, the combined vote for the Coalition parties has collapsed, and support for One Nation has surged. But, it’s not just the Coalition whose once safe seats are no longer safe.
Japan has no oil, gas or coal, yet it has better fuel security than Australia. And given Australia is the world’s third-largest energy exporter, that’s quite a feat. Meanwhile, Australians are regularly told we can’t have the same “nice things” as Japan or Europe because we don’t collect enough tax — when we could be taxing gas properly.
Australia has some of the largest gas reserves in the world, has tripled its gas production in the last 15 years, and is now one of the world’s largest gas exporters. But according to the Business Council of Australia (BCA), Australia needs new gas supply and faces ‘structural shortfalls’. Welcome to the topsy-turvy world of gas industry spin...
If you are thinking about buying an EV, the faster you can abandon the ‘rational’ way of thinking about ‘filling up’ with petrol, the more relaxed you will be, and the less you will spend, ‘topping up’ with electrons.
The decisions made by Anthony Albanese in the next month will likely define Labor’s legacy for decades to come. Surging energy prices give the PM a unique opportunity to tax the gas industry, fund the services Australians are crying out for, improve the budget bottom line and expose the shallowness of Pauline Hanson’s support for ‘ordinary Australians’.
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