By offering generous tax concessions to property investors and making it nearly impossible to live on JobSeeker, Australian governments have being making inequality worse.
On this special episode of Dollars & Sense, we discuss the cost of growing inequality with Dr Cassandra Goldie AO, CEO of the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), Kasy Chambers, Executive Director of Anglicare Australia, and Dr Mark Zirnsak, Secretariat of the Tax Justice Network Australia.
This discussion was recorded on Wednesday 29 October 2025 at the Australia Institute’s Revenue Summit at Parliament House in Canberra.
A time for Bravery: what happens when Australia chooses courage is available for pre-order now via Australia Institute Press. Use the code ‘SAVE5’ to get $5 off.
Aiming Higher: Universities and Australia’s future by Professor George Williams is also available now.
Guest: Cassandra Goldie, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Council of Social Service // @cassandragoldie
Guest: Kasy Chambers, Executive Director, Anglicare Australia // @ChambersKasy
Guest: Mark Zirnsak, Secretariat, Tax Justice Network Australia
Host: Richard Denniss, co-Chief Executive Chief, the Australia Institute // @richarddenniss
Host: Greg Jericho, Chief Economist, the Australia Institute // @grogsgamut
Show notes:
Revenue Summit playlist, The Australia Institute on YouTube (November 2025)
Wealth inequality by asset types. What’s driving wealth inequality? by Matt Grudnoff, the Australia Institute (February 2025)
Poverty in Australia 2025: Overview by Peter Davidson and Bruce Bradbury, ACOSS and UNSW Sydney
Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions
We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to podcasts@australiainstitute.org.au.
Under One Nation’s policy, the gas industry would not pay anything for at minimum 10 years – which is why it hasn’t kicked up a fuss. What Hanson has done, is show that Labor and Liberal are the only ones who see the status quo as the way forward. The gas industry knows that, so it is supporting the circuit breaker, which makes it seem like something is being done.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is facing backlash after quoting inaccurate statistics from the gas lobby, while defending his decision not to impose a 25% tax on gas exports in the federal budget. Mr Albanese was interviewed on radio during a post-budget trip to Perth, during which he claimed that “gas companies paid $22 billion of tax last year”. The $22 billion figure is not an official estimate by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), but a figure produced by a gas lobby group.
