Economy
How little the fossil fuel industry gives to Australia
As Christmas is the season of giving, it is perhaps an opportune time to check how much – or how little – the fossil fuel industry actually contributes to the Australian economy and government revenues that fund essential public, community and welfare services.
Treasury figures reveal $18 billion capital gains windfall for Australia’s richest 10 per cent
The latest tax expenditure figures released on Friday by the Treasury department show this financial year the richest 10 percent of Australians will receive $18bn worth of tax breaks from the capital gains tax discount – nearly 5 times more than everyone else.
Australia’s ‘season of generosity and kindness’ doesn’t extend to kids in poverty
How can Australia solve the issue of child poverty?
Bleak Christmas as Australia quietly passes shameful milestone
For all the focus on inflation, interest rates and cost-of-living pressures this year, the nation quietly passed a shameful milestone in 2025, ensuring a bleak Christmas for more Australian families than ever.
New research shows that oil and gas exploration isn't creating value - it's destroying it
It comes as the Albanese Government announced it was opening new areas in Commonwealth waters for offshore gas exploration.
The RBA ruling out interest rate cuts demonstrates that they continue to prioritise controlling inflation over unemployment
Markets are predicting two interest rate rises in 2026 but the Australia Institute’s chief economist has urged cash-strapped mortgage holders not to panic just yet.
Fact check: Do the tax claims of the mining lobby stack up?
Australia’s main mining lobby group, the Minerals Council of Australia, has been running ads that say the mining industry paid $59 billion in tax in 2023-24, and that this is more tax paid than every other industry combined
MYEFO reveals continued failure of petroleum resource rent tax, gas giants still big winners
The release of the mid-year fiscal and economic outlook (MYEFO) has revealed the cost of the changes to the superannuation tax concessions made by the government and the continued failure of the Petroleum Resources Rent Tax (PRRT) to deliver fair benefits to Australians
The rich get tax advice; the poor get lectures: super tax saga lays bare a skewed system
A new report on the amount of revenue expected to be raised by the changes to superannuation tax on balances over $3m highlights yet again how the tax system is weighted in favour of the rich and that the government never gets thanks for doing what conservative forces demand.
Unemployment holds at 4.3%, but weak labour market tells a different story
Unemployment in November remained steady at 4.3% according to the latest figures out today from the Bureau of Statistics.
