Australia is one of the richest nations in the world, at arguably the richest point in our history. Yet our commitment to foreign aid is declining. The Coalition government plans to cut aid funding by $1.4 billion per year or 33 per cent by 2017-18. To put our aid budget in perspective, however, we need...

The NSW Government is considering how to establish a community benefits fund from the potential development of a coal seam gas (CSG) industry in the state. The Australia Institute made a submission. Key points: Gas company contributions to a Community Benefits Fund must be compulsory, as recommended by the Chief Scientist, not voluntary, as currently...

Overview: Super tax concessions are increasingly being used by high income earners as a way of minimising their tax. This is not their original purpose. They were designed to encourage people to save for their retirement so they would be more self-reliant and less dependent on taxpayers. 80 per cent of those who are of...

Overview: The government has claimed there are no alternatives to its budget vision and called on the senate crossbenchers to stop blocking its budget measures or find alternatives that stack up. This paper aims to do just that. In order to help the government out and shift debate back to good budgetary policy, The Australia...

This paper finds that net rental loss, which is effectively the value of negative gearing, is not spread equally across electorates. Summary This report attempts to break the current political impasse by provide a range of politically pragmatic proposals that would reform negative gearing without abolishing it outright. In each of these scenarios, existing investors...