Australian Politics

The blueprint for how to fix Australia’s tax system was spelled out 15 years ago by the Henry Tax Review.

The cartel is back, baby.

Labor’s Powering Australia Plan claimed that it would cut NEM wholesale power rates by $11 per MWh (from $62 to $51) by 2025.

Australia’s annual R&D spending has also fallen to only 1.68% of GDP, well below the OECD average (3%) and the lowest among developed nations.

Some nice new charts from IEEFA on the great gas gouge.

Dick Markes says the quiet part out loud.

The Commonwealth Grants Commission (CGC) reduced Queensland’s share of goods and services tax (GST) revenue by $2.4 billion in March due to the state’s strong revenue from coal royalties.

In last month’s budget speech, Victorian Treasurer Jaclyn Symes labelled the state government’s controversial Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) project as “Australia’s largest housing project”.

Sell Abu Dhabi half of Santos. Or some fraction of that makes sense to the national interest. We must all remember the history of this evil firm. As explained by The Australian in 2017 (below), Santos built two LNG export trains out of Gladstone, Queensland, without enough gas to meet export contracts.

It was disappointing to see the Queensland’s Liberal-National government oppose exporting more gas to Victoria, claiming that it doesn’t have the gas supply capacity to keep “bailing out Victoria’s bad decisions”.

It is a long-held belief of many in the Labor Party.

Anybody who believes that meeting Labor’s 82% Renewable Energy Target (RET) by 2030 is achievable or affordable is delusional.

I am philosophically opposed to taxpayers providing subsidies for private car transportation. Most of these subsidies flow to higher-income earners. Therefore, these subsidies serve as a prime example of the reverse Robin Hood phenomenon, where the rich benefit at the expense of the poor. Electric vehicle (EV) subsidies are exceptionally costly and egregious.

The Victorian government has set a delusional target to deliver 95% renewable energy by 2035. These targets are legislated in the Renewable Energy (Jobs and Investment) Act 2017 (Vic), namely: 25% by 2020 (achieved) 40% by 2025 65% by 2030 (previously 50%) 95% by 2035 (new).

I reported on Thursday how an unexpected outage at Victoria’s second-largest coal-fired power station had heightened concerns that colder weather could strain the market and drive up wholesale electricity prices.

NSW Premier Chris Minns wants to solve Sydney’s housing crisis by accelerating the supply of shoebox apartments.

Following the recent practice bombing of every major Australian city by a nuclear-capable flotilla of Chinese warships, Japan has notified allies that Xi’s coming south in other ways as well.

Victoria’s budget finances are in disarray, with the state carrying the nation’s highest debt and lowest credit rating.

Falling living standards is what he promised, and he’s not going to spend his political capital on anything else!

The Abanese government this week looked set to make some sensible policy compromises before performing a 180-degree turn and fumbling the ball.

Picture this.

Victoria’s finances are in dire straits, carrying the nation’s highest debt and lowest credit rating.

In this week’s Treasury of Common Sense on Radio 2GB/4BC, I lambasted the Albanese government for opposing East Coast gas reservation and explained its implications for energy bills and the economy.