Tax data released with this years' MYEFO shows Australia's highest income earners continue to receive the vast bulk of tax benefits. Not good news for people who might be feeling the pinch before Christmas. 📺co-CEO Richard Denniss on Today #auspol @richarddenniss.bsky.social

Jim Chalmers has done a good job of managing the small stuff but Australians need a treasurer thinking much bigger than “what would Sussan Ley say about that?” Our preoccupation with the size of the deficit has blinded us to the huge opportunities we face www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politic...

Miners exaggerating tax. Again. What's new is that this is so demonstrably false. Will they take down false ads? If you see this ad after today, please let me know. Debunked on @thepointau.bsky.social here, more below: thepoint.com.au/factchecks/2...

"In a rollicking brawl for energy resources, it seems as if we’re politely holding the door open for others to snare our gas reserves, with Australia insisting: 'No, you first'.” satpa.pe/3zAPWAi

"What is the point of intelligence that can identify environmental protesters but cannot link a cache of guns to a known extremist connection?" Strong piece on #ASIO #bondibeach #auspol by @UrbanWronski (repub) michaelwest.com.au/bondi-attack...

Here is the highest form of technofeudalism: technocolonialism! www.ft.com/content/cd17...

Parliamentary perks, quirks and jerks.

New: A piece about journalism today, its trials and consolations

Right up there with one of the best things @nickfeik.bsky.social has ever written. A must read. 👉 nickfeik.substack.com/p/a-rare-win *cough-former730host-cough*

If giving tax breaks to people to buy multiple houses was likely to push house prices down, then buying houses would be a pretty crap investment and no one would do it. Who wants to buy an asset that government policy is going to lower the value of? thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...

Did you know those over 55 can sell their house, buy a bigger, more expensive house, and use the ‘downsizer’ scheme to put $300k extra into their super its called the ‘downsizer scheme’ but…you don’t have to actually downsize…FFS Not sure that passes ‘the pub test’ thepoint.com.au/news/251213

The Albanese govt is considering an East Coast gas reservation policy. And ok... but how about putting a 25% tax of gas exports so we stop giving it away for free?

The big reason electricity cost so much is gas. Gas is the most expensive form of electricity generation (aside from battery) and yet often determines the price. Tax gas exports, raise $17bn, help compensate households and also fund the transition to zero emissions

The shape of the economy matters as much as the size…investment in renewables & coal mines both lift GDP, but one improves the future & one harms it…our MPs should talk as much about the shape of economic activity as its rate of growth Great podcast thepoint.com.au/podcasts/251...

One year out, these five policies to strengthen Victoria's democracy could define next year's state election campaign: new from @browne90.bsky.social on The Point #auspol thepoint.com.au/explainers/2...

The devil is in the devolution: are the states mounting an EPBC takeover? New from Simon Copland and @kirstyhowey.bsky.social: thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...

It’s no accident that foreign streaming services do little to promote Australian music and podcasts to Australians…and it’s no accident that our governments have chosen not to do more to fix it. Local content matters more in the digital age than ever thepoint.com.au/news/251204-...

AI is great some things, OK at some & terrible at many…and it often just makes shit up…including indigenous words “the model then fabricated Indigenous language phrases to include in the Acknowledgement, without being asked, creating words that don’t exist. thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...

Climate change will ‘create’ lots of jobs, eg 2000 extra jobs to process the claims from Brisbane floods Time for new thinking re what kind of jobs we want, not just how many…building new gas & coal doesn’t just cause disasters it diverts workers from useful tasks thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...

How weird…one minute we are supposed to have a gas shortage (hint: we didn’t) and now we are going to let AI data centres build new gas fired electricity generators to ensure they have enough electricity… Its as if everything the government says about gas is BS #climate

Fresh from outsourcing our foreign detention centres, now we are outsourcing our soft diplomacy… DFAT is rattling the can and has asked Westpac to ‘do us a favour’ and sponsor PNG’s new rugby league team…but do we really want our Govt to ‘owe’ our big banks? thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...

South Korea announced it's going to phase out coal-fired power by 2040, a massive win for the climate.🌏 But you might not know that a few local climate groups in Australia played a part in making this happen!🌱 Research Director Rod Campbell explains @rodcampbell.bsky.social #auspol

The NACC has AGAIN been forced to correct its evidence about how many times the Commissioner has consulted for Defence. This is ridiculous.

Think we need more bravery in our politics? So do authors including Yannis Varoufakis, Senator Fatima Payman, Michelle O’Neil, Barrie Cassidy and my good self. Order now to get the bravery book in time for Xmas #climate australiainstitute.org.au/store/a-time...

'Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good’ has become the catch-cry of proud 'centrists' in Australia. But it’s time we admitted that the good has become the enemy of better…my piece in the weekend edition of @thepointau.bsky.social thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...

Budgets are about priorities. The idea is to tax things you want less of & subsidise things you want more of In Australia we spend $14 billion per year on fossil fuel subsidies & we are cutting science jobs at CSIRO… As i said, budgets are about priorities #climate thepoint.com.au/news/251127-...

It wasnt our enviro laws that were too weak to protect the Skate or stop the North West Shelf, it was our Ministers. Thats why Labor is trying to get the Coalition to help them water them down…to save Enviro Ministers the embarrassment of always saying yes #climate thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...

Australian companies like Westpac and Woolworths exaggerating how much they give to charity…who’d have thought! Great work @browne90.bsky.social thepoint.com.au/news/251125-...

As if carbon offsets weren’t a big enough fraud…welcome to the world of ‘biodiversity offsets’…sure the idea failed dismally in NSW but Murray Watt is keen to have a crack… what could go wrong? Just even more extinctions i suppose…#climate #nature thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...

Pretty funny that the party who fights culcha wars for Aussie flag thongs in supermarkets on Australia Day sold our gas to tax dodging foreign owned multinationals so you pay more. How very patriotic

"Government investment in social housing is helping stabilise rents" Wow, who knew? (oh, yeah everyone). My column #ThePoint thepoint.com.au/off-the-char...

Pauline Hanson’s use of the Burqa speaks volumes about her and the kind of country she wants But Senator Fatima Payman’s essay on bravery speaks volumes about the need for quite a different Australia Please read and share if your want to cleanse people’s feeds… thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...

The Albanese government has signed up to a commitment to phase out fossil fuels…and to achieve that goal….it says we need more fossil fuels…FFS Climate denial is not confined to the hard right of Australian politics thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...

Peter Costello is to blame for our health crisis. He promised the states his GST was a growth tax that would provide sustainable funding for states but its failing But we don’t have to increase the GST its time to tax gas and give the $s to the states thepoint.com.au/opinions/202...

It's funny to have to make this case but tbqh we don't make it enough: human efforts to counter fossil fuel use have had *at least some* effect on total greenhouse gas emissions since the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015, and there's some evidence to back up this position A lil thread 🧵

48 years ago today. November 24, 1977 – Canberra Times reports “all coal” plan would “flood US cities” Dr Peter Fong, of Emory University in a paper delivered to the American Physical Society said an all-coal policy would be "tantamount to suicide". allouryesterdays.info/2022/11/23/n...

The best way to keep up with whats going on in parliament is to follow @amyremeikis.bsky.social live blog Its going to be a big final sitting week live.thepoint.com.au

You cant protect nature if you wont protect native forests from chain saws & bulldozers Great column by Virginia Young on Labors deeply flawed new ‘nature laws’…the ones that’s are so flawed the mining industry are desperately lobbying the Liberals to vote for them thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...

Good regulation is good for productivity growth. Lack of regulation is driving inefficiency. Poorly regulated building markets led to debacles like the cracking in Opal Towers and flammable cladding being expensively replaced across the country My column thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...

What if we took the billions saved by not hosting the COP and gave it to the Pacific who we keep saying the COP was supposed to help? #climate thepoint.com.au/news/251121-...

The same public servants who created the rules for the ‘market’ for aged care, child care, disability care and water in the Murray River are now pretending they will do a good job of making a ‘market’ for biodiversity…what could go wrong

Brave policy can be great politics. With brave climate leadership, Anthony Albanese could leave a lasting legacy similar to Bob Hawke with Medicare and Paul Keating with compulsory superannuation, says former South Australian Premier Mike Rann. #auspol 🎧 theaus.in/3JJCass

The mining lobby is weak right now. Perfect time for strong env laws, @albomp.bsky.social Last week the Minerals Council and gas lobby literally threw a party and no one (important) turned up. My piece on it for @thenewdaily.bsky.social @australiainstitute.org.au

Wow, former Qld Treasurer Cameron Dick provided the details of the 2017 royalty agreement with Adani for the first time yesterday. Value - up to $500m. @australiainstitute.org.au estimate of $385m was conservative. #qldpol documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/events/han/2...

As the number of votes for major parties continues to slide, and ‘the coalition’ find it harder to agree what to coalesce around, the legal and rhetorical meaning of ‘the opposition’ is evolving rapidly…great piece by @browne90.bsky.social thepoint.com.au/explainers/2...

Who would think that at this point in Australia’s economic transition we should be spending more, not less, on research and development… Imagine if we taxed the gas industry and pant more on R&D…crazy talk … #cliamte thepoint.com.au/off-the-char...

Australian governments just never tire of finding new ways to give our money to the fossil fuel industry…

Former Labor premier calls out the gas industry for using tobacco industry tactics to delay climate action. Thanks Mike Rann for telling it like it is thepoint.com.au/news/251116-...

Australia doesn’t have a gas shortage…& neither does one of our biggest export customers. Not only does Japan onsell huge amounts of our gas to other countries, Japanese consumers have cheaper electricity than most Australians Well done Aus Government. Good job thepoint.com.au/news/251118-...

"The average mortgage pays $200,000 in profit over its life to the banks," says Richard Denniss, co-CEO at The Australia Institute. You can read more on good ideas for economic reform on The Point. thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...