Grattan Institute

With massive worker shortages across the country, migration is expected to feature heavily in the upcoming Jobs and Skills Summit, which brings together employers, unions, and governments to discuss the economic challenges facing Australia. Business groups are demanding the permanent migration intake be lifted to at least 200,000 for the next two years. Parts of the union movement have warned against relying too heavily on temporary migration, pointing to repeated cases of exploitation of migrant workers. Watch Kat Clay, Head of Digital Communications, in conversation with Brendan Coates, Economic Policy Program Director, discuss what the migration priorities for the government should be at the summit. To read the report in discussion, visit: https://grattan.edu.au/report/fixing-temporary-skilled-migration/

Is it worth it? It’s the question that should be asked whenever governments come up with a shiny new infrastructure idea. But too often, major projects are announced as election promises, without evaluating the cost and the value of the project to taxpayers. And while cost-benefit analyses might not seem like the sexiest thing to accompany election promises, there’s a genuine opportunity for the new Prime Minister to reform infrastructure funding in Australia. Host Kat Clay is joined by Marion Terrill, Grattan’s Transport and Cities Program Director. Relevant research: Megabang for megabucks: driving a harder bargain on megaprojects: https://grattan.edu.au/report/megabang-for-megabucks/ Roundabouts, overpasses, and carparks: Hauling the federal government back to its proper role in transport projects https://grattan.edu.au/report/roundabouts-overpasses-carparks-hauling-the-federal-government-back-to-its-proper-role-in-transport-projects/

The hospital system is at risk of breaking under the pressure of rising COVID cases. Hospitals are understaffed due to thousands of workers in isolation. Patients are being treated in corridors. Elective surgery has been cancelled. Emergency departments are overflowing with patients, without enough beds and staff to treat them. Most recently, NSW nurses protested to raise attention of the seriousness of these issues – it’s not just about an exhausted workforce, it seriously impacts patient outcomes. But what to do about it? On the Grattan Podcast, Peter Breadon, Health and Aged Care Program Director, and Owain Emslie, Senior Associate, join host Kat Clay, to discuss how to respond to surging COVID hospitalisations in the Australian health system. Donate to Grattan: https://grattan.edu.au/donate/

Jobs for mates – it’s frustrating when it happens in everyday life. Even more so when it happens at the highest levels of politics. A plum job as Trade Commissioner for a former Deputy Premier. A spot on the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for a former staffer. State and federal governments make hundreds of appointments each year to public boards and tribunals – and many of them go to people with political connections. While it may seem harmless – after all, ‘everyone does it’ – it can have pervasive consequences for Australia’s democracy. Listen to Danielle Wood, CEO, Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Anika Stobart, Associate, and Kat Clay, Head of Digital Communications, discuss Grattan's latest report New politics: A better process for public appointments. Read the report: https://grattan.edu.au/report/new-politics-public-appointments

Earlier in July, Australia’s compulsory superannuation system turned 30 years old. Alongside Medicare – Australia’s universal health insurance scheme - superannuation is held up as one of the key economic and social reforms of the Hawke-Keating Labor governments of the 1980s and early 1990s. Join Brendan Coates, Economic Policy Program Director, Joey Moloney, Senior Associate, and special guest, Emily Millane, Senior Fellow the Melbourne Law School at the University of Melbourne, as they celebrate the 30th birthday of compulsory super. They ask how superannuation first came about, what it’s achieved in the 30 years since the system began, and how to make the system more equitable in the future.

With the new Albanese government committing to cut carbon emissions by 43% by 2030, along with pressure from newly elected independents and Greens MPs, there’s a sense of hope that that environmental policy will progress beyond the years of the climate wars. But how can Australia get through the mire of years of climate inaction and confusion, to meet net-zero targets while maintaining employment in industry and our mining reliant economy. Alison Reeve, Deputy Program Director, and Esther Suckling, Graduate Associate, discuss with Kat Clay, how they charted a path in their new report The next industrial revolution. Read the report: https://grattan.edu.au/report/next-industrial-revolution

“Stamp duty is the worst tax that any government can have,” says Dominic Perrottet, recently quoted in the ABC. But after talking up stamp duty reform for the past two years, the then NSW Treasurer now Premier Dominic Perrottet’s grand plans ended less with a bang and more with a whimper. The government will allow first home buyers to opt to pay land tax rather than stamp duty. But it falls well short of the kind of reform many were hoping for. In this podcast, Kat Clay and Brendan Coates discuss why stamp duty is such a bad tax and why a land tax would be better, why the NSW government’s efforts to replace one with the other fell short, and what other states should learn from the experience. Donate to Grattan: https://grattan.edu.au/donate

The RBA has lifted rates by 0.5% to 0.85%, and there are more rises on the way. And nothing like a rate rise brings about the clamour that back in my day, interest rates were 17%. While talk of cutting back on smashed avocado dogs millennials struggling to get into the housing market, two of our experts recently evaluated the question - is life actually harder for millennials? To read the article in discussion visit: https://grattan.edu.au/news/the-housing-game-has-changed-millennials-have-it-harder/ Donate to Grattan: https://grattan.edu.au/donate

The new Energy Minister Chris Bowen said that ‘Australian energy markets are facing a perfect storm.’ But why are electricity and gas prices soaring? Join Kat Clay, Head of Digital Communications, as she discusses the energy pricing crisis with Tony Wood, Energy and Climate Change Program Director, and Esther Suckling, Graduate Associate.

It wasn’t long ago that Australians lined up around the block to receive a COVID vaccination. Yet the vaccination rate for third doses has almost stalled. Given Anthony Albanese campaigned on better pandemic management, giving the vaccination program a shot in the arm will be his first test. Join Kat Clay, Head of Digital Communications, and Peter Breadon, Health and Aged Care Program Director, as they discuss Australia's vaccination program.