Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s figures were taken form the Intergenerational Report, but we should be wary of economic projections that claim to see 40 years into the future.
AAP Image/Joel Carrett
Any forecast 30 years ahead is fraught with uncertainty, so we should be wary of warnings Australia was on a trajectory of debt and deficit heading to 122% of GDP.
The debate around coal seam gas exploration is highly politically charged, so it’s important to have an accurate picture of what exactly is proposed.
Dean Lewins/AAP
Is Christian Democratic Party leader Fred Nile correct when he says that 53% of Australia’s landmass is under current exploration licence for unconventional mining?
It’s hard to know for sure what role climate change played in the intensity of Cyclone Pam.
AAP Image/Dave Hunt
A causal relationship between cyclone behaviour and anthropogenic global warming is a very real possibility. But most climate scientists hesitate to attribute any single event to global warming.
Health Minister Sussan Ley is broadly correct on the numbers – but they are framed in a way that overstates the impression of rising health care expenditure.
What does the evidence say about alcohol and violence?
Queensland Police/AAP
It is broadly correct to say 1200 asylum seekers died at sea under Labor. Globally and in our region, however, more asylum seekers than ever are leaving their country by boat.
Kangaroos are common in some areas but scarce in others.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
“At the moment, we are spending over $100 million a day more than we’re collecting in revenue. Now that’s unsustainable, particularly given we’re spending nearly $40 million a day on the interest on the…
It is true that our “headline” (or statutory) corporate tax rate of 30% is higher than that of many other countries.
(AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
Kevin Davis, Australian Centre for Financial Studies
“Well, Jon, the Government’s about to bring in a 1.5% corporate, or company, tax cut from the 1st of July. That’s something that obviously we support, because (the) corporate tax rate at 30% is not competitive…
Tertiary education is of both private and significant public benefit.
AAP Image/Julian Smith
I’ve always argued that tertiary education is a private benefit, I’m happy for taxpayer funding of primary and secondary education but tertiary education results in a higher salary. - Senator David Leyonhjelm…
To find out if the carbon price worked, you have to look at the electricity sector.
Paul Hocksenar/Flickr
Emissions fell by six times the rate in the five years before the carbon tax than they did under the carbon tax. – Environment minister Greg Hunt, The Guardian, January 17, 2015. Australia’s total greenhouse…
To match the US, Australia would have to increase its emissions reduction target to 25% below 2000 levels.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
If you use the full Kyoto period — 1990 to 2020 — the US is minus 5% and Australia is almost exactly the same. Environment minister Greg Hunt, Radio National, November 17. *We and the United States are…
Nationals MP George Christensen told Parliament that the hot temperatures of 1896 have been “wiped from the official record”. It’s a bit more complicated than that.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
“How could it be getting hotter … if it was really hotter 118 years ago? It’s relatively simple: the early years are simply wiped from the official record.” – Nationals MP George Christensen, House of…
Australia does have the capacity to produce more electricity than it needs - but that’s not a reason to scale back the Renewable Energy Target.
Indigo Skies Photography/Flickr
We have 9,000 megawatts (nine big power stations equivalent) of excess capacity in electricity generation … We have more than 15% overcapacity in generation in Australia - Industry minister Ian Macfarlane…
Rich or poor, being stuck in traffic is always annoying.
Shultz6/Wikimedia Commons
“The people that actually pay the most are higher income people, with an increase in fuel excise… The poorest people either don’t have cars or actually don’t drive very far in many cases.” – Treasurer…
A cheap or costly drop? You might be surprised to find out how Australian taxes on petrol compare to overseas.
AAP/Andrew Brownbill
UPDATED ON TUESDAY 22 JULY: See editor’s note below for details on the updates. In this year’s federal budget, the Abbott government moved to restart automatically increasing the fuel excise in line with…
It doesn’t matter how you count it, Tony Shepherd’s claim that Australians see doctors 11 times a year just doesn’t add up.
AAP/Lukas Coch
All Australians, on average, go to the doctor now 11 times per year. I just don’t think we’re that crook. – Tony Shepherd, Commission of Audit Chairman, press conference on the report’s launch, May 1 The…
Former Education Minister Bill Shorten addresses the teachers rally in WA: but did he cut their funding?
AAP
“I think it’s more than a tad hypocritical of the Labor Party to be campaigning against what it says are cuts to school funding when Bill Shorten as education minister cut $1.2 billion out of school funding…
Education minister Chris Pyne says the Gonski model was addressing a problem that doesn’t really exist in Australian education: equity.
AAP Image/ Nikki Short) NO ARCHIVING
“The OECD says that we are a high equity nation in terms of our students… I don’t believe there is an equity problem in Australia.” – Education Minister Christopher Pyne, Lateline interview, 26 November…