Budget 2026: The government buckles on fossil fuel tax reform
In a federal budget that sought to restore intergenerational equity, particularly through reforms to tax concessions that have long favoured Australia’s wealthiest few, the Albanese government is facing criticism for ignoring a golden opportunity to balance the scales on energy and climate.
Recent articles in Climate
14 May 2026
Budget 2026: Clean energy spending grows but gas giants still avoid reform
The federal budget increases investment in emissions reduction, batteries and clean energy infrastructure, but leaves major fossil fuel tax concessions and gas industry profits largely untouched.
13 May 2026
One Nation now represents two of Australia’s best wind and solar regions
One Nation’s victory in Farrer places the party at the centre of major renewable energy and transmission projects in regional New South Wales, despite its strong opposition to the clean energy transition.
11 May 2026
Farming in a flammable future
Drawing on the on-farm financial experience of John Mitchell, a grazier in New South Wales who saved his family farm, this article sets out strategies farmers can use to prevent wildfire damage and deal with its consequences
10 May 2026
Environment: Atlantic currents are slowing so let’s dam the Bering Strait
When you’ve run out of options to solve the climate problem sensibly, do something ludicrous like damming the Bering Strait. All Norway’s new cars are EVs. Greenhouse gas emissions are up 50 per cent since nations decided to control them.
9 May 2026
Record installations of home solar and battery systems
Home battery installations shattered records in April. Householders were racing to secure the biggest possible discount for the biggest possible energy storage system before changes were introduced to the federal rebate that are designed to encourage much smaller systems.
9 May 2026
The coming famine
The short-term world food crisis caused by the conflict in West Asia is superimposed on a far graver, deeper and longer-running risk of a collapse in global food production caused by the remorseless combination of climate change and losses of soil, water and biodiversity.
8 May 2026
Children's eco-anxiety can be a foundation for action
Children are watching, thinking and feeling worried, but also hopeful, about the future of the environment. Those feelings deserve to be taken seriously.
3 May 2026
Environment: Air pollution still kills almost eight million each year
Outdoor and indoor air pollution cause one in eight deaths, mainly in low income countries, climate change is bringing heatwaves and droughts together in hot-dry extremes, and the market has no incentive to save humanity.
2 May 2026
The ‘little’ things that matter – Message from the Editor
There were lots of ‘big’ stories this week, in the wider world and in P&I. The assassination attempt at the White House dinner, the anniversary of the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania, rising debate over our place in the world in our Foreign Policy Rethink series, and constant violations of the Israel/Lebanon ceasefire. The list goes on.
1 May 2026
The real war is misinformation – and it’s blocking climate action
A global disinformation campaign is undermining climate action, weakening democracy and posing a direct threat to human survival, according to new security analysis.
29 April 2026
Fossil fuel myths are slowing the energy transition
Misleading claims about renewables, backed by the influence of the fossil fuel industry, are slowing Australia’s transition to a cleaner and more secure energy system.
27 April 2026
Any sane foreign policy would put climate risks, not China, at centre stage
Australia’s defence and foreign policy settings are focused on geopolitical rivalry, while far greater systemic risks – especially climate disruption – receive little strategic attention.
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