Paul Austin
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paulnaustin.bsky.social
Paul Austin
@paulnaustin.bsky.social
240 followers 170 following 210 posts
Media professional. Politics, economics, sport, culture, society, the lot. paul.austin@grattan.edu.au
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paulnaustin.bsky.social
To fix the economy, fix housing.

Brendan Coates, Joey Moloney, and Matthew Bowes summarise their blockbuster new Grattan Institute report on Australia’s housing crisis.

johnmenadue.com/post/2025/11...

#auspol #nswpol #springst #Insiders

Via Pearls and Irritations
To fix the economy, fix housing
Australia’s economy is in a post-pandemic slump. To dig us out, state and federal governments must tackle the chronic shortage of housing in our biggest cities.
johnmenadue.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:42 PM
paulnaustin.bsky.social
Why Australia needs a housing policy revolution – and what it will mean for your suburb.

Major new Grattan Institute report by Brendan Coates, Joey Moloney, and Matthew Bowes.

#auspol #nswpol #springst #Planning #Heritage

grattan.edu.au/report/more-...
More homes, better cities: Letting more people live where they want
Three-storey townhouses and apartments should be permitted on all residential land in all capital cities as part of a concerted policy assault on Australia’s housing crisis.
grattan.edu.au
November 5, 2025 at 10:21 AM
paulnaustin.bsky.social
Tony Abbott and the Ladybird view of history

Jane Lydon runs the rule over Abbott’s Australia

theconversation.com/tony-abbotts... #auspol
Tony Abbott’s history of Australia wants us to be proud of men like him
Tony Abbott begins his book Australia: A History, by telling off professional historians – and laments the “cultural confusion” of our present moment.
theconversation.com
November 3, 2025 at 10:22 PM
paulnaustin.bsky.social
Treaty yeah

www.theage.com.au/politics/vic... #auspol #springst #Australia
The votes are counted and the quiet shattered as treaty arrives in Victoria
The first treaty with our First Peoples came after a long debate and even longer wait.
www.theage.com.au
October 30, 2025 at 8:32 PM
paulnaustin.bsky.social
Nice
grattaninstitute.bsky.social Grattan Institute @grattaninstitute.bsky.social · 13d
We’re worth watching!

Grattan Institute has been named in the global ‘100 Think Tanks to Watch 2025’, by the ‘On Think Tanks’ organisation.

We’re delighted by this recognition by our peers, and determined to continue improving public policy in 2026 and beyond.

#auspol

buff.ly/uvXvrE8
October 29, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Reposted by Paul Austin
lancecalhoon.bsky.social
one of the ironclad rules of Australian journalism is that any story about voting must be accompanied by a picture of people voting in swimwear
October 21, 2025 at 4:51 AM
paulnaustin.bsky.social
“Less about saving swimmers and more about serving cocktails”

How $14m of public money to convert an ageing bayside pool to a heated indoor learn-to-swim centre is being misused to build a glitzy private social club on Williamstown’s heritage beach

www.theage.com.au/national/vic...

#springst
Tensions flare in seaside suburb over ‘Bondi Icebergs’ proposal
Over seven years, the lifesaving club has gone through three rounds of redevelopment plans, and the neighbourhood is once again divided over the $14.5 million project.
www.theage.com.au
October 12, 2025 at 9:00 PM
paulnaustin.bsky.social
Here’s some good news: Play your cards right, and your household energy bills could halve by 2050

New Grattan Institute report by Alison Reeve and Tony Wood

grattan.edu.au/report/bills...

#auspol #ClimateEmergency #NetZero #coal #renewables
Bills down, emissions down: A practical path to net-zero electricity
Australian household energy bills are set to halve by 2050, leaving ‘policy room’ for the federal government to cut emissions in the electricity sector without hurting households.
grattan.edu.au
October 12, 2025 at 10:20 AM
paulnaustin.bsky.social
Australia’s workforce challenge

Thoughtful new Grattan Institute series on building our workforce of the future

#auspol #ausecon #jobs #migration #AI

grattan.edu.au/australias-w...
Australia’s workforce challenge - Grattan Institute
Grattan Institute’s six-part series on building our workforce of the future.
grattan.edu.au
October 6, 2025 at 3:12 AM
paulnaustin.bsky.social
Three more reasons to object to the proposed over-development of Williamstown’s historic life-saving club:

1. Taxpayers’ money being used for private facilities

2. The ‘Members Only’ fence

3. A footprint that extends well beyond the club’s current fence line

thewestsider.com.au/is-the-willy...
Is the Willy Beach Lifesaving Club set to become Australia’s most expensive?
Jason Bryce asks community to become engaged in the discussions over the new plans for the Williamstown lifesaving club.
thewestsider.com.au
October 3, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Reposted by Paul Austin
grattaninstitute.bsky.social
Sydney remains ground zero for Australia’s housing crisis.

Our housing policy expert Brendan Coates gives the NSW government credit for acting to get more housing built – and identifies what should happen now.

#auspol #nswpol

grattan.edu.au/news/sydney-...
Sydney remains ground zero for Australia’s housing crisis - Grattan Institute
The NSW government deserves credit for taking steps to get more housing built. Here’s what it should do next.
grattan.edu.au
September 30, 2025 at 2:33 AM
paulnaustin.bsky.social
Gradually , then suddenly.

Jacqueline Maley charts America’s descent into authoritarianism.

#Trump #freedom #democracy

www.smh.com.au/world/north-...
Under Trump, America’s descent into authoritarianism may be unstoppable
Like the famous Ernest Hemingway quote, the demise of American democracy has happened gradually and now, all at once.
www.smh.com.au
September 20, 2025 at 11:22 PM
paulnaustin.bsky.social
Comedy, power, and democracy.

Steve Vizard rises to the occasion.

#JimmyKimmel #Trump

www.afr.com/politics/jim...
Jimmy Kimmel’s demise exposes how power fears ridicule
Comedy is not a sideshow. It is part of the main act. When comedy vanishes, rulers mistake themselves for the nation.
www.afr.com
September 20, 2025 at 12:40 AM
paulnaustin.bsky.social
‘This week has been a watershed on Australia’s hard road to net zero. The main game now is implementation, as the spectre of climate change awaits.’

The verdict from Grattan Institute energy policy guru Tony Wood in the Financial Review

#auspol #emissions #targets

www.afr.com/policy/energ...
A step up in action to hit the 2035 emissions target is urgently needed
This week has been a watershed on Australia’s hard road to net zero. The main game now is implementation, as the spectre of climate change awaits.
www.afr.com
September 18, 2025 at 9:36 AM
paulnaustin.bsky.social
The Albanese government has finally set a 2035 climate course – and it’s a mission Australia must accept.

By Tony Wood from the Grattan Institute in The Conversation

#auspol #NetZero #emissions #targets

theconversation.com/the-albanese...
The Albanese government has finally set a 2035 climate course – and it’s a mission Australia must accept
The target seeks to balance positive action with pragmatism. Achieving it will requires a major policy step-up.
theconversation.com
September 18, 2025 at 7:35 AM
paulnaustin.bsky.social
‘The similarly ageless Patrick Dangerfield leaves divots, bruises, and trauma. Scott Pendlebury doesn’t leave a trace. He hovers above the game, popping in where he sees fit.’

Jonathan Horn on Pendles

#AFL #Collingwood #GoPies

www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/s...
From the Pocket: they may be old but Scott Pendlebury’s Collingwood are wily and hungry
The Magpies’ core group of self-driven, physically and mentally resilient senior players eat up the hard work to maintain high performance
www.theguardian.com
September 18, 2025 at 1:50 AM
paulnaustin.bsky.social
Grattan talks to Grattan.

Michelle Grattan, doyen of the parliamentary press gallery, talks to Tony Wood, energy and climate change policy guru at the Grattan Institute, about net zero, 2035, 2050, and all that.

#auspol #climate #targets

theconversation.com/politics-wit...
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Tony Wood on ‘politics trumping climate policy’ and the hard road ahead
The energy expert says Australia’s only on track to cut its emissions by around 50% by 2035 – ‘so we’re going to have to step up the pace’ in the next decade.
theconversation.com
September 18, 2025 at 1:35 AM
paulnaustin.bsky.social
‘Getting shit done.’

Joel Deane on Dan Andrews.

Typically insightful.

#auspol #springst

www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/12/c...
What Albo can learn from Dan 'getting shit done' Andrews
Much of the praise and criticism of Dan Andrews — who, like Kennett, incited adoration and hatred — is one-eyed, if not cross-eyed. Andrews was neither dictator nor saviour.
www.crikey.com.au
September 15, 2025 at 4:50 AM
paulnaustin.bsky.social
The business case for corporate tax reform needs to be rather more sophisticated than just ‘cut our taxes’.

Grattan Institute CEO Aruna Sathanapally writes for the Financial Review

#auspol #ausecon #GST

www.afr.com/policy/tax-a...
Why the case for a corporate tax cut is tricky
If business wants change, it needs to do more than just call for “lower taxes”. It needs a clear model, a credible way to fund it, and a persuasive case.
www.afr.com
September 14, 2025 at 6:42 AM
paulnaustin.bsky.social
Dan. Mate.

www.afr.com/rear-window/...
Senior Liberal’s luxury hotel TV gaffe
Opposition energy spokesman Dan Tehan outed his upscale accommodation while on a privately funded nuclear junket.
www.afr.com
September 10, 2025 at 12:19 AM
paulnaustin.bsky.social
The old man could play

#AFL #AFLfinals #GoPies
rhettrospective.bsky.social Rhett Bartlett @rhettrospective.bsky.social · Sep 6
The 1993 Peter Daicos "Hot Shots" commercial #afl
September 6, 2025 at 3:59 AM
paulnaustin.bsky.social
‘Well off the pace’

Grattan Institute education policy expert Amy Haywood slams weak student improvement targets

#auspol #schools #funding

educationhq.com/news/well-of...
‘Well off the pace’: Grattan expert slams weak student improvement targets
Education ministers have set the achievement bar too low for Australian students, with current improvement targets at risk of locking in underachievement across some jurisdictions, experts from Gratta...
educationhq.com
September 6, 2025 at 1:27 AM
paulnaustin.bsky.social
‘We’re going to have to break a few eggs’
 
Grattan Institute housing policy expert Joey Moloney on the dearth of social housing in our most desirable suburbs
 
#auspol #springst

www.theage.com.au/property/new...
Melbourne suburbs that boast the most amenities – but lack one type of home
Some of Melbourne’s desirable inner-city and south-eastern areas have the best access to local services, but new research shows what’s missing.
www.theage.com.au
September 6, 2025 at 1:19 AM
paulnaustin.bsky.social
The age of incrementalism

Grattan Institute CEO Aruna Sathanapally reflects on why big bang policy reform seems so hard these days

#auspol #ausecon #productivity #tax

grattan.edu.au/news/age-of-...
The age of incrementalism - Grattan Institute
Big bang policy reform may be out, but there are still ways to make Australia fairer and more prosperous.
grattan.edu.au
September 4, 2025 at 4:59 AM
paulnaustin.bsky.social
Australia’s workforce is almost evenly split between men and women. Yet fewer than 1 in 4 Australians work in a gender-balanced occupation.

Jessica Geraghty from Grattan Institute shows why this is bad – for workers, businesses, all of us.

#auspol #gender #jobs

grattan.edu.au/news/fixing-...
Fixing the workforce gender balance is in everyone's interest - Grattan Institute
Turns out, gender-imbalance at work is bad for workers, businesses and the economy.
grattan.edu.au
August 31, 2025 at 10:27 PM