Latest news with #InstituteofPublicAffairs
Sky News AU
a day ago
- General
- Sky News AU
New poll shows more than 70 per cent of public support Australian flag as Mornington Peninsula council responds to backlash
The Australian flag is viewed as a symbol of unity by an overwhelming majority of the public, despite local council bureaucrats erasing it from flyers. Mornington Peninsula Shire Council was sent into damage control this week after it emerged that council materials were being put out with the Aboriginal flag, Torres Strait Islander flag and the woke 'progress pride' flag – but not the Australian flag. The council flyers are wildly out of step with community attitudes, with a new poll released on Thursday showing that just 10 per cent of people want to get rid of the Australian flag. The survey of 1000 people, commissioned by the Institute of Public Affairs and carried out by Dynata – an independent marketing research firm – found that 71 per cent of Australians believe our national flag helped unite all Australians. While Australia currently has three officially recognised national flags, the IPA poll found that 61 per cent of Australians believe we should have just one flag – the Australian flag – while 29 per cent of respondents support the Australian flag being displayed alongside the Aboriginal flag and the Torres Strait Islander flag. Institute of Public Affairs Deputy Executive Director Daniel Wild said the Australian flag was the nation's 'most inclusive flag'. 'The Australian flag is our most inclusive flag as it represents our entire nation and every Australian, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, or gender,' Mr Wild said. 'The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags have an important place in our society, but Australia has only one national flag. The Mornington Peninsula Council materials that had the Australian Flag removed include a flyer encouraging parents to sign their kids up to Kindergarten, a Child and Family news flyer, and a Health and Development Assessment flyer. According to the Herald Sun, at least one council office in Mornington also displays only the three minority flags on its entry doors. The Mayor of Mornington Peninsula and the council's chief executive have both denied knowing about the flyers before they appeared in the news. And on Tuesday evening Councillors voted to amend the council's flag policy to ensure the incident was not repeated. Mayor Anthony Marsh has told that "going forward" the council will ensure the Australian flag is included on all publications and materials it puts out. According to Mr Wild, the public backlash against the council reflects the fact Australians have 'had a gutful' of divisive identity politics. 'At a time when social cohesion is disintegrating across the nation, mainstream Australians understand that our symbols are unifying, and should be cherished and celebrated at all times. After all, there is far more that unites Australians than divides us,' he said.
Sky News AU
2 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
‘Divisive and wasteful': Victorian government under fire over secret plan to spend millions of taxpayer funds on Voice campaign
Victoria's Labor government is under fire after secret documents were unearthed showing they signed off on a plan to spend millions of taxpayer funds to back the Yes campaign during the Voice referendum. Documents released under freedom of information laws show the government of former premier Daniel Andrews approved a plan to spend $6.5 million of taxpayer funds on the Yes campaign, the Herald Sun has revealed. Institute of Public Affairs deputy executive director Daniel Wild – a strong critic of the Voice – told the spending commitment highlighted the contempt Australia's political class has for the values of mainstream Australians. "This is yet another example of the divisive and wasteful reign of Daniel Andrews, the effects of which will be felt by Victorians for generations to come," Mr Wild said. "The latest revelations reinforce the extent to which the political class and elites in our society are at war with mainstream Australians and our values." The Herald Sun revealed on Wednesday that former assistant treasurer Danny Pearson had signed off on a plan to reallocate funding set aside to communicate the state's Indigenous Treaty process to back the Yes campaign. The plan was proposed by Labor's Gabrielle Williams, then minister for Treaty and First Peoples, and was approved on September 25, 2023 - just weeks before the Constitutional amendment was overwhelmingly rejected at the October 2023 referendum – including by more than 54 per cent of Victorians. However a spokesperson for the state government said the $6.5 million of taxpayer funds was never spent on the Voice campaign and was later reallocated back to communicating the state's Treaty plans. 'The Victorian Government did not spend any money on the Commonwealth Voice referendum,' the spokesperson said. But 'No' campaign advocate Warren Mundine said it was remarkable the government had even considered spending the money when it was already "quite definite" the Voice would be rejected by the public. The IPA's Mr Wild added that current Premier Jacinta Allan - who was Daniel Andrews' deputy and chosen successor - should "apologise to Victorians for this waste of their money, and immediately commit to cease all further government spending on voice, treaty, and truth activities."
Sky News AU
3 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Albanese government throwing $9 billion per year at net zero climate targets, new IPA findings reveal
The federal government's spending on climate change and net zero has soared to more than $9 billion a year, new research has found. Analysis from the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) has shown that spending on climate-related programs has increased fifteenfold over the past decade. According to IPA's analysis of federal budget papers, spending on net zero has risen from about $600 million to $9 billion annually since 2015. At the same time, the Albanese government has seen emissions actually rise year on year to figures higher than under the former Morrison government. IPA deputy executive director and economist Adam Creighton said the array of 'programs' and 'funds' related to climate change and net zero was 'ridiculous'. 'Spending on climate change and net zero in the most recent federal budget has reached around $9 billion annually,' he said. Mr Creighton said the true cost was likely even higher once state-level and private sector compliance costs were considered. Despite this, Energy Minister Chris Bowen has repeatedly claimed renewables to be the 'cheapest and cleanest form of energy'. Meanwhile, the Australian Energy Regulator's default market offer has rise by as much as 50 per cent in parts of the country since 2022. Mr Bowen and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have still not conceded that they did now lower power bills by $275 as promised at the 2022 election. 'We have never denied that energy prices are higher than we would like,' Mr Bowen said at the National Press Club energy debate ahead of the election. 'If we keep the path we're on, energy prices will fall by 13 per cent over the next 10 years.' According to the IPA, the high energy prices in Australia have been caused, at least in part, by the ambitious net zero target. 'Decades of poor decision making, based on flawed and misleading advice and ideology, is crushing … household budgets,' Mr Creighton said. The Albanese government has reaffirmed its commitment to net zero since winning its mandate in the 2025 federal election. However, Environment Minister Murray Watt recently gave approval to the North West Shelf gas project, which Mr Albanese said was needed to address energy reliability. 'You don't reduce emissions and take action on climate change by just having good wishes,' Mr Albanese said on Tuesday. 'We need to make sure that there is security of energy supply at the same time as we support the transition which reduces our emissions. 'What you do is have a target, which is what we have with net zero.' Sky News understands the Albanese government won't support a climate trigger in national environmental laws, as proposed by the Greens. Mr Albanese is not expected to announce Australia's 2035 climate target until closer to September, Sky News recently revealed. The new climate target could be put as high as a 75 per cent emissions reduction by 2035 from 2005 levels as internal deliberations and departmental advice continue. The growing price tag has renewed political pressure on the opposition, with internal divisions surfacing over the future of the Coalition's commitment to net zero by 2050. Senior Coalition figures have been openly debating whether to revisit or abandon the net-zero target. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said it was necessary to 'take the time to get this right' on net zero, and that the joint party room would evaluate its position. 'We have to play—as a country—our part in the global response to climate change,' she told reporters at Parliament House last Thursday. 'Net zero, Paris targets, gas—all of the resources conversations around critical minerals, they're all part of that. 'We have to get this right. We have to play our part, but we have to make sure that we don't do it at any cost.' The Nationals nominally reaffirmed support for net zero by 2050 but leader David Littleproud confirmed that the commitment is now under review.
Sky News AU
3 days ago
- Health
- Sky News AU
Alarmist content in Australia's National Curriculum is causing an ‘epidemic of climate anxiety' among kids, report warns
Alarmist content in Australia's National Curriculum is causing an 'epidemic of climate anxiety' that is robbing kids of their childhood, a new report has warned. Kids in all of Australia's states and territories are taught content from the national curriculum from the beginning of primary school, but leading educational and developmental psychologist Clare Rowe argued it is causing 'real damage to the mental health of young Australians'. In a new report on climate anxiety in pre-adolescent children, Ms Rowe argues climate change content being taught to young kids is 'developmentally inappropriate', and should, at the very least, be postponed until secondary school. 'As a clinician, it is alarming to see so many children in my practice who are fearful and feel hopeless due to the climate education they receive at school,' Ms Rowe told In the report, published by the Institute of Public Affairs, Ms Rowe says educational and developmental psychologists like her were seeing more and more patients suffering from 'eco-anxiety' – persistent worry about the future of the planet, often linked to chronic stress, reduced psychological well-being and a sense of helplessness. 'In recent years, I have witnessed an alarming trend: more and more young children entering my clinic, gripped by fear that they will not live to see adulthood. They tell me with absolute certainty that the world is ending, that the government doesn't care and that the adults around them have failed,' she states. 'These are not isolated incidents. My colleagues and I have seen a marked rise in children experiencing anxiety linked to the way climate change is taught in schools.' According to a 2021 study with 10,000 participants across ten countries, 59 per of cent of people aged 16 to 25 were very or extremely worried about climate change. While there is less data about the level of eco-anxiety among primary school aged children, surveys have found that almost a third of Australians aged 10-13 are worried about the state of the environment. Since it was established, the National Curriculum has included 'sustainability' as one of its three cross-curriculum priorities. This means content about the environment and climate change is present in all subjects, ranging from science to English and even maths. The report explains that in order to fulfil their teaching requirements, many schools utilise third-party education resources, some of which are developed by activist groups. 'The framing of these materials often leans towards an urgent and alarmist narrative, often emphasising children's role in taking action against climate change,' the report states. The examples listed include a lesson aimed at nine-year-olds and developed by Scootle which teaches that climate change is 'threatening humankind and pushing people into poverty'. The report also points to a resource developed by ABC's 'Behind the News' program. Aimed at kids aged eight and above, the resource 'educates young children by showing them emotive video footage of raging bushfires, floods, cyclones and melting ice caps'. 'These images are displayed with a backdrop of dramatic music and an overlay of children's testimonies about how worried they are for their future,' the report states. According to Ms Rowe, it is 'developmentally inappropriate' to be teaching primary school-aged children about climate change, since it 'exposes young minds to allegedly existential threats that they cannot meaningfully understand or act upon'. 'Young children lack the cognitive capacity to process abstract, multifactorial problems such as global climate change. Without the necessary reasoning skills, they are prone to misinterpreting information in ways that fuel excessive fear, helplessness, and anxiety,' the report states. 'For example, a child who hears that climate change is a risk to coastal communities, health and food security may internalise these statements literally, believing that complete environmental collapse is imminent within their lifetime. 'This misinterpretation can lead to excessive fear, confusion and distress, rather than constructive engagement with environmental issues.' The developmental psychologist also argued the heightened state of stress this causes can rob kids of their childhood. 'When young brains are routinely pulled into a heightened state of stress, their ability to engage in age-appropriate developmental tasks such as play, exploration and social learning is significantly diminished,' the report states. Ms Rowe argues that in order to reduce the growing prevalence of eco-anxiety, climate change education should at the very least be delayed until secondary school. The leading psychologist is also calling for the National Curriculum to be rebalanced. 'We must also abolish the National Curriculum Cross-Curriculum Priority of Sustainability, which sounds nice, but is causing untold damage,' she told 'Our children should be focused on core competencies of literacy and numeracy in primary education. These are the foundational skills upon which all future learning depends.'
Sky News AU
3 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Former Australian of the Year's partnership with Nike at risk after anti-Israel content
Institute of Public Affairs Daniel Wild discusses former Australian of the Year Grace Tame coming under fire for posting anti-Israel social media content. Ms Tame's posting has put her partnership with Nike at risk, as Ms Tame endorsed that the Washington shooting was not an anti-semitic attack. 'Good on Nike for doing this,' Mr Wild told Sky News host Rita Panahi. 'It's a shame for Grace Tame. 'For her to go down the road of political activism, I think, has really let down the important work that she did.'
