What Is to Be Done: political engagement and saving the planet by Barry Jones

Author:Barry Jones
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: TEC052000, SCI092000, TEC000000, SOC022000, SOC037000, COM079000, COM031000, POL007000, PSY017000, PSY031000, COM060140, COM087000, SOC052000, COM032000, LAN004000
Publisher: Scribe Publications
Published: 2020-11-03T00:00:00+00:00

Lobbyists and parliamentary staffers (often known as ‘minders’) have become an important—and highly secretive—element in modern government, and the transition from staffer to MP to minister to lobbyist is a critical element in how and why decisions are made. The role of ‘minders’ has been exempt from parliamentary scrutiny, such as Senate select committees. As it happens, the minerals lobby, especially ‘big coal’, has been an important factor in shaping policy on climate change and giving a sharp nudge to pushing prime ministers down a mine shaft.

In the Coalition government, the links with fossil fuel and mining are particularly strong, especially in Scott Morrison’s office and the National Party:

Sir Lynton Crosby and Mark Textor run the powerful lobbying and political strategy firm Crosby Textor, whose clients include Glencore, Mitsubishi, and the Queensland Resources Council. Crosby was federal director of the Liberal Party 1997–2002.

Yaron Finkelstein, Scott Morrison’s principal private secretary, Andrew Hirst, the Liberal Party’s campaign director, and Queensland Liberal National Party senator James McGrath all worked for Crosby Textor.

Dr John Kunkel, Morrison’s chief of staff, worked for Rio Tinto.

Ian Macfarlane retired as minister for industry to become CEO of the Queensland Resources Council.

Angus Taylor, the Liberal minister for energy and emissions reduction, was a consultant for the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA).

Melissa Price, the Liberal minister for the environment 2018–19, who was kept out of sight during the 2019 election campaign in case she was asked questions, was vice president of legal and business development for Crosslands Resources, a mining company owned by Mitsubishi.

Barnaby Joyce, a former National Party deputy prime minister, has been described as a wholly owned subsidiary of Gina Rinehart of Hancock Prospecting.

Liberal National Party senator Matt Canavan was minister for national resources. His brother, John, worked for global coal-company giant Peabody Energy, and is a part-owner of the Rolleston coal mine.

Sophie Mirabella, a former Liberal MP, now works for mining magnate Gina Rinehart.

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