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Quarterly Essay #78
The Coal Curse: Resources, Climate and Australia's Future
Australia is a wealthy nation with the economic profile of a developing country - heavy on raw materials, and low on innovation and skilled manufacturing. Once we rode on the sheep's back for our overseas trade; today we rely on cartloads of coal and tankers of LNG. So must we double down on fossil fuels, now that COVID-19 has halted the flow of international students and tourists? Or is there a better way forward, which supports renewable energy and local manufacturing? Judith Brett traces the unusual history of Australia's economy and the ''resource curse'' that has shaped our politics. She shows how the mining industry learnt to run fear campaigns, and how the Coalition became dominated by fossil-fuel interests to the exclusion of other voices. In this insightful essay about leadership, vision and history, she looks at the costs of Australia's coal addiction and asks, where will we be if the world stops buying it? ''Faced with the crisis of a global pandemic, for the first time in more than a decade Australia has had evidence-based, bipartisan policy-making. Politicians have listened to the scientists and �?� put ideology and the protection of vested interests aside and behaved like adults. Can they do the same to commit to fast and effective action to try to save our children's and grandchildren's future, to prevent the catastrophic fires and heatwaves the scientists predict, the species extinction and the famines?'' Judith Brett, The Coal Curse
136 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2020
19 people are currently reading
103 people want to read
About the author
Judith Brett
22 books23 followersJudith Brett is the author of Quarterly Essay 19, Relaxed and Comfortable: The Liberal Party’s Australia, Robert Menzies’ Forgotten People and Australian Liberals and the Moral Middle Class: From Alfred Deakin to John Howard and a regular commentator for The Monthly. She is professor of politics at La Trobe University.
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January 27, 2021A good summary of Australia's reliance on fossil fuel exporting and the failure of recent governments to address climate change but I wish it had been more analytic in the latter half, even in the last quarter. But I did think this did a good job at outlining how each successive government has failed to address the same problem in slightly different ways.
July 26, 2020
In The Coal Curse, Judith Brett provides a succinct history of the role of fossil fuels in Australian politics and its economy.
The essay commences by tracing the history of tariffs in Australia and how, in the absence of high tariff walls, Australia took the easy way out by digging up the ground rather than also focussing on valued-added manufacturing enterprises; so much so, that in 2018-19, coal, LNG and iron ore accounted for 41.8% of Australia’s export income. Brett reports that this has prompted the Harvard Atlas, an index of a country’s diversity and complexity of exports, to rank Australia 93 of 133 countries, beside Senegal and Pakistan. All other OECD countries ranked well above Australia. Brett quotes the Australian Financial Review headline on this topic: ”Australia is rich, dumb and getting dumber.”
Having dealt with the issue of tariffs and Australia’s over-reliance on fossil fuel industries for its export income, Brett turns her attention to climate change. In the most revealing part of the essay, Brett recounts how the mining industry cut its public relations teeth on its unethical and shameful campaign against Aboriginal land rights, and that, aided and abetted by Australia’s right-wing media, went on to spend millions of advertising dollars successfully opposing the Labour Government's super tax on minerals which would have benefitted the nation.
Brett outlines how the mining industry, now utilising its significant lobbying powers, went about advocating scepticism about climate change and how it pushed the notion that dealing with climate change would bring about a huge loss of jobs around Australia. It was with great surprise, then, to read that the mining industry accounts for only 1.9 % of the work force in Australia, and with robotics, is becoming even less so as we speak.
In the final paragraphs, Brett does offer some optimism. Perhaps COVID-19 has taught Australia that it needs to focus more on manufacturing; at least sufficient to ensure that it has a home-grown PPE and ventilator industry! Brett also references Ros Garnaut’s book Superpower: Australia’s low-carbon opportunity which, as the name suggests, presents climate change as opportunity rather than a a threat.
It is debatable whether Australian governments, particularly the current Coalition, has sufficient vision, bravery or values to take advantage of such an opportunity.
The essay commences by tracing the history of tariffs in Australia and how, in the absence of high tariff walls, Australia took the easy way out by digging up the ground rather than also focussing on valued-added manufacturing enterprises; so much so, that in 2018-19, coal, LNG and iron ore accounted for 41.8% of Australia’s export income. Brett reports that this has prompted the Harvard Atlas, an index of a country’s diversity and complexity of exports, to rank Australia 93 of 133 countries, beside Senegal and Pakistan. All other OECD countries ranked well above Australia. Brett quotes the Australian Financial Review headline on this topic: ”Australia is rich, dumb and getting dumber.”
Having dealt with the issue of tariffs and Australia’s over-reliance on fossil fuel industries for its export income, Brett turns her attention to climate change. In the most revealing part of the essay, Brett recounts how the mining industry cut its public relations teeth on its unethical and shameful campaign against Aboriginal land rights, and that, aided and abetted by Australia’s right-wing media, went on to spend millions of advertising dollars successfully opposing the Labour Government's super tax on minerals which would have benefitted the nation.
Brett outlines how the mining industry, now utilising its significant lobbying powers, went about advocating scepticism about climate change and how it pushed the notion that dealing with climate change would bring about a huge loss of jobs around Australia. It was with great surprise, then, to read that the mining industry accounts for only 1.9 % of the work force in Australia, and with robotics, is becoming even less so as we speak.
In the final paragraphs, Brett does offer some optimism. Perhaps COVID-19 has taught Australia that it needs to focus more on manufacturing; at least sufficient to ensure that it has a home-grown PPE and ventilator industry! Brett also references Ros Garnaut’s book Superpower: Australia’s low-carbon opportunity which, as the name suggests, presents climate change as opportunity rather than a a threat.
It is debatable whether Australian governments, particularly the current Coalition, has sufficient vision, bravery or values to take advantage of such an opportunity.
January 25, 2024
Judith Brett's Quarterly Essay 78, "The Coal Curse," written in 2020, offers a compelling exploration of Australia's complex relationship with coal. With meticulous research and a keen analytical eye, Brett delves into the historical, political, and environmental dimensions of Australia's coal industry. The essay traces the nation's reliance on coal from its early days to the present, unraveling the intricate web of economic interests, political decisions, and cultural factors that have sustained this dependence.
Brett carefully navigates the nuances of the coal debate, acknowledging the industry's economic significance while critiquing its environmental and social consequences. She weaves together narratives of communities affected by coal mining, shedding light on the human side of the energy dilemma. The author's measured prose and thoughtful insights make the essay accessible to a wide audience, inviting readers to contemplate the trade-offs between economic prosperity and ecological sustainability.
"The Coal Curse" serves as a timely contribution to the broader discourse on climate change and energy transitions. Brett challenges prevailing attitudes towards coal, urging readers to reconsider the costs associated with its continued dominance in Australia's energy landscape. Thought-provoking and thoroughly researched, this Quarterly Essay invites readers to engage in a nuanced reflection on the choices and challenges that define Australia's energy future.
Brett carefully navigates the nuances of the coal debate, acknowledging the industry's economic significance while critiquing its environmental and social consequences. She weaves together narratives of communities affected by coal mining, shedding light on the human side of the energy dilemma. The author's measured prose and thoughtful insights make the essay accessible to a wide audience, inviting readers to contemplate the trade-offs between economic prosperity and ecological sustainability.
"The Coal Curse" serves as a timely contribution to the broader discourse on climate change and energy transitions. Brett challenges prevailing attitudes towards coal, urging readers to reconsider the costs associated with its continued dominance in Australia's energy landscape. Thought-provoking and thoroughly researched, this Quarterly Essay invites readers to engage in a nuanced reflection on the choices and challenges that define Australia's energy future.
January 6, 2021
Another great one from Judith Brett. This aims to put a historical, political, geopolitical, and economic lens over Australia's addiction to coal exports. It's a solid account of how we got here, the myriad internal and external factors at play, the main culprits and accidental elements, as well as why it's so politically hard to get any kind of bipartisan movement on climate change.
This is mainly a historical account (no surprise, Brett is a historian and professor of politics). The suggestions for a path forward come late in the essay and mostly lean on Ross Garnaut's book Superpower: Australia's Low-Carbon Opportunity. That's next up on my reading list, but The Coal Curse does a fantastic job of laying out the formation of Australia's dual economy, blessed with natural resources and haunted by the tumultuous export economics that come with it, and a mismanaged manufacturing sector which swung from overly protected to neglected.
This is mainly a historical account (no surprise, Brett is a historian and professor of politics). The suggestions for a path forward come late in the essay and mostly lean on Ross Garnaut's book Superpower: Australia's Low-Carbon Opportunity. That's next up on my reading list, but The Coal Curse does a fantastic job of laying out the formation of Australia's dual economy, blessed with natural resources and haunted by the tumultuous export economics that come with it, and a mismanaged manufacturing sector which swung from overly protected to neglected.
October 25, 2020
Super interesting analysis on the Australian economy and our reliance on coal. Insight into how limited and and lacking in diversity our economy is and how we need to move towards manafacturing and industry rather than fossil fuels.
October 25, 2020
Do we have any hope at all?
"You should keep an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out." - Michael Mann, climate scientist
June 26, 2020
Quarri Australis
June 23, 2020
Compelling analysis on Australia’s resource sector and its power over Australian politics, including the failure to really recognise or deal with climate change - particularly frustrating as Judith notes, when we were facing the catastrophic “Black Summer” fire season. Worth reading for the current state of Australian politics and some thoughts on the future. Judith Brett is one of my favourite Quarterly Essay authors, with her fair-minded yet compelling articles on the Liberal Party such as Relaxed and Comfortable (QE19) and Exit Right (QE 28). The correspondence on the previous edition Cry Me a River was very interesting too. I recently got a subscription and have been reading through the e-book versions, but the physical copy is very nice.
June 23, 2020
A great exploration into Australia's dependence on coal and resource exports over a period of many decades. Hopefully can shift the debate slightly, we need something to cut through and to end the decades of insufficient action and 'climate wars'.
Australia's coal curse is one of our greatest shames.
Australia's coal curse is one of our greatest shames.
August 9, 2020
A solid economic history of Australia; from wool to gold to an insular manufacturing sector protected from competition by tariffs. For the most part, this is well-trodden ground. Brett then explores the way Australia's export economy has been underpinned by the resources sector and shines a light on successful advocacy of the mining lobby. The demise of the Resources Super Profits Tax and the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme was largely attributed to its efforts.
At times, Brett moulds economic history to suit her narrative, with barely a cursory glance paid to booming city-based services sectors (international education and tourism are now - or at least, were, pre-COVID19 - two of Australia's largest export sectors). For much of the essay, the mining sector is more or less conflated with fossil fuels - inaccurately so, as iron ore is Australia's largest export. As Brett herself says towards the end, there are opportunities for Australia processing metals onshore using growing supplies of renewable electricity. This is an interesting overview - particularly insofar as it tells the story of the mining lobby's successful advocacy - but I finished the essay a little uncertain of the point it was trying to make.
At times, Brett moulds economic history to suit her narrative, with barely a cursory glance paid to booming city-based services sectors (international education and tourism are now - or at least, were, pre-COVID19 - two of Australia's largest export sectors). For much of the essay, the mining sector is more or less conflated with fossil fuels - inaccurately so, as iron ore is Australia's largest export. As Brett herself says towards the end, there are opportunities for Australia processing metals onshore using growing supplies of renewable electricity. This is an interesting overview - particularly insofar as it tells the story of the mining lobby's successful advocacy - but I finished the essay a little uncertain of the point it was trying to make.
July 24, 2020
Sort of tells a cute story but nothing particularly new or insightful. Brett says she is writing an "economic history" and to some extent she delivers, but history is best with some analysis and reflection, which felt sadly lacking.
July 30, 2020
“The mining industry’s campaign against land rights and native title gave it the capacity to mount public relations and advertising campaigns and the confidence that it could win; and it created a network of influential right-wing warriors primed to defend Australia’s existing distribution of power and resources. When climate change began seriously to threaten fossil-fuel miners at the end of last century, they knew what to do.”
Judith Brett’s Quarterly Essay ‘The Coal Curse’ has been promoted as yet another expose of the pernicious influence of the coal lobby on Australian politics: stifling action on climate change, and preventing us from becoming the renewable energy superpower which we are always told we are about to become, but somehow never get there. This story has been told many times. What Brett does is give us a political history of the resources sector that sets its campaigning against climate change action along a continuum with its campaign against Indigenous Land Rights. Thus the anti climate action politics of the resources industry is a continuation of colonialism with another face. Brett doesn’t use the terminology of ‘decolonisation’, however it’s interesting to consider the assumption that mining companies have both the ‘right’ to exploit indigenous lands, and to be protected from replacement by renewables, as reflecting an overall Euro-centric world view. Australia is only valuable for what the colonisers can extract from it.
That perspective has been fully concentrated and distilled into the current policies of the National Party - which the mining industry has transformed (almost by accident) from a farmer’s party into a miners party. Brett points out that the National’s traditional ideology of ‘country-mindedness’, which sees rural (white) folk as morally better than deracinated city folk, now prioritises the needs of miners. This is despite the reality that, as the fracking debate shows, farm and mine interests are by no means the same. Nevertheless National Party politicians such as former resources Minister Matt Canavan have seamlessly adapted country-mindedness to the needs of the coal industry. He summed it up during one of the Coalition’s leadership debates thus:
“Our wealth-producing industries, like farming, mining and manufacturing, have never been under greater attack. Farmers have had their land rights stripped off them, dams are stopped because of some snail or frog and mines get sabotaged by rich, city-based whingers who threaten and bully law-abiding businesses.”
The Nationals, with their geographically concentrated support base, were particularly vulnerable to a coal industry takeover. However Brett makes clear that the other major parties are hardly immune from the influence of the resources sector. The Liberals benefit from being in Coalition with the Nationals, and therefore can afford to take a more ‘balanced’ view of renewables for city voters while the Nats do the heavy lifting in ‘coal country’. Labor however needs to win seats in both rural mining regions and the city - where it competes with the Greens. In party political terms, the resources industry has found itself an untouchable sweet spot. However Brett makes clear that the long term global future of coal is still bleak. The industry in Australia is effectively surviving on political engineering.
Another part of Brett’s essay is an elegy for Australian manufacturing. While there is much nostalgia for the era of ‘Hawke-Keating economic reform’ it is often forgotten that the principal aim of those reforms was to provide Australia with an elaborately transformed manufacturing export industry. This was to replace domestic focussed, tariff protected manufacturing whose relative decline and lack of innovation was the original reason for Paul Keating’s famous ‘banana republic’ speech. Much of the work on manufacturing industry restructuring in 1980s and early 1990s however, ended up going to waste in the late 1990s and 2000s. The rise of China to dominate global manufacturing made it hard for Australian manufacturers to compete on both imports and exports. Meanwhile the resources industry, with new markets in China, thrived and drove up the value of the Australia dollar accordingly - squeezing local manufacturers even more so. Both the Howard, and later Abbott Coalition governments tended to see manufacturing (particularly the car industry) as ‘Labor’ - with industry lobby links and unionised workforces. Therefore Liberal Treasurer Joe Hockey’s effective expulsion of the last of the car industry was a highly symbolic moment. Australian capitalism is now entirely a resources capitalism, with coal at the centre unable to be dislodged.
Brett has produced a highly readable account of the ‘coal curse’ which, while a familiar tale, has enough new material to make it worth your time. She makes it clear that Australian industry has really no way forward other than through renewable energy technologies. Because however ‘innovative’ the mining industry becomes - by locking the gate politically on climate change action it will ensure the Australian economy is left behind by the rest the world.
Judith Brett’s Quarterly Essay ‘The Coal Curse’ has been promoted as yet another expose of the pernicious influence of the coal lobby on Australian politics: stifling action on climate change, and preventing us from becoming the renewable energy superpower which we are always told we are about to become, but somehow never get there. This story has been told many times. What Brett does is give us a political history of the resources sector that sets its campaigning against climate change action along a continuum with its campaign against Indigenous Land Rights. Thus the anti climate action politics of the resources industry is a continuation of colonialism with another face. Brett doesn’t use the terminology of ‘decolonisation’, however it’s interesting to consider the assumption that mining companies have both the ‘right’ to exploit indigenous lands, and to be protected from replacement by renewables, as reflecting an overall Euro-centric world view. Australia is only valuable for what the colonisers can extract from it.
That perspective has been fully concentrated and distilled into the current policies of the National Party - which the mining industry has transformed (almost by accident) from a farmer’s party into a miners party. Brett points out that the National’s traditional ideology of ‘country-mindedness’, which sees rural (white) folk as morally better than deracinated city folk, now prioritises the needs of miners. This is despite the reality that, as the fracking debate shows, farm and mine interests are by no means the same. Nevertheless National Party politicians such as former resources Minister Matt Canavan have seamlessly adapted country-mindedness to the needs of the coal industry. He summed it up during one of the Coalition’s leadership debates thus:
“Our wealth-producing industries, like farming, mining and manufacturing, have never been under greater attack. Farmers have had their land rights stripped off them, dams are stopped because of some snail or frog and mines get sabotaged by rich, city-based whingers who threaten and bully law-abiding businesses.”
The Nationals, with their geographically concentrated support base, were particularly vulnerable to a coal industry takeover. However Brett makes clear that the other major parties are hardly immune from the influence of the resources sector. The Liberals benefit from being in Coalition with the Nationals, and therefore can afford to take a more ‘balanced’ view of renewables for city voters while the Nats do the heavy lifting in ‘coal country’. Labor however needs to win seats in both rural mining regions and the city - where it competes with the Greens. In party political terms, the resources industry has found itself an untouchable sweet spot. However Brett makes clear that the long term global future of coal is still bleak. The industry in Australia is effectively surviving on political engineering.
Another part of Brett’s essay is an elegy for Australian manufacturing. While there is much nostalgia for the era of ‘Hawke-Keating economic reform’ it is often forgotten that the principal aim of those reforms was to provide Australia with an elaborately transformed manufacturing export industry. This was to replace domestic focussed, tariff protected manufacturing whose relative decline and lack of innovation was the original reason for Paul Keating’s famous ‘banana republic’ speech. Much of the work on manufacturing industry restructuring in 1980s and early 1990s however, ended up going to waste in the late 1990s and 2000s. The rise of China to dominate global manufacturing made it hard for Australian manufacturers to compete on both imports and exports. Meanwhile the resources industry, with new markets in China, thrived and drove up the value of the Australia dollar accordingly - squeezing local manufacturers even more so. Both the Howard, and later Abbott Coalition governments tended to see manufacturing (particularly the car industry) as ‘Labor’ - with industry lobby links and unionised workforces. Therefore Liberal Treasurer Joe Hockey’s effective expulsion of the last of the car industry was a highly symbolic moment. Australian capitalism is now entirely a resources capitalism, with coal at the centre unable to be dislodged.
Brett has produced a highly readable account of the ‘coal curse’ which, while a familiar tale, has enough new material to make it worth your time. She makes it clear that Australian industry has really no way forward other than through renewable energy technologies. Because however ‘innovative’ the mining industry becomes - by locking the gate politically on climate change action it will ensure the Australian economy is left behind by the rest the world.
July 29, 2020
This essay with its evocative title is a comprehensive survey of how Australia came to have its current paralysis on the matter of climate change.
This year's Melbourne Writers Festival is offering two sessions on this topic, and I have tickets for both of them. The first one, on Saturday August 8th and titled 'A Matter of Fact' features Ketan Joshi and Judith Brett, focusing on how this critical issue has been hijacked. This is the session description on the MWF website:
(I've also got tickets for 'Australia's Response to Climate Change', more about that later.)
I haven't been able to get a copy of Joshi's book because it's not due for release till September, but The Coal Curse was already on my TBR because I subscribe to Quarterly Essay.
Judith Brett is a professor of politics so she is well placed to illuminate the sad and sorry story of our coal curse. She begins with an invidious comparison:
What should protect us from this fate is a strong civil society, functioning democratic institutions and the rule of law, working together to prevent corruption and nurture a diverse economy. Byt what has happened instead is that our advantage in mineral and agricultural commodities has been wasted, and worse, cynical operators in big business and in politics have propped up an industry which is a declining sector of world trade, and damaged Australia's international reputation into the bargain. When Harvard University's Centre for International Development ranked economies by their diversity and complexity in order to assess their potential for growth, Australia came in at number 93 of 133 economies among countries that we used to call the 'third world'. Worse, our position is falling. New Zealand came in at 51, and all the other OECD countries were at the top of the pack. The cause is the resources boom which made us rich but also made us reliant on other countries buying our minerals. Brett is blunt: from the Harvard perspective, we are a dumb country with a weak industrial base and poor prospects.
Well, it's not as bad as that. Before COVID-19 we had thriving tourism and education industries which brought in foreign income.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2020/07/29/t...
This year's Melbourne Writers Festival is offering two sessions on this topic, and I have tickets for both of them. The first one, on Saturday August 8th and titled 'A Matter of Fact' features Ketan Joshi and Judith Brett, focusing on how this critical issue has been hijacked. This is the session description on the MWF website:
As certain branches across politics and the media push mistruths, half-truths and lies about the cause and severity of the climate crisis in Australia, identifying reliable, science-backed information is increasingly a challenge.
But how do we identify misinformation in the battle against climate change, and what can we do to counter it? Academic Judith Brett (The Coal Curse) and renewable energy expert Ketan Joshi (Windfall) join Graham Readfearn in conversation.
(I've also got tickets for 'Australia's Response to Climate Change', more about that later.)
I haven't been able to get a copy of Joshi's book because it's not due for release till September, but The Coal Curse was already on my TBR because I subscribe to Quarterly Essay.
Judith Brett is a professor of politics so she is well placed to illuminate the sad and sorry story of our coal curse. She begins with an invidious comparison:
The term 'resource curse' was first used by the British economist Richard Auty in 1993 to explain why some resource-rich countries suffer from slow development and corrupt, authoritarian political elites: for example, Nigeria, Angola, Venezuela. At worst, the country embarks on a spending spree, using the export income earned to buy expensive imports, and is left with little when the limited resources run out, as happened most notoriously with Nauru. For a few decades, the money flowed from its phosphate deposits, but when the phosphate ran out, the economy collapsed. (p.9-10)
What should protect us from this fate is a strong civil society, functioning democratic institutions and the rule of law, working together to prevent corruption and nurture a diverse economy. Byt what has happened instead is that our advantage in mineral and agricultural commodities has been wasted, and worse, cynical operators in big business and in politics have propped up an industry which is a declining sector of world trade, and damaged Australia's international reputation into the bargain. When Harvard University's Centre for International Development ranked economies by their diversity and complexity in order to assess their potential for growth, Australia came in at number 93 of 133 economies among countries that we used to call the 'third world'. Worse, our position is falling. New Zealand came in at 51, and all the other OECD countries were at the top of the pack. The cause is the resources boom which made us rich but also made us reliant on other countries buying our minerals. Brett is blunt: from the Harvard perspective, we are a dumb country with a weak industrial base and poor prospects.
Well, it's not as bad as that. Before COVID-19 we had thriving tourism and education industries which brought in foreign income.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2020/07/29/t...
August 16, 2020
There are quite a number of countries that have the blessing and curse of being richly endowered in mineral wealth and who subsequently rely considerably on the wealth that the mineral brings to the country. Several African countries, Middle East countries, closer to home Nauru is a classic example. It was wholly dependent on phosphate and when they disappeared they had to resort to taking Australian rejected refugees.
Since white settlement Australia has relied on its mineral wealth. In the mid nineteenth century it was gold. In the latter quarter of the twentieth century it has been coal, iron ore and an assortment of other precious metals.
The men who benefitted from the wealth created were tenacious in their protection of the wealth they gained. Their destruction of PM Rudd’s resources super profit tax and any subsequent legislation linked to climate change were examples of the power of these people.
Brett mentions Hugh Morgan a previous CEO of Western Mining Corporation. I vividly remember him attacking any decisions or policies that adversely affected the mining industry.
I don’t think Morgan would be as successful today with attacks on Aborigines and their pleas for control over their land. Hopefully Rio Tinto’s demolition of 46,000-year-old Aboriginal Juukan Gorge caves will be the last time a mining company can so randomly destroy Aboriginal historical sites.
The elephant in the room with this essay is that the Australian electorate has readily embraced legislation that has benefited the mining industry. Patently illustrated in the 2019 election, especially in the state of Queensland. Whether this will change in the future is doubtful. The Australian electorate sees the mining industry as a large employer and an industry that is essential for the wealth creation in this country. They have held this belief for many decades and there does not appear to be any change in the foreseeable future.
Since white settlement Australia has relied on its mineral wealth. In the mid nineteenth century it was gold. In the latter quarter of the twentieth century it has been coal, iron ore and an assortment of other precious metals.
The men who benefitted from the wealth created were tenacious in their protection of the wealth they gained. Their destruction of PM Rudd’s resources super profit tax and any subsequent legislation linked to climate change were examples of the power of these people.
Brett mentions Hugh Morgan a previous CEO of Western Mining Corporation. I vividly remember him attacking any decisions or policies that adversely affected the mining industry.
I don’t think Morgan would be as successful today with attacks on Aborigines and their pleas for control over their land. Hopefully Rio Tinto’s demolition of 46,000-year-old Aboriginal Juukan Gorge caves will be the last time a mining company can so randomly destroy Aboriginal historical sites.
The elephant in the room with this essay is that the Australian electorate has readily embraced legislation that has benefited the mining industry. Patently illustrated in the 2019 election, especially in the state of Queensland. Whether this will change in the future is doubtful. The Australian electorate sees the mining industry as a large employer and an industry that is essential for the wealth creation in this country. They have held this belief for many decades and there does not appear to be any change in the foreseeable future.
December 11, 2024
anti science, the Harvard list of development
Australia is rich, dumb and getting dumber…
as a person with a geology degree, I cannot believe Australia was this stupid… but here we are, and we STILL ARE here while the mining industry maintains its stranglehold on the press.
Rupert f***cking Murdoch… is responsible for so much.
look, no brains…
this was written whilst Morrison was PM and before we realised he had given himself authority to act in SIX different ministries. I think things he illegally authorised will come back to bite us.
and the current [2024] Labor government… it is somehow worse to have them be so bad in government; it extinguishes that last flickering flame of hope.
She ends with the argument that bipartisan support existed for scientists in the global pandemic, can they do that for impending climate change.
I’m sorry, Judith, the answer is no.
Twenty years of funding climate science scepticism damaged more than just climate science.
4 stars
Australia is rich, dumb and getting dumber…
as a person with a geology degree, I cannot believe Australia was this stupid… but here we are, and we STILL ARE here while the mining industry maintains its stranglehold on the press.
Rupert f***cking Murdoch… is responsible for so much.
look, no brains…
this was written whilst Morrison was PM and before we realised he had given himself authority to act in SIX different ministries. I think things he illegally authorised will come back to bite us.
and the current [2024] Labor government… it is somehow worse to have them be so bad in government; it extinguishes that last flickering flame of hope.
She ends with the argument that bipartisan support existed for scientists in the global pandemic, can they do that for impending climate change.
I’m sorry, Judith, the answer is no.
Twenty years of funding climate science scepticism damaged more than just climate science.
4 stars
July 27, 2020
A highly informative and well-written essay on the curse of coal. If you are not familiar with the issue, or why, as a nation we are still hung up on coal, Judith Brett’s essay will certainly enlighten you. Ms Brett takes the time to explain the nature of our exports, explains why Australia has lost its way by not diversifying its exports. More importantly, we are also informed of how the fossil fuel lobbyists have influenced our politicians by denigrating the science behind climate change.
Ms Brett does end the essay on hope: that if bipartisanship can be achieved so quickly during the age of the novel coronavirus to take decisive action for the collective good of our nation, then it can be same for the fossil fuels.
Ms Brett does end the essay on hope: that if bipartisanship can be achieved so quickly during the age of the novel coronavirus to take decisive action for the collective good of our nation, then it can be same for the fossil fuels.
December 1, 2020
A fine example of investigative journalism. Though it did at times to be one sided. It explored the links between Big business, lobby groups and the governments of an within Australia. One of the interesting points made by the essay was that the National party rather than supporting the farmers was now supporting the fossil fuel mining industry. This way the government has been undermined in its efforts to engage in the global fight against climate change.
After that we had reviews and restatements of the main arguments in "Cry me a River".
After that we had reviews and restatements of the main arguments in "Cry me a River".
September 19, 2020
A highly prescient book - although, to be fair, not much prescience is required to see that conservative governments in Australia will continue to support the mining lobby even unto death. Brett provides a clear a lucid account of the mining industry's growth into a lobbying machine of frightening power in the years since 1972, and their almost total capture of the Liberal Party and actual total capture of the National Party. Sadly, given Morrison's insistence on a "Gas-Led Recovery" for Australia's post-covid economy, it does not seem like the book's warning was heeded. Still, an excellent primer for understanding how things got this way.
February 16, 2023
Judith Brett's essay offers an insightful and thought-provoking analysis of Australia's economy and its heavy reliance on coal and other fossil fuels. In addition, her piece raises important questions about Australia's future and the need for action to address the threats of climate change, species extinction, and other environmental challenges. Additionally, Brett shows how the mining industry has used fear campaigns to dominate politics and policy-making to exclude other voices. Overall, this quarterly essay is a compelling and well-researched analysis that offers a valuable perspective on Australia's economy and environmental challenges.
July 10, 2021
Short and easy to follow, this essay was actually surprisingly interesting. I found Brett's whining about "old white males" lame and predictable, but on the whole she actually addresses the issue with more balance than I might have expected. She also draws some interesting links between the right-wing rhetoric against Aboriginal land-rights and that more recently employed against responses to climate change.
May 13, 2022
Her essay is in two parts: first, a historic overview of how Australia came to become ‘resource cursed’ and second, how the resource lobby has captured successive Australian governments, but most particularly the Liberal/National Party coalition.
See my review here:
https://residentjudge.com/2022/05/13/...
See my review here:
https://residentjudge.com/2022/05/13/...
July 14, 2020
Clear, direct and well argued - making plain for all to see the power of the fossil fuel lobby. Based on economic history this essay shows why for the most part Australia just can’t “get things done”. Sobering, but an aid to understanding. The rest is up to you.
September 23, 2020
interesting read to get a better understanding of why the Australian economy is structured the way it is. Restructuring it to include manufactoring again seems like the challenging path forward for Australia.
October 9, 2020
Provides a valuable history of Australia's resource-dependent past and present and explores how this dependence continues to stifle debate surrounding the nation's economic future in a time of climate catastrophe.
December 27, 2020
Very well researched and written commentary on the place of coal in the Australian economy. I was particularly struck by just how few jobs there are in the mining sector, particularly compared to the proportion of the export income it generates. Well worth reading, would like to do so again.
February 8, 2021
Excellent overview of the dangers of coal and climate change and how the Australian government is not facing up to the challenges. Our lopsided economy is too dependent on mining which is a very fickle business. Manufacturing is more stable but our manufacturing is not very competitive and has been decimated by the effects of mining on our currency (Dutch disease). Manufacturing used to be a third of gdp but is now only 6%.
August 19, 2020
An in-depth analysis of the climate wars which have frozen environmental policy in Australia for decades, and a glimpse at the choices in the road ahead
October 25, 2020
Excellent reading. A good summary of the dire situation of Australia's reliance on mining and the damage it has done to other sections of the economy. Well worth a look.
January 12, 2021
Wish it was less an essay and more a novel, there's much more I need to be filled in on!
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