My dear old dad always used to say, “You get what you pay for in this life son.” We live in a democracy where every registered voter gets her or his say on who represents them in parliament. However, if you have a situation where certain sections of the electorate and economy are willing to pay to have their views heard and adhered to, then, we end up with a very uneven and corrupt democratic process. Whether it be political party donations or tacit understandings about post political career well paid jobs for the boys, influence is being bought here in Australia by sectors of industry. Australian political leaders run by vested interests.
“A 2018 study led by Griffith University and Transparency International Australia found that 85 per cent of Australians think at least ‘some’ federal politicians are corrupt, while 56 per cent had ‘personally witnessed or suspected’ public officials of making decisions that favoured a business or individual who gave them political donations or support. More shockingly, perhaps, the number was higher among those who had worked in government (61 per cent), and higher again among those who had worked in federal government (67 per cent).” https://grattan.edu.au/news/vested-interests-money-and-the-democratic-deficit/
Why Would this Australian Government Be Backing Coal in 2021?
The current coalition federal government is backing the wrong horse in the race, the fossil fuel industry. Why is it doing this in the face of domestic and international criticism from a wide range of respected sources? Public opinion is against building more coal mines and prolonging an industry that is bad for the planet’s future according to climate science. The rest of the western world is shutting down their reliance on coal and shifting to renewables in the energy sector. The money markets at home and abroad are not backing any new fossil fuel infrastructure projects. Why, then, are we seeing an Australian federal government unable to commit to zero increases in carbon emissions by 2050? Is this government under the control of vested interests from the coal industry and others directly affected by these proposed reductions in emissions?
“Australia is struggling with a political confidence crisis, Australia Talks has revealed. More than half of us think that corruption is commonplace. We don’t trust our politicians to do the right thing by us. And while we’re strongly of the view that they should resign if they lie, the data has revealed we’re also resigned to the likelihood that they will lie, and they’ll probably get away with it.”
Australia Lacks Real Political Leaders
We lack for real leaders in the Australian political system. We have generations of politicians who have cut their teeth on appealing to the self interest of vested sections of the economy and electorate. Party machines which feed on donations and representing the paid interests of these groups over the rest of the population. So many politicians become paid lobbyists once they have left office. Australians are more concerned with lining their bank accounts than doing the right thing. Industries like the fossil fuel sector have become very good at muddying the water when it comes to defining what is the right and moral thing. The science on climate change has been subject to well-funded campaigns designed to cast aspersions and throw doubt about. Public opinion makers have been paid to appeal to the ignorant and self-interested among us in delaying tactics over action on climate change. Some would say that we have been betrayed by our leaders in return for their thirty pieces of silver. Think about the loudest voices in this debate, the climate change deniers, and you will find that these individuals have benefitted via advertising dollars or some other form of investment which makes it into their bank accounts. I wonder if we will remember their names when the ship goes down, and millions of lives are lost globally due to catastrophic climate fuelled disasters?
How long will the Australian voting public put up with a government run by these vested interests protecting their own discredited sector? Australia is being hijacked by a reactionary conservative few to the detriment of the many. We cannot turn the clock back; we must move forward into the future. Our renewable energy sector has been held back for decades by these vested interests. Imagine where we would now be if we had properly backed renewables 20 years ago. A nation cannot be led by head in the sand political parties or the interests of those in regional areas wishing to maintain their lifestyles funded by industries damaging the planet. The tough decisions need to be made now and well-funded retraining schemes instigated to assist those adversely affected economically by what has to be done. Weak political leaders continually put off the hard decisions for others to make once they have departed the scene.
Where is the promised federal ICAC, which was promised in 2018? There seems to be no stomach for this in the Morrison government despite the promises. The coalition did not want a Royal Commission into the banking sector, saying that it did not warrant it. Lo and behold what did that Royal Commission find? Rampant fraudulent activity across the whole sector resulting in billions of dollars of rip offs from vulnerable Australians. The federal political system will, in all likelihood, provide similarly horrific levels of corruption and malfeasance. Australia, at the highest level, is an endemically infected sore waiting to be lanced and those in power are delaying as long as possible to avoid their involvement in the aftermath. They are banking on the renowned lackadaisical apathy of the Australian population and the self interest of the electorate to stave off any real enquiry. I suppose the deeper truth is that the ordinary Australian is only looking in the mirror when he or she sees corrupt politicians before them.