Australia’s democracy in thrall to the mining giants
The super-rich in this country, the owners of the mines and the banks in particular, exert huge pressure on the government to get exactly what they want, and to stall, co-opt or shut down any possible threat to their continual profit expansion.
It is also very clear that BHP, Rio Tinto other big fossil fuel companies simply will not stop until they have extracted every last drop of oil, pound of coal or gas from the ground in their insatiable search for profits. By that time it will be too late.
This election, ‘fight for a meaningful democracy’ Green Left, , July 13, 2013 By Liam Flenady – We all know that Australia has experienced an unprecedented mining boom over the past decade. This boom is slowing now, but it is still producing huge wealth.
Over the last decade, profits of the mining companies have gone up by 400%. The big mining corporations now make almost a quarter of all profits in this country. Gina Rinehart now has a net wealth of $29 billion.
In the same period, the effective tax rate of the mining companies has plummeted from 40% down to just 13.9%. This is a disgracefully low figure.
The banks have also greatly benefited. At a time when the global economy is in crisis, Australia’s big four banks have been making huge profits. An article in the Sydney Morning Herald revealed that the four big banks made $27 billion in profit this year — a record.
And at the same time, nearly 3 million people in this country are living below the poverty line. The poorest 20% of the population own only 1% of the wealth, and the poorest 60% — that is, the majority — own less than 20%.
-……The super-rich in this country, the owners of the mines and the banks in particular, exert huge pressure on the government to get exactly what they want, and to stall, co-opt or shut down any possible threat to their continual profit expansion.
It is not possible to have meaningful democracy in this country without bringing these sectors under democratic public ownership.
Aboriginal people won’t get a real say over what happens to their lands until we break the entrenched power of this belligerent oligarchy.
Our elected representatives will not represent us if they are dominated, willingly or unwillingly, by these greedy masters.
Climate change raises this issue of political and economic power in a more frightening and critical way than perhaps ever before.
Earlier this year scientists measured 400ppm of carbon dioxide in the air for the first time — well beyond the 350ppm needed to maintain a stable biosphere.
The science is very clear — we have to reduce our emissions to zero immediately and move to a much more sustainable economic model.
It is also very clear that BHP, Rio Tinto other big fossil fuel companies simply will not stop until they have extracted every last drop of oil, pound of coal or gas from the ground in their insatiable search for profits. By that time it will be too late.
– See more at: http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/54498#sthash.vRakDof3.dpuf
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