Donations to Political parties reap #millions in subsidies to fossil fuel industry
Fossil-fuel industry gets $2,000 in ‘subsidies’ for each $1 in party donations
Activist group 350.org claims fossil-fuel companies’ $3.7m donations to Liberal, National and Labor parties taints the electoral process, Guardian, Michael Slezak 17 Feb 16 Major political parties have receive $3.7m in donations from fossil-fuel companies since the last election, and will deliver $2,000 in subsidies to the industry for every dollar donated, according to a 350.org report.
“The ongoing failure of our politicians to tackle climate change is directly attributable to the political influence of the fossil-fuel industry,” said Blair Palese, the chief executive of 350.org Australia.
“If we are serious about climate solutions, we must end the cosy relationship between our politicians and the big polluters.” (Below donations by mining industries)
The activist organisation has launched the report alongside a campaign asking individual federal politicians to sign a “pollution-free politics pledge”, where they commit to refuse donations from the fossil-fuel industry.
It has already been signed by all federal Greens politicians, independents Cathy McGowan and Andrew Wilkie, and outgoing Labor MPs Melissa Parke and Kelvin Thomson.
A list of those who have signed is being curated by 350.org.
“The corrupting influence of political donations that the Liberal, National and Labor parties receive from the fossil-fuel sector will only stop when these donations are banned,” said Greens senator Lee Rhiannon.
The Greens have a bill before parliament seeking to ban political donations from the mining sector, and Rhiannon said the campaign to win support for the bill would be “cranked up” in response to the report.
Parke said: “I am a strong supporter of action on climate change and I am against subsidies for the fossil-fuel industry. I would like to see greater restrictions on the influence of that industry.”
The report looked at donations declared to the Australian Electoral Commission since the last federal election, which amounted to $3.69m. It then calculated the combined value of four tax rebates and credits that would be used by the fossil-fuel industry in the 2016-2017 financial year, which it estimated would amount to $7.7bn………
Charlie Wood, from 350.org, said: “The fact is it’s still a massive refund for the fossil-fuel companies.
“The sorts of activities that they are being supported by taxpayers to do are causing damage to the communities and the climate, and creating costs in the system that are then coming back to the taxpayer to pay for,” she said.
With a federal election due in 2016, Wood said 350.org would encourage more politicians to sign the pledge and would target those who have been fighting the hardest inside their parties to limit action on climate change. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/feb/17/fossil-fuel-industry-gives-37m-to-major-parties-and-gets-big-subsidy-in-return
No comments yet.
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 
Leave a comment