Informative video into the history of trying to tax the mining industry in Australia, and the extensive lobbying and media control that the mining industry has. Would love to know your opinions on this.
Just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it can’t be done… I feel like he’s got a defeatist attitude toward politics, where if something fails it’s not worth trying again. But, social change takes time and persistence. I think being moderate right now is a pretty sure way to lose elections. Because, people aren’t happy. People are wanting changes.
I agree, but I think his closing statement says more about his position than anything else. “Losers fight battles that are already lost, winners look for new battlegrounds.” Which I agree with, it’s pessimistic to say that mining corps have won. But it’s true. Labor will need to move to ‘new battlegrounds’ to have any chance, the example provided was the Future Made in Australia proposal. Jordie helped me connect the dots that THIS is the new battleground. Government owned industry in the next advancement of infrastructure/electricity.
long story short … No
Why not?
The Minerals Council, LNP and News Corp won’t allow it. The ALP will face a coup if they attempt it (the mining industry removed Kevin Rudd over the superprofit tax)
We have a very lopsided resource based economy where a small number of people have an outsized influence and their power isn’t balanced by competing interests or a diverse media. The mineral rights are all privately owned and those owners aggressively pursue their interests above the interests of Australia and Australians. In Norway the state owns many of the most profitable oil fields. Saudi Aramco is also state owned. In Australia the oligarchs own us.
rhymes with Coup d’état
Most people don’t realize that well over 80% of “our” mining industry is foreign owned. I would bet a significant amount of foreign intelligence activity in Australia is concerned with protecting foreign commercial interests. Little old Australia bugged the East Timor government to steal their mineral wealth. Now imagine what bigger countries like the US, UK, China etc get up to. It might not be tanks on the street stuff but foreign involvement in “soft” regime change here isn’t fanciful.
