It would be to News Corp’s considerable advantage if that same result eventuated in Australia, with smaller competitors in an already marginal economic environment suffering a major loss in traffic…..
Showing posts with label Morrison Government. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Morrison Government. Show all posts
Monday 27 April 2020
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch yells ‘Jump!’ Frydenberg and Fletcher respond by leaping into battle
“News
Corp is an $8.6 billion corporation run from Sixth Avenue in New
York. It is controlled by the (American) Murdoch family. Its
exploits over seven decades have been as brutal and Darwinian as any
media company in history. It has regularly dispensed “we will wipe
you out” threats to small and large competitors across the world.
Now, we’re told, “international platforms” who have “no
commitment to local communities” are responsible for depriving 60
Australian local communities of the news they have depended on for
decades. At some point in Australian history, the malevolent abuse of
power by the billionaire family who milks its former colony will be
exposed.” [Crikey
Editor Eric
Beecher,
News
Corp’s abuse of power must be exposed — and stopped,
3 April 2020]
Australian
Treasurer & Liberal MP for Kooyong Josh Frydenberg
speaking at a joint
doorstop interview on 20 April 2020:
Well,
good morning. It’s a real pleasure to be here with my friend and
colleague, the Minister for Communications, Paul Fletcher. It’s
time the tech titans were held to account and we had genuine
competition, we have a level playing field, we have more transparency
and we get payment for original journalistic content. The rise of the
digital platforms, and in particular Google and Facebook have
delivered real and significant benefits to consumers. But it’s has
also been a period of great disruption. And it’s called into
question the adequacy of our existing regulatory frameworks and the
viability of traditional media outlets. This is why Scott Morrison,
when he was Treasurer,= tasked the ACCC to undertake a
ground-breaking report, a report that took them 18 months to put
together, into the digital platforms. The ACCC led by Rod Sims,
produced an outstanding report which made a number of
recommendations. Recommendations that the Government has accepted.
One of those key areas of focus for the ACCC was to develop a
voluntary code between the traditional media businesses and the
digital platforms to govern their relationships. Last year, the
Government announced that it hoped a voluntary code would be reached
by November of this year. Well those negotiations were held and no
meaningful progress was made on the most significant component of
which the code was to deal with, namely payment for content. And in
the words of the ACCC, they did not believe that progress would be
made and a deal would be done with a voluntary code. So the
Government's taken a decision to move to a mandatory code, with a
draft mandatory code to be released by the end of July and to be put
together by the ACCC. We hope it will be legislated soon thereafter.
We’re very conscious of the challenges we face and that we are
dealing with some of the most valuable and powerful companies in the
world. In France and in Spain and in other countries where they have
tried to bring these tech titans to the table to pay for content they
haven't been successful. But we believe this is a battle worth
fighting. We believe this is critical for the future viability of our
media sector and it's all about competition and creating a level
playing field. So together with Minister Fletcher and our colleagues
led by the Prime Minister, we will move with the ACCC to put together
this mandatory code in the weeks ahead and hopefully it will deliver
lasting reform for the sector and importantly, ensure that we have a
level playing field into the future…
the
ACCC is going to be looking at the method by which the payment for
content would occur. There are a number of different options. You can
do it on a value option or you can do it on a cost option, meaning
that the tech titans would end up paying a fraction of what the cost
was for producing that original content every time that they use it.
The other alternative is in terms of the value to that particular
digital platform that they get from getting eyeballs onto their sites
by using that content. So this is to be worked out by the ACCC over
the next three months. This is a very significant reform. It’s
about holding these tech titans to account. It’s about ensuring
genuine competition. It’s about delivering a level playing field.
It’s about keeping jobs in journalism, and it’s about ensuring a
fair outcome for all….
...these
are very profitable platforms so this may eat into their
profitability, to the Facebook’s and to the Google’s. But it’s
only understandable that they would be paying for that content that
they use to get traffic through their websites. You see the way
Google and Facebook operate is that they don’t necessarily charge a
fee for their service but they attract eyeballs onto their sites and
then sell the advertising that goes with it. So this is about
ensuring that they are genuinely rewarding and compensating the
content that they use….
...but
what was clear from the ACCC is that on the key issue of payment for
content, there wasn’t a hope that there would be a deal reached
between the parties. And the fact that we could not see a light at
the end of that tunnel meant that we would move from a voluntary code
which was the original intention, to a mandatory code which would be
legislated through the Parliament.
One
independent media company did not agree with Frydenberg’s
assessment of the situation.
Crikey,
23 April 2020:
Earlier
this week, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Communications Minister Paul
Fletcher got up and struck a blow for foreign multinational News Corp
in its ongoing war with the tech giants that have used innovation and
the internet to wreck the Murdochs’ media business model….
...government
has recycled demonstrable lies peddled by News Corp about how it is
being robbed by Google and Facebook, with the aim of helping prop up
News Corp’s failing Australian media businesses….
News
Corp charges that when Google (mostly) and Facebook use its headlines
and automatically generated “snippets” of News Corp stories on
their sites, they are stealing content, and should be made to pay for
it via a licence fee that will “reflect the financial benefit
digital platforms derive from using snippets”.
It
also complains that longer “snippets” deter people from clicking
through the attached link to the original story because they get all
they need from what’s displayed.
Except
the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) digital
platforms inquiry found
that News Corp’s claims don’t stack up.
Headlines
and snippets aren’t theft of content: “generally, digital
platforms’ use of article headlines is unlikely to infringe
copyright protections in Australia,” the ACCC noted. “Digital
platforms reproducing a snippet of a copyright-protected news article
does not infringe copyright protections if the snippet does not
reproduce a substantial part of the article.”
And
the ACCC found that the tech companies, media organisations and
consumers all
benefit
from the use of snippets. Specifically, “media businesses benefit
because a snippet provides context and an indication to the user of
the value of that content, increasing the likelihood of consumers
clicking through”.
Real-world
evidence backed this up. “As a result of a German copyright law
requiring Google to pay fees to publish snippets from news media
websites, Google stopped showing snippets from [media company Axel
Springer’s] news articles. Axel Springer noted that the lack of
snippets led to a nearly 40% decline in referral traffic from Google
Search and an almost 80% decline in referral traffic from the Google
News user interface”.
The
ACCC also “does not agree that longer snippet lengths necessarily
have a negative effect on referral traffic, with users remaining on
an aggregator or search platform rather than clicking through to a
news media business’s website”. As a result, it did not recommend
that a mandatory licence fee be imposed.
Where
it did agree with media companies is that they have little bargaining
power with Google et al when it comes to the length and composition
of snippets. They can block Google from automatically generating
snippets, but beyond being able to “opt out”, they have no way of
managing them, or maximising click-through.
The
ACCC thus proposed the industry-led development of a code of conduct
to be agreed between media and tech companies to address this
“imbalance of power” and enable media companies to get access to
data and negotiate more effectively with the likes of Google.
Such
a code of conduct might also cover how revenue is shared “where the
digital platform obtains value, directly or indirectly, from content
produced by news media”.
How
much value do digital platforms obtain from news content? Google
doesn’t show any ads on its news feed, and “does not generally
sell advertising opportunities next to search queries that are
considered by Google as having a ‘news intent’”. In other
countries where it has been ordered to pay fees, it has simply
stopped carrying snippets if it can’t do so for free. In Spain, it
shut down Google News.
Interestingly,
the result in Spain — and one echoed elsewhere — was that smaller
media sites lost a large volume of traffic while major media sites
suffered relatively little loss.
It would be to News Corp’s considerable advantage if that same result eventuated in Australia, with smaller competitors in an already marginal economic environment suffering a major loss in traffic…..
It would be to News Corp’s considerable advantage if that same result eventuated in Australia, with smaller competitors in an already marginal economic environment suffering a major loss in traffic…..
[my yellow highlighting]
Labels:
Facebook,
Google,
Internet,
Morrison Government,
News Corp,
Rupert Murdoch
Friday 3 April 2020
One Northern NSW perspective on the COVID-19 pandemic as it is unfolding in Australia
The Echo is one of only a very few independent online & print newspapers left in north-eastern New South Wales which has a genuine 'opinion' writer.
Here is Mungo MacCallam writing five days ago.......
Echo Net Daily, 30 March 2020:
Thus Spake Mungo: Isolation days
Last week I could have my hair styled, but I couldn’t get a kidney transplant. I could take my kids to school, but not to church. I could invite nine mates to a funeral, but only four to a wedding. I could attend a bootcamp, but I could not meet my friends in a park. I was told to vote in local elections if I lived in Queensland, but not in New South Wales.
Well, actually, I couldn’t do any of the above even if I wanted to – I am in isolation. But I am not considered ill and I will not be tested. Indeed, I can order cocktails delivered to my door.
And I am expected to work. All workers are essential – until they are not, until Scott Morrison bans or restricts some occupations and the previously essential workers are sent off to join the queues at Centrelink, where they will maintain social distance – or not.
It was beyond confusion, beyond parody. And when journalists tried to make sense of the chaos, a snarly Morrison slapped them down; any attempt at interrogation of government edicts was not helpful, verging on unpatriotic, even unAustralian. Shut up and do what you’re told.
In his so-called National Cabinet, Morrison bullied the state premiers to yet again postpone the inevitable
Clearly this situation could not go on, but it did. In his so-called National Cabinet, Morrison bullied the state premiers to yet again postpone the inevitable.
Well before the end of the week it was clear that the federal government was reluctantly moving to impose a near total lockdown of the kind already in place in many other countries. The premiers may have disagreed about the urgency, but all accepted it was going to happen. So did business: any resistance was minimal, the real debate was about who would be compensated, and by how much.
The National Cabinet was supposed to produce national policy, but Morrison is now extolling the idea that state differences are actually a good thing
And the premiers of the biggest states, Liberal Gladys Berejiklian, in New South Wales, and Daniel Andrews, in Victoria, have made it clear that they are preparing to move soon, even if Morrison will not. The National Cabinet was supposed to produce national policy, but Morrison is now extolling the idea that state differences are actually a good thing. Talk about making a virtue out of necessity.
The schools were spending more effort on home learning than supervising their dwindling numbers in the classrooms; few believed that schools would reopen after the impending holidays. The overall mood was that something close to total lockdown was only a matter of time, so we might as well get on with it.
But Morrison was determined to string out the phoney war for as long as possible, perhaps because he was all too aware that the cost of a lockdown will be horrendous, in economic, social and crucially, political terms.
Unemployment will soar, certainly to over ten per cent, with some estimates reaching 15 per cent – which means two million Australians out of work. This is not just a recession – it is getting into serious depression territory, and it will not be over in six months, as Morrison previously optimistically predicted.
The cost to Treasury will be enormous in lost tax revenue, and increased welfare payments, even without the third and subsequent stimulus packages that will be required
The cost to Treasury will be enormous in lost tax revenue, and increased welfare payments, even without the third and subsequent stimulus packages that will be required. There will be no talk of surpluses in the foreseeable future. But there is no real choice – in spite of Morrison’s insistence that we must act to protect both health and the economy – lockdown is the only serious idea on the table if we are to save hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives.
And the economic and emotional pain will be immense and long-lasting. Very little of this will be Morrison’s fault; the worst he can validly be accused of is procrastination and dithering, and given that those have characterised his entire time as prime minister, the electorate can hardly claim to be shocked.
But his will be the hand that signs the paper that authorises the lockdown, and the misery to follow. He is the officer on watch, and a lot of voters will not forgive him; they will remember the leader’s burden – that the buck stops here. Morrison will be remembered as the prime minster who dumped them in the mire, just as the equally innocent Jimmy Scullin was remembered in the Great Depression.
ScoMo’s legacy will be far darker than that of Kevin Rudd, who blew the budget to manage the Global Financial Crisis, or Paul Keating, who oversaw the recession we had to have. In time, Morrison may be condoned – he may even win another election, like Keating did in 1993, with the aid of John Hewson’s GST. But he will not be forgotten, and it will not be the epitaph he craves.
So, is he preparing to spread the blame? For no apparent reason he has convened what he calls the National COVID-19 Coordination Commission, to solve problems
So, is he preparing to spread the blame? For no apparent reason he has convened what he calls the National COVID-19 Coordination Commission, to solve problems. It was picked by him alone, mainly consisting of business cronies, with a couple of supportive bureaucrats, none of whom have any known expertise in managing a pandemic. Ironically, the only one who might have relevant experience is the token lefty, Greg Combet, who was a minister during Rudd’s bailout in the GFC. But he will be hopelessly outnumbered by the corporate free-enterprise number crunchers.
And the greatest irony of all is that the people elected to do the job – the members of the federal parliament – have been sidelined for the duration. Barbers are considered essential, but the MPs are considered redundant in a way that they have never been, not during wars, depressions or previous pandemics.
Naturally there is resistance, and not just from the Labor Party and its allies. And no reasonable justification for the extraordinary move has been advanced – other parliaments continue to sit around the nation, and indeed around the world.
There should be outrage – a demand that our representatives are brought back to do their job!
But there should be outrage – a demand that our representatives are brought back to do their job! Unfortunately, a shell-shocked, confused and frightened populace seems to be copping it as part of the ongoing madness, as they are assured by the partisan commentariat that Morrison knows what he is doing – and that unity is vital, we must all stick together, and we should be ready to accept sacrifices in the name of – well, what?
Morrison tells us that our health, our immediate physical survival, is not the overwhelming priority; preserving the economy is at least equally important. So just like some businesses, democracy must be placed in hibernation for the duration. And preserving his political dominance might also have something to do with it. Whatever it takes.
Labels:
COVID-19,
Morrison Government,
newspaper,
Northern Rivers,
pandemic
Friday 27 March 2020
COVID-19 advice to the Morrison Government - details of which it never expected the general public would become aware
"The reduction in doubling time is an indicator that the window for proactive intervention is very small."
At the current rate of infection Australia could theoretically expect over 6,000 COVID-19 cases by next week and over 50,000 by Easter.
Group of Eight Expert Advice on Social Distancing requested by Australian Government by clarencegirl on Scribd
https://www.scribd.com/document/453163428/Group-of-Eight-Expert-Advice-on-Social-Distancing-requested-by-Australian-Government
Saturday 29 February 2020
Quotes of the Week
"As the press gallery ate up Shearer Scotty, down the road taxpayers were being fleeced." [Social media commentator Ronni Salt writing in Crikey on 17 February 2020 about the rorting of government funding during the 2019 federal election campaign]
“If there was a case of a young white boy with blond hair who later dabbled in class A drugs, and conspired with a friend to beat up a journalist, would he deport that boy? Or is it one rule for black boys from the Caribbean and another for white boys from the United States?” [UK Labour Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn asking a question in Parliament on 12 February 2020 which contained a thinly disguised description of Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson]
Friday 28 February 2020
According to media reports there are still 3,544 First Home Loan Deposit Scheme places left, before another 10,000 places are opened up on 1 July 2020
According
to the Commonwealth Bank, the First
Home Loan Deposit Scheme is a “new initiative from the
Australian Government designed to support eligible first home buyers
purchase a home sooner”.
The
National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) will
provide a guarantee for eligible first home buyers on low and middle
incomes so that they can purchase a home with a deposit of as little
as 5%.
In
Yamba, Maclean and Grafton in the Clarence
Valley the loan eligibility cap is a residential property valued at
$450k. This same cap appears to apply to all of the NSW Northern
Rivers region.
This
cap deliberately limits the type of property which can be purchaed
under the Scheme because it “is
only available for the purchase of a modest home, or the purchase of
land and construction of a modest home”.
In certain areas there may be a small problem attached to having such a low property value limit to eligibility for the scheme. A residential property at $450k or less in the Northern Rivers regions is usually only a two bedroom freestanding house or unit/duplex - hardly suitable for a family with more than one child.
The sheme is available to low to middle income eaners over 18 years of
age. There is no upper age limit restriction, so an applicant could
easily be in their late 50s.
The
upper income limit before a person becomes ineligible to apply for
this concession is $125k for singles and $200k for a couple.
The scheme will support up to 10,000 home loans each financial year,
starting from 1 January 2020, through a panel of participating
lenders including the Commonwealth Bank.”
According
to media reports there are still 3,544 First Home Loan Deposit places left,
before another 10,000 places are opened up on 1 July 2020.
Labels:
costs,
first home buyers,
housing,
Morrison Government
Saturday 22 February 2020
Quote of the Week
"Love does no harm to a neighbour,” instructs the Bible, “therefore love is the fulfilment of the law.” The god invoked to oversee the religious discrimination bill avers such radical lefty chat. Instead, Voltaire’s suggestion that “If god [does] not exist, it would be necessary to invent him” describes the Liberals’ preferred “religious” entity with some prescience. It’s a small and petty, vengeful creature that squats in medical trauma and old bigotry, a deity conjured of conservative political resentment, and convenience." [Columnist Vanessa "Van" Badham, writing in The Guardian on 12 February 2020 on the subject of the Morrison Government's Religious Freedom Bills]
Wednesday 19 February 2020
Shorter Morrison Government on Climate Change: Get used to it!
Wednesday 12 February 2020
Shorter Residential Aged Care Industry Message in 2020: If you personally pay us more we will treat you better
"If we expect people to pay more [in the future], we have to deliver much better care" [Catholic Health Australia chief executive Pat Garcia quoted in The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 February 2020]
ABC
News, 9 February 2020:
Sydney's
streets were thick with smoke as the blazes took hold on December 5
last year.
That may explain why few noticed or cared about the final sitting day in Canberra.
But
what happened in the Senate that day shows just how strong the ties
that bind the aged care lobby and government really are.
At
9.30 that day, some crucial amendments to aged care legislation were
introduced which would force nursing home to reveal how they spent their $20 billion of taxpayer funds each year — specifically, how
much went to staff, food and "the amounts paid out to parent bodies".
Unlike
hospital and child care centres, aged care facilities can employ as
few staff as they like because there are no staff-to-resident ratios in nursing homes.
When
it comes to food, a study of 800 nursing homes shows the average
spend is just $6 a day.
The
Senate vote was taking place just five weeks after
the scathing interim report from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
the scathing interim report from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
Among
its findings of a "sad and shocking" system which was
"inhumane, abusive and unjustified", the commissioners also commented on the lack of transparency in aged care, with the numbers of complaints, assaults and staff numbers all kept secret from the public.
"inhumane, abusive and unjustified", the commissioners also commented on the lack of transparency in aged care, with the numbers of complaints, assaults and staff numbers all kept secret from the public.
"My
amendments are all about transparency and accountability —
and, boy, do we need more of this," said Senator Stirling Griff from Centre Alliance, who proposed the amendments.
and, boy, do we need more of this," said Senator Stirling Griff from Centre Alliance, who proposed the amendments.
When the crucial vote came, Labor, the Greens, Centre Alliance and Jacqui Lambie supported it. But the Government voted against it and, with
the help of Pauline Hanson, the reform was defeated.
It
might seem an odd choice for Pauline Hanson, who has previously rallied against the aged care sector for "rorting and
malpractice", but it shouldn't be surprising that the Government
voted it down.
The
influence of lobbyists
For example, when the Queensland Government proposed laws requiring nursing homes to publish their staff numbers last year, the federal Department of Health sent a six-page document arguing against it, saying it might "confuse or mislead" families and "appears to create a reporting burden on providers with no clear benefits to consumers".
The
aged care industry has been successfully lobbying governments for
years. The influence of the industry through government committees,
think tanks and policies is well known and is being rightly questioned
at the royal commission.
For example, when the Queensland Government proposed laws requiring nursing homes to publish their staff numbers last year, the federal Department of Health sent a six-page document arguing against it, saying it might "confuse or mislead" families and "appears to create a reporting burden on providers with no clear benefits to consumers".
If
you think the Federal Government's objections sound a lot like those
of the aged care lobby, you wouldn't be wrong.
In
fact, the industry group Leading Aged Services Australia (LASA)
argued in its own submission that few families would be interested in
accessing a website with such information and that the numbers could
be used "to push a particular medically based care model (which
may be contrary to the preferences of residents)".
That's
an argument LASA has been using for years. It's code for arguing
against more registered nurses for fear it spoils the "home-like"
atmosphere of an aged care facility.
Others
might argue that the hundreds of stories told to the royal commission
of poor wound care, misdiagnosis and failure to send sick residents
to hospital may have something to do with that lack of a "medical
model".
Currently
there's no requirement, except in Victorian state run facilities, for
an RN to be employed at a nursing home.
The
aged care lobby doesn't want that to become a national trend.
Why
can't we know how many staff there are?'
The
industry and Federal Government's opposition to the argument against
making the staff numbers public didn't wash with the Queensland
Government.
"We
report the number of teachers to students in classes, educators to
children in child care, why the hell can't we know how many staff
there are in aged care facilities?," said Queensland Health
Minister Stephen Mills, who successfully passed the legislation and
says he will "name and shame" nursing homes which refuse to
make staff numbers public.
Prime
Minister Scott Morrison will argue that the Government voted against
the federal moves for financial transparency because it doesn't want
to introduce any major reforms before the final report from the royal
commission.
However,
that excuse didn't stop the Federal Government from its massive
reform of putting the publicly funded Aged Care Assessment system out
to tender last year.
The
move to privatise it was widely denounced by state ministers
(including from the NSW Liberal Government), advocates and the
medical profession.
But
the aged care lobby groups are big supporters of the change…...
Read the full article here.
The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 February 2020:
...the federal Health Department revealed it was yet to implement key recommendations of the Australian Law Reform Commission's 2017 report on elder abuse.
Responding to a question taken on notice at a Senate estimates hearing, Health Department bureaucrats this week said a "scoping study" was being done on a register of aged care workers, while "preparatory work" was under way on a serious incident response scheme for assaults in care.
Labor's aged care spokeswoman, Julie Collins, said older Australians at risk of abuse deserved "immediate action, not years of inaction and delays".
Official data shows there were 5233 assaults in residential aged care facilities in 2018-19.
Catholic Health Australia outlined its proposed new means-testing rules in a pre-budget submission to the federal government.
There is a question begging to be answered here.
Read the full article here.
The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 February 2020:
...the federal Health Department revealed it was yet to implement key recommendations of the Australian Law Reform Commission's 2017 report on elder abuse.
Responding to a question taken on notice at a Senate estimates hearing, Health Department bureaucrats this week said a "scoping study" was being done on a register of aged care workers, while "preparatory work" was under way on a serious incident response scheme for assaults in care.
Labor's aged care spokeswoman, Julie Collins, said older Australians at risk of abuse deserved "immediate action, not years of inaction and delays".
Official data shows there were 5233 assaults in residential aged care facilities in 2018-19.
Catholic Health Australia outlined its proposed new means-testing rules in a pre-budget submission to the federal government.
There is a question begging to be answered here.
If Scott Morrison and his Lib-Nats cronies go down the path of attempting to permanenltly conceal what amounts to institutionalised elder abuse, allows residential aged care providers to further entrench differing levels of care based on an ability of the frail aged to pay and goes ahead with further aged care services privatisation in order to avoid accountability - has Morrison himself calculated just how many elderly Australians will be likely to commit suicide soon after being told they will be entering residential aged care?
Thursday 6 February 2020
Political Donations 101: cause and effect 2019-2020
THE CAUSE: Reliance on political donations
Individuals and corporations making large or regular political donations are rarely giving money for philanthropic reasons - they usually want something in return.
Sometimes it is access to a prime minister or premier, sometimes access to a particular minister and sometimes it is a barely concealed bribe in order that the donor gets a specific outcome from a particular government.
The
Guardian,
3
February 2020:
The
Liberal party received $4.1m from a single donor before the 2019
election, one of the largest amounts in political history, dwarfing
former leader Malcolm Turnbull’s $1.75m gift before the 2016
election.
The
donations, revealed in Australian Electoral Commission disclosures
published on Monday, are second only to the $83.3m donated by
Mineralogy Pty Ltd to Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party.
Both
major parties also took significant sums of money from the fossil
fuel industry, including multinational giant Woodside, something
environmentalists say explains government inaction in the “face of
a rolling national emergency driven by climate change”.
The
$4.1m donated to the federal Liberal party and its state branches was
given in multiple instalments by Sugolena Pty Ltd, a company linked
to philanthropist Isaac Wakil, who made his fortune in the clothing
industry and invested heavily in property, with his wife Susan,
around the Sydney suburb of Pyrmont…..
The
Liberals declared $22.6m in donations Labor $18.2m. Total receipts,
which include all donations regardless of the $13,800 reporting
threshold, other payments, returns from financial investments and
loans, amounted to $165m for the Liberals and $126m for Labor.
Australia’s
weak donation disclosure system continues to mask a huge chunk of
political financing.
Analysis by the Centre for Public Integrity shows that $1bn in party income has not been disclosed between 1999 and the last reporting year, almost 36% of total party financing.
Analysis by the Centre for Public Integrity shows that $1bn in party income has not been disclosed between 1999 and the last reporting year, almost 36% of total party financing.
But
the disclosures that have been made continue to show the significant
influence of the fossil fuel industry in Australian democracy. Clive
Palmer’s Mineralogy, which gave $83,681,442 to Palmer’s United
Australia Party, was by far the single biggest fossil fuel donor.
An
analysis by the Australian Conservation Foundation found a further
$1.89m in fossil fuel donations to Australian political parties.
“This
data explains why even in the face of a rolling national emergency
driven by climate change and community demands for change, the
government continues to defend and promote the industries that are
the root cause of the problem,” ACF’s economy and democracy
program manager Matt Rose said.
“Serious
donations reform is needed now to make sure our political system
works for the benefit of all Australian, not just those with the
biggest wallets.”
The
biggest fossil fuel donor to the major parties was Woodside,
Australia’s biggest LNG exporter. It gave $135,400 to Labor,
$136,750 to the Liberal Party and $11,190 to the Nationals. The gas
industry lobby, the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration
Association (APPEA), was also a significant donor. [APPEA donated a combined total of $24,990 to the federal Liberal and Nationals parties]
Prime
minister Scott Morrison recently identified gas as a key “transition”
fuel for Australia’s economy, saying “we need to get the gas from
under our feet”.
He also recently struck a a $2bn deal with the New South Wales government to increase gas supply and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector…..
He also recently struck a a $2bn deal with the New South Wales government to increase gas supply and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity sector…..
The
federal Liberal party also declared two donations from Adani Mining
Pty Ltd totalling $50,000….. [the Australian Electoral Commission identified a combined total of $97,300 as donations directly from Adani Mining Pty Ltd to the federal Liberal and Nationals parties]
Carmichael
Rail Network, another wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Australia,
gave $50,000 to the federal Liberal party and $100,000 to the
Nationals….. [my red annotations]
THE EFFECT: Requirement to fulfil the terms of the unwritten contract between a political party and its donors
Within the 8 months following the May 2019 federal election the Morrison Government acted to benefit certain of its donors in the gas industry sector.
Santos Limited which had donated a combined total of $42,723 to federal Liberal and Nationals coffers in 2017-18 went on to donate another $78,854 in 2018-19, with this result......
Within the 8 months following the May 2019 federal election the Morrison Government acted to benefit certain of its donors in the gas industry sector.
Santos Limited which had donated a combined total of $42,723 to federal Liberal and Nationals coffers in 2017-18 went on to donate another $78,854 in 2018-19, with this result......
According
to Lock
The Gate Alliance on
31 January 2020:
The
‘energy deal’ announced today between NSW and Federal Governments
looks designed to unleash coal seam gas drilling in north-west NSW,
threatening drought-affected farmers and allowing Santos to drain 37
billion litres of groundwater.
Crucially,
it will do little to bring down greenhouse gas emissions due to its
reliance on dirty, polluting unconventional gas.
Media
reports indicate the NSW Government has been compelled by the
Commonwealth to make a commitment to supply 70PJ of gas for the east
coast market in exchange for up to $2 billion in Federal funding for
renewable energy and unquantified reduction incentives.
The
volume of gas mentioned in the deal is similar to the amount Santos
expects to produce at its proposed water-hungry Narrabri coal seam
gasfield.
To
facilitate the creation of one
or more gasfields
in
north-west New South Wales the Berejiklian Coalition Government held a second hearing into the NSW Chief Scientist’s recommendations on coal seam gas in NSW on 4 February 2020.
As the Berejiklian Government failed to act on the Chief Scientist's original recommendations, this second hearing was a cause for concern......
Lock
The Gate Alliance,
3 February 2020:
CSG
hearing round 2 must deliver more than just hot air
The
holding of a second hearing into the NSW Chief Scientist’s
recommendations on coal seam gas in NSW is evidence the Berejiklian
Government is not prepared to deal with the repercussions of the
destructive industry, according to Lock the Gate Alliance.
The
hearing, to be held tomorrow, is only happening because the
Government was unable to properly answer questions about CSG at the
original hearing, held in December last year.
Lock
the Gate NSW coordinator Georgina Woods said it was even more crucial
than ever now for the Government to answer questions about its
forgotten promises on coal seam gas, given the state and federal
governments look poised to sacrifice the north west following last
week’s energy deal announcement.
“It
was deeply troubling to watch government representatives scratch
their heads when asked basic questions about their oversight of this
damaging industry at the last hearing. It demonstrated an alarming
lack of attention to the serious risk coal seam gas poses to
groundwater in North West NSW,” Ms Woods said.
“Last
week’s energy deal with Canberra has raised the very real risk that
state and federal governments will run roughshod over the facts and
heap political pressure on planning authorities to approve Santos’
destructive Narrabri coal seam gas proposal.
“This
inquiry has shown how unready and unaware the Government is for the
environmental, social and economic damage that will inflict.
“There
is still time to stop Santos’ Narrabri gas project from puncturing
holes in a recharge aquifer of the Great Artesian Basin, one of
western New South Wales’ most precious groundwater resources. There
is still time to make this important area a no-go zone for coal seam
gas and safeguard the water resources of north west New South Wales.”
Ms
Woods said it was clear from the last hearing that major
recommendations made by the Chief Scientist had not been implemented.
“The
biggest gaps include failure to provide a three-tiered environmental
insurance scheme, failure to establish a standing expert committee,
and failure to develop systems that can detect cumulative impacts of
the industry on precious water resources,” she said.
“There
are 11 expired and unused legacy coal seam gas licences languishing
over the farmland, towns, and precious water resources of the
drought-stricken north west that have never been through the
Government’s new system for assessing areas for gas exploration.
“The
NSW Government is leaving farming communities in the north west
exposed to unforeseen and irreversible loss or contamination of water
resources and other environmental and health impacts from the CSG
industry.
“We
need a reset from the Government that prioritises water security,
people, and the needs of future generations and that means stopping
the Narrabri gasfield.”
Brisbane Times reported on 3 February 2020 concerning the Adani Group's strategically timed donations:
On April 5, $12,500 was donated to the Liberal Party; that was four days before then-Environment Minister Melissa Price signed off on the groundwater management plans for Adani's central Queensland mine.
Another $100,000 was donated to both parties in the month after Ms Price gave final federal approvals to the mine.
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