Impact of Australian governments’ and parties’ relationship to fossil fuel industry
Australian governments, and many other nominally democratic governments around the world, have been captured by vested interests. Governments give higher priority to serving these interests than the community. The result is probable ecological and social collapse.
This is one of the principal themes of a new book, The Path to a Sustainable Civilisation: Technological, Socioeconomic and Political Change, by UNSW academic, Honorary Associate Professor Mark Diesendorf and Canberra journalist Rod Taylor.
To support its argument, the book points to the close relationships between governments of both major political parties and the fossil fuel industry.
“Such relationships”, Dr Diesendorf says, “are responsible for the failure of the Australian governments to stop new coalmines and fracking for natural gas while they simultaneously commit to climate mitigation.”
Another example is Australia’s apparent loss of sovereignty to the United States.
“This is demonstrated by the cancellation of the order for French diesel submarines, which are most suitable for defending our shoreline, and their replacement with US/UK nuclear-powered submarines, which are most suitable for attempting to contain China in the South China Sea,” Dr Diesendorf said.
“The defence example has recently been confirmed by the revelation in The Washington Post that, over several years before the AUKUS decision, several ‘retired’ US admirals were employed to advise the Australian Department of Defence.”
The book’s proposed solution to the loss of democracy to vested interests is that community organisations – environmental, social justice, peace and public health – form networks and coalitions (such as the new the Australian Democracy Network) to inform the public and pressure the government to terminate the methods used to capture the nation-state.
“These methods include political donations, revolving door jobs between governments and polluting industries, and concentrated media ownership,” Dr Diesendorf said.
In addition to the political power of vested interests, the book posits that the other principal driving force of environmental destruction and social inequality is the dominant economic system.
According to Dr Diesendorf,
“Neoclassical economics is based on exploiting the natural environment and the vast majority of the world’s people.”
“It disseminates damaging myths that become government policies. These myths include the notions that endless economic growth on a finite planet is feasible and desirable; that wealth trickles down from the rich to the poor; that wellbeing and welfare can be measured by GDP; and that government intervention in the market must be avoided.”
“We must replace the bogus prescriptions of neoclassical economics and its neoliberalism offshoot with the principles of ecological economics. This will give higher priority to protecting our life-support system, the natural environment and social justice, than to economic efficiency,” Dr Diesendorf said.
The Path to a Sustainable Civilisation has just been published by Palgrave Macmillan
Saving humanity: here’s a radical approach to building a sustainable and just society
By Mark Diesendorf, Honorary Associate Professor, UNSW Sydney
Collectively we are driving Earth and civilisation towards collapse. Human activities have exceeded planetary boundaries.
We are changing the climate, losing biodiversity, degrading land, contaminating freshwater, and damaging the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles upon which we all depend.
We ask how this could happen. Also, why democratically elected governments ignore the wishes of the majority of their people.
Why some governments continue to export fossil fuels despite commitments to climate mitigation.
Why some go to war in distant lands without any debate in parliament or congress.
Why some give tax cuts to the rich while those on the dole struggle below the poverty line.
The answers to these questions all come down to one thing: decision-makers and influencers are captured by vested interests.
That is the inconvenient truth revealed in our new book, The Path to a Sustainable Civilisation: Technological, Socioeconomic and Political Change.
But these forces can be overthrown.
We argue it is not sufficient for citizen organisations and governments to address specific environmental, social justice and peace issues.
It’s certainly necessary, but we must also struggle for systemic change.
This means challenging the covert driving forces of environmental destruction, social injustice and war, namely, “state capture” and the dominant economic system.
Confronting state capture
Political scientists and political economists argue governments, public servants, the media and indeed the majority of decision-makers and influencers become captured by vested interests.
This is known as state capture, where state means the nation-state.
The captors include fossil fuel, armaments, finance, property and gambling industries.
State capture can also involve foreign governments. There is justifiable concern in Australia and elsewhere about subversion by the Chinese Communist Party.
Yet there is little discussion of the fact that, since 2015, six “retired” US admirals worked for the Australian government before the AUKUS announcement on nuclear powered submarines.
State capture could explain why Australia’s defence is being shifted to the South China Sea under US sovereignty.
Confronting state capture involves reversing several undemocratic practices.
Of particular concern is the funding of political parties by corporate interests as well as the revolving-door jobs between government and corporate interests.
There is also the concentration of media ownership and the influence of so-called “think tanks” funded by vested interests.
The first step is to set up coalitions or networks to oppose the power of vested interests. This would bring together diverse civil society organisations with common interests in democratic integrity and civil liberties.
One example is the Australian Democracy Network, which campaigns for “changes that make our democracy more fair, open, participatory, and accountable”.
The Network was founded in 2020 by the Human Rights Law Centre, the Australian Conservation Foundation and the Australian Council of Social Service.
Challenging economic ideology
Conventional economic theory failed us when it came to recovery from the Global Financial Crisis of 2007–09 and the COVID pandemic.
Nevertheless, many governments still accept its prescriptions.
The dangerous and destructive myths of conventional economics include the claims that:
- economic theory can treat the natural environment as an infinite resource and infinite waste dump
- endless economic growth on a finite planet is feasible and desirable
- wealth trickles down from the rich to the poor
- wellbeing and welfare can be measured by GDP
- government intervention in the market must be avoided.
Although these myths have been refuted many times, even by world famous economist Joseph Stiglitz, they still determine much government policy.
Australian economist Steve Keen first published Debunking economics in 2001. The financial crisis of 2007 gave him plenty of material for a revised edition in 2011.
Richard Denniss gave us Econobabble: How to Decode Political Spin and Economic Nonsense in 2021. Yet, as John Quiggin so eloquently puts it, dead ideas still stalk the land (Zombie Economics.
They have devastating impacts on our life support system (the biosphere) and social justice. One of the principal destroyers of our planet is excessive consumption, especially consumption by rich individuals and rich countries.
A more appropriate economic framework for human and planetary wellbeing is the interdisciplinary field of ecological economics.
Unlike neoclassical economics, ecological economics gives priority to ecological sustainability and social justice over economic efficiency. It works towards a transition to a steady-state economy.
That is, one with no global increase in the use of energy, materials and land, and no increase in population.
Since planetary boundaries have already been exceeded and low-income countries must develop, social justice demands that the rich countries undergo planned degrowth.
On the pathway to a sustainable civilisation, environmental protection and social justice must be addressed together.
Because the rich are responsible for the biggest environmental impacts, reducing the gap between rich and poor is critical.
Universal basic services such as improved public health, education, housing and transportation – and a government-funded job guarantee – can achieve greater equality and give people incentives to support the transition.
Citizen action
Why would governments free themselves from state capture and discard economics ideology? Former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt once told a delegation:
“OK, you have convinced me. Now get out there and make me do it!”
In other words, pressure from voters is needed to make government action politically feasible.
That’s why we need citizen-based environmental, social justice, public health and peace groups to form alliances to challenge the overarching issues of state capture and flawed economics ideology.
