DOCSLIB.ORG

Fossil Fuel Money Distorting Democracy D Fossil Fuels in the Political System Front Cover

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Fossil Fuel Money Distorting Democracy D Fossil Fuels in the Political System Front Cover Fossil fuel money distorting democracy d Fossil fuels in the political system Front cover. Parliament House, Canberra. Photo supplied by. Shutterstock. Key findings • Donations from the fossil fuel industry are • There is a severe lack of transparency over on the rise. Fossil fuel donations to the major money flowing to politicians from donations. parties peaked in the 2018-19 period. Overall, the We found that from 2015-2019 the major industry donated a total of $1,894,024, excluding parties had close to $283 million in income donations to the United Australia Party. from undisclosed sources. In the 2018-2019 fiscal year alone, the major parties received • The extractive industries are by far the over $100,000,000 in income from undisclosed largest donors from the coal, oil and gas sources. This 'dark money' in the system is sector, accounting for over half of the total worsened by the extremely loose regulations donations to the major parties since 2015-16. on associated entities. In 2018-2019, associated entities disclosed just over one third of the income they received, while around 67% of money came from undisclosed sources. This money is often then donated to political parties, further obscuring the true source of the donation. Fossil fuel money + ministerial access = government decisions? Fossil fuels in the political system Contents Key findings .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Executive summary ................................................................................................................................................................. 4 Undue influence of fossil fuel lobby .................................................................................................................5 2019 donations data trends ......................................................................................................................................... 6 Lack of transparency .............................................................................................................................................................7 Dark money ...................................................................................................................................................................................7 Disclosure discrepencies ..............................................................................................................................................7 Donations overview ................................................................................................................................................................ 8 Donations by fossil fuel sectors ......................................................................................................................... 9 Donations to parties ......................................................................................................................................................... 11 Coal and gas patrons ......................................................................................................................................................12 Associated entities ..................................................................................................................................................................13 3 Fossil fuels in the political system Executive summary While more and more Australians call renewable sources of energy. for urgent action on climate change, our government continues to stall on Our democracy should work for everyone, with implementing effective and meaningful decisions made in the best interest of people and climate policy. Meanwhile, donations planet. Yet Australia’s poorly regulated political from industries with a vested interest in donations regime means those with the biggest maintaining the status quo and prolonging wallets get an unfair amount of access and say the extraction and burning of dirty fuels are in important decisions affecting the future of our on the rise. country and planet. Significant reform is needed to limit the influence of big money in our political Each year, coal, oil, and gas companies donate system. The policy solutions are already there. All hundreds of thousands of dollars to political that’s missing is action. parties and candidates. These industries have a vested financial interest in prolonging the extraction and consumption of dirty fuels for as long as it is profitable. Large donations to politicians, huge advertising campaigns and millions of dollars spent on lobbyists are part of a sophisticated system to gain influence and access to those in government making critical decisions about the future of fossil fuels in Australia. Recommendations This paper takes a deep dive into the world of • Ban large political donations to political political donations and uncovers the millions parties and candidates of dollars being spent by the coal, oil, and gas • Increase transparency over donations, industries to buy access and influence with including real time reporting of political governmental decision makers.Utilising data from donations the Australian Electoral Commission we examine • Limit expenditure at election times, so patterns and trends in political donations to the those with the fattest wallets can’t drown major parties over the last four reporting periods out the voices of everyone else (2015-2019), excluding donations by Clive Palmer through his companies. The patterns and trends • Set stronger lobbying regulation and in donations from the coal, oil, and gas industries greater transparency so we know who’s indicate a strong sense of undue influence, meeting with our elected representatives coinciding with a period of policy inaction on • Create an independent watchdog to emissions reduction and steps to transition to investigate and stamp out corruption. 4 Fossil fuels in the political system Undue influence of the fossil fuel lobby The coal, oil, and gas sectors constitute a Extractors strategically important aspect of Australia’s Companies that both directly economy. These sectors rely on mining operate resource extraction, and approvals, licenses for new exploration and those whose business model environmental approvals being controlled is wholly dependent on such activities. by the government. Thus, the success of these industries is “built on Gentailers & energy favourable government decisions”.1 According Gentailers refer to companies to the Grattan Institute, the largest donors often that both generate and retail account for those in industries with the most to energy, such as Origin Energy. gain from policy.2 It then becomes clearer why the fossil fuel lobby maintains a stronghold on political Big emitters donations. Big emitters refer to companies To better understand the overall influence of the responsible for significant coal, oil and gas industries on our government, we emissions due to their categorise them into five key sectors (see right). dependence on burning fossil fuels. Collectively, we refer to these groups as the fossil fuels lobby. This report does not look at donations from lobbying firms, many of which work directly Industry bodies for extractive industries, energy companies and the Industry bodies are those such biggest emitters. as the Minerals Council of Australia which represent the Controversial mining decisions, public debate interests of coal, oil and gas. about the future of energy, the increasing affordability of renewables and a rise in public environmental concern all threaten the dominance Individuals of fossil fuels in Australia. As these threats mount, Those donating in a private the fossil fuel lobby is increasingly mobilising its capacity on behalf of their financial resources to gain influence over decisions personal mining or other interests. that affect its profits. This report examines the patterns and trends of coal, oil and gas companies, to understand the way in which their donations affect policy in their favour, whilst undermining our democratic processes and delaying critical action on climate change. 5 Fossil fuels in the political system 2019 donations data trends • In 2018-19, the fossil fuel industry • This is the first year (in our period of donated $85,719,747 to Australian analysis) that APPEA has disclosed political parties. donations, in addition to ‘other receipts’. • The 2018-19 disclosures showed the Prior to this year, APPEA disclosed a total of $20,350 in ‘other receipts’, biggest fossil fuel donor was Clive compared Palmer’s Mineralogy, which donated to a total of $161,659 in disclosed $83.7 million to Palmer’s own UAP. donations for 2018-19 alone. • Excluding donations to Clive Palmer’s • The Coalition received the highest United Australia Party (UAP), the total amount of donations from fossil fuel amount of declared fossil fuel industry industries, receiving a total of $1,147,376. donations to Australian political parties • The Labor Party received a total of comes to $1.9 milion. $725,448 in fossil fuel donations, an • The biggest donor to the major parties increase of $232,745 from the previous disclosure period. was Woodside, which donated $135,400 to Labor and $147,940 to the Liberal • Between the major parties, over $102 National Coalition. million of income have undisclosed • Excluding Clive Palmer linked companies, sources in the 2018-19 fiscal year. the top three fossil
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Electoral Integrity and Other Measures
    Improving democracy the of Fairness, transparency, access and accountably are the fundamental principles of the Australian electoral system. To its shame and to the detriment of Australia's electoral system, those principles • have become tattered under the Howard Government. Labor has always believed in those principles. Labor recommends the Parliament take direct steps to re-fresh the electoral system, open it up and make political parties more accountable. There is no better example of the Howard Government's cynical attitude toward electoral law than its approach to political donations. The Liberal Party has opposed almost every measure designed to improve the disclosure of political donations. The Howard Government has consistently ignored pleas from the Australian Electoral Commission to tighten the disclosure provisions of the Electoral Act. As a result, loopholes in electoral law to hide political donations have been exploited and the AEC is unable to properly pursue concerns over secret donations linked to organisations such as the Greenfields Foundation, Australians for Honest Politics and the Cormack Foundation . Labor supports reforms which would close the loopholes, flush out the secret political donations and make political parties and their associated entities folly disclose their sources of income. Political donations should not purchase influence. The Parliament must put a stop to the money culture which pervades political fondraising in Australia. All Australians over 18 should be able to enrol and vote. Labor believes the integrity of electoral enrolment can only be assured if all Australians can easily enrol and the Roll is safe. Labor supports reforms to address the serious problems of under- enrolment by young, homeless and indigenous Australians.
    [Show full text]
  • 28 May 2014 (Extract from Book 7)
    EXTRACT FROM BOOK PARLIAMENT OF VICTORIA PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL FIFTY-SEVENTH PARLIAMENT FIRST SESSION Wednesday, 28 May 2014 (Extract from book 7) Internet: www.parliament.vic.gov.au/downloadhansard By authority of the Victorian Government Printer The Governor The Honourable ALEX CHERNOV, AC, QC The Lieutenant-Governor The Honourable Justice MARILYN WARREN, AC The ministry (from 17 March 2014) Premier, Minister for Regional Cities and Minister for Racing .......... The Hon. D. V. Napthine, MP Deputy Premier, Minister for State Development, and Minister for Regional and Rural Development ................................ The Hon. P. J. Ryan, MP Treasurer ....................................................... The Hon. M. A. O’Brien, MP Minister for Innovation, Minister for Tourism and Major Events, and Minister for Employment and Trade .............................. The Hon. Louise Asher, MP Minister for Local Government and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs ...... The Hon. T. O. Bull, MP Attorney-General, Minister for Finance and Minister for Industrial Relations ..................................................... The Hon. R. W. Clark, MP Minister for Health and Minister for Ageing .......................... The Hon. D. M. Davis, MLC Minister for Education ............................................ The Hon. M. F. Dixon, MP Minister for Sport and Recreation, and Minister for Veterans’ Affairs .... The Hon. D. K. Drum, MLC Minister for Planning, and Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship ..................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Select Committee Into the Political Influence of Donations
    The Senate Select Committee into the Political Influence of Donations Political Influence of Donations © Commonwealth of Australia 2018 ISBN 978-1-76010-745-1 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License. The details of this licence are available on the Creative Commons website: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/. Contents List of Recommendations .................................................................................................................. v Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................................... ix Members .............................................................................................................................................. xi Chapter 1—Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 Conduct of the inquiry ........................................................................................................................ 1 Structure of the report ......................................................................................................................... 2 Legislative definitions ......................................................................................................................... 2 Current federal regulation .................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report 2014–15
    Annual Report 2014–15 Annual Report 2014–15 Published by the National Gallery of Australia Parkes Place, Canberra ACT 2600 GPO Box 1150, Canberra ACT 2601 nga.gov.au/aboutus/reports ISSN 1323 5192 © National Gallery of Australia 2015 All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Prepared by the Governance and Reporting Department Edited by Eric Meredith Designed by Carla Da Silva Pastrello Figures by Michael Tonna Index by Sherrey Quinn Printed by Union Offset Printers Cover: The 2015 Summer Art Scholars with Senior Curator Franchesca Cubillo in the Indigenous Urban gallery, 14 January 2015. 16 October 2015 Senator the Hon Mitch Fifield Minister for Communications Minister for the Arts Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Digital Government Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2600 Dear Minister On behalf of the Council of the National Gallery of Australia, I have pleasure in submitting to you, for presentation to each House of Parliament, the National Gallery of Australia’s annual report covering the period 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015. This report is submitted to you as required by section 39 of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. It is consistent with the requirements set out in the Commonwealth Authorities (Annual Reporting) Orders 2011, and due consideration has been given to the Requirements for Annual Reports approved by the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit under subsections 63(2) and 70(2) of the Public Service Act 1999 and made available by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet on 25 June 2015.
    [Show full text]
  • Australian Labor Party
    AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY Joint Standing Commtoee on Electoral Matters Submission No. Date Received Secretary Mr Russell Chafer Secretary Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2600 Dear Mr Chafer Thank you for your letter of 17 March 2004 advising the JSCEM had reconstituted its inquiry into electoral funding and disclosure. The Australian Labor Party welcomes the opportunity to provide further input to the Committee's inquiry. As I stated in Labor's August 2001 submission, our guiding principle in dealing with the regulation of political donations is there must be a complete and meaningful trail of disclosure back to the true source of funds received by, or of benefit to, political parties. This is an essential precondition if the disclosure system is to be effective. Labor believes there is an overwhelming public benefit in having reasonable controls on, and proper transparency of, political donations. Without a credible funding and disclosure regime there will continue to be a perception that secret donations buy government policy. Nothing has happened since August 2001 to alter Labor's approach. In fact, continued avoidance by the Liberal and National parties of the requirements of Part XX of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 have confirmed our conviction that fundamental reforms are needed to tighten and strengthen the Act. The Committee should examine the following examples of how the Liberal and National parties flout the provisions of the Act and avoid disclosure: 1. The Cormack Foundation donates more than $1 million every year to the Liberal Party, yet proper details of the source of the Cormack Foundation's income are not available.
    [Show full text]
  • 6 April to 15 May 2017 Letter From
    Issue 89 6 April to 15 May 2017 Letter from CanberrSaving you time for nine years. a Cold Autumn Edition • 18 C (free speech and similar). • Keating and others on Housing • A not-strong energy system, grid and all • Gas and cattle • Sally McManus In This Issue • More on free speech • Housing. Housing • Hawke Beer Letter From Canberra // Issue 90 Letter from Saving you time for nine years. CanberrA monthly digest of news from around Australia. a Saving you time; now in its ninth year. About Us CONTENTS Media .....................................................10 Affairs of State 43 Richmond Terrace Editorial ....................................................3 IT ............................................................10 Richmond, Melbourne, 3000 Victoria, Australia Governance ..............................................3 Immigration ...........................................10 P +61 408 033 110 [email protected] The Budget ................................................3 Justice .....................................................10 www.affairs.com.au Party Happenings .................................. 4 Housing ..................................................10 Letter From Canberra is a monthly public affairs bulletin, a simple précis, distilling and Industrial Relations and Employment . 5 Welfare ................................................... 11 interpreting public policy and government decisions, which affect business oppor- Business, Economy, Manufacturing and Transport ...............................................
    [Show full text]
  • Timbuckleyieefa DIRTY POWER BIG COAL's NETWORK of INFLUENCE OVER the COALITION GOVERNMENT CONTENTS
    ICAC investigation: Lobbying, Access and Influence (Op Eclipse) Submission 2 From: Tim Buckley To: Lobbying Subject: THE REGULATION OF LOBBYING, ACCESS AND INFLUENCE IN NSW: A CHANCE TO HAVE YOUR SAY Date: Thursday, 16 May 2019 2:01:39 PM Attachments: Mav2019-GPAP-Dirtv-Power-Report.Ddf Good afternoon I am delighted that the NSW ICAC is looking again into the issue of lobbying and undue access by lobbyists representing self-serving, private special interest groups, and the associated lack of transparency. This is most needed when it relates to the private (often private, foreign tax haven based entities with zero transparency or accountability), use of public assets. IEEFA works in the public interest analysis relating to the energy-fmance-climate space, and so we regularly see the impact of the fossil fuel sector in particular as one that thrives on the ability to privatise the gains for utilising one-time use public assets and in doing so, externalising the costs onto the NSW community. This process is constantly repeated. The community costs, be they in relation to air, particulate and carbon pollution, plus the use of public water, and failure to rehabilitate sites post mining, brings a lasting community cost, particularly in the area of public health costs. The cost-benefit analysis presented to the IPC is prepared by the proponent, who has an ability to present biased self-serving analysis that understates the costs and overstates the benefits. To my understanding, the revolving door of regulators, politicians, fossil fuel companies and their lobbyists is corrosive to our democracy, undermining integrity and fairness.
    [Show full text]
  • Access and Influence in Australian Politics
    Who’s in the room? Access and influence in Australian politics Grattan Institute Support Grattan Institute Report No. 2018-12, September 2018 Founding members Endowment Supporters This report was written by Danielle Wood, Kate Griffiths and Carmela The Myer Foundation Chivers. Grattan interns Tim Asimakis, Matthew Bowes, Isabelle National Australia Bank Hughes and Anne Yang provided research assistance and made Susan McKinnon Foundation substantial contributions to the report. We would like to thank the members of Grattan Institute’s Public Policy Affiliate Partners Committee for their helpful comments. We also thank AJ Brown, Ken Medibank Private Coghill, Belinda Edwards, Darren Halpin, Serena Lillywhite, Cameron Susan McKinnon Foundation Murray, Joo-Cheong Tham and Anne Twomey for their suggestions, and staff of the Australian Electoral Commission, NSW Electoral Commission, NSW ICAC and other government and industry bodies for Senior Affiliates their technical input. Google Maddocks The opinions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of Grattan Institute’s founding PwC members, affiliates, individual board members, committee members or McKinsey & Company reviewers. Any errors or omissions are the responsibility of the authors. The Scanlon Foundation Grattan Institute is an independent think-tank focused on Australian Wesfarmers public policy. Our work is independent, practical and rigorous. We aim Westpac to improve policy outcomes by engaging with both decision-makers and the community. Affiliates For further information on the Institute’s programs, or to join our mailing Ashurst list, please go to: http://www.grattan.edu.au/. Corrs This report may be cited as: Wood, D., Griffiths, K., and Chivers, C.
    [Show full text]
  • Alcohol Industry Donations to Victorian Political Parties
    Alcohol Industry Donations to Victorian Political Parties: 2010-11 to 2012-13 November 2014 THE STATE OF PLAY: ALCOHOL IN VICTORIA 1 About the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) is an independent, not-for-profit organisation working to stop the harm caused by alcohol. Alcohol harm in Australia is significant. More than 5,500 lives are lost every year and more than 157,000 people are hospitalised making alcohol one of our nation’s greatest preventative health challenges. For over a decade, FARE has been working with communities, governments, health professionals and police across the country to stop alcohol harms by supporting world-leading research, raising public awareness and advocating for changes to alcohol policy. In that time FARE has helped more than 750 communities and organisations, and backed over 1,400 projects around Australia. FARE is guided by the World Health Organization’s Global Strategy to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol* for stopping alcohol harms through population-based strategies, problem directed policies, and direct interventions. If you would like to contribute to FARE’s important work, call us on (02) 6122 8600 or email [email protected]. This paper was prepared by Norman Thompson for the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE). * World Health Organization (2010). Global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol. Geneva: World Health Organization. 2 ALCOHOL INDUSTRY DONATIONS TO VICTORIAN POLITICAL PARTIES: 2010-11 TO 2012-13 Summary x This paper examines Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) data for donations from the alcohol industry to the major Victorian political parties between 2010-11 and 2012-13.
    [Show full text]
  • Corporate Political Expenditure in Australia
    CORPORATE POLITICAL EXPENDITURE IN AUSTRALIA HOWARD PENDER, RESEARCH DIRECTOR AUSTRALASIAN CENTRE FOR CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY JUNE 2016 “… if a corporate manager finds a political cause compelling, then she should not use other people’s money to support it. Rather, she should reach into her own pocket and spend her own money.” This sentiment was behind the changes to UK corporate law in 2000 and 2006. See Torres- Spelliscy, C & Fogel, K Shareholder-Authorised Corporate Political Spending in the United Kingdom, 2011 University of San Francisco Law review, v 46, p 577. Acknowledgements I would like to thank Haseeb Ikram, Nijat Hajikhanov and Joshua Norman-Leagas of the ANU, Marian Currinder and Bruce Freed of the US Center for Political Accountability, Graeme Orr, Tom Warne- Smith and the members of the Research Committee of the ACCR for their comment and assistance. Howard Pender The ACCR is an association incorporated under the ACT’s Associations Incorporation Act 1991. It is registered as a charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC). We are income tax exempt. We are an Approved Research Institute. We have Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status under Australian tax law. Donations by Australians are tax-deductible. ACT Association number: AO 5319 ABN: 95 102 677 417 AUSTRALASIAN CENTRE FOR CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY Level 5, 131 City Walk, Canberra City ACT 2601 GPO Box 1596, Canberra, ACT 2600 Australia T: +61 405 221 587 E: [email protected] 2 ACCR Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Anthony Veasna So Remembered Holmes Chan Hong Kong Spirit Richard Heydarian Asian Revolutionaries Anthony Tao Hutong Secrets
    Anthony Veasna So remembered ASIAN LITERATURE FEBRUARY–APRIL 2021 Holmes Chan Anthony Tao Hong Kong spirit Hutong secrets Richard Heydarian Tse Wei Lim Asian revolutionaries Hawker culture 32 9 772016 012803 VOLUME 6, NUMBER 2 FEBRUARY–APRIL 2021 HISTORY 3 Thomas A. Bass Kissinger and Ellsberg in Vietnam TAIWAN 7 Michael Reilly Between two whales POETRY 8 Maw Shein Win ‘Phone booth’, ‘Shops’, ‘Restaurant’, ‘Factory’, ‘Eggs’, ‘Huts’ INTERVIEW 9 Andrew Quilty Mullah Abdul Rahman, Taliban commander NOTEBOOK 12 Yuen Chan In China’s grip ASIA 13 Richard Heydarian Underground Asia: Global Revolutionaries and the Assault on Empire by Tim Harper MYANMAR 14 David Scott Mathieson The Burmese Labyrinth: A History of the Rohingya Tragedy by Carlos Sardina Galache HONG KONG 15 Holmes Chan Defiance: Photographic Documentary of Hong Kong’s Awakening; Voices JOURNALISM 16 Martin Stuart-Fox You Don’t Belong Here: How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War by Elizabeth Becker CHINA 18 Anne Stevenson-Yang Anxious China: Inner Revolution and Politics of Psychotherapy by Li Zhang AUSTRALIA 19 Jeff Sparrow The Carbon Club: How a Network of Influential Climate Sceptics, Politicians and Business Leaders Fought to Control Australia’s Climate Policy by Marian Wilkinson MALAYSIA 20 Charles Brophy Automation and the Future of Work by Aaron Benanav; Work in an Evolving Malaysia: The State of Households 2020, Part II by Khazanah Research Institute RELIGION 21 Christopher G. Moore Finding the Heart Sutra; Guided by a Magician, an Art Collector and Buddhist Sages from
    [Show full text]
  • Once We Were Mates
    Once we were Mates Abalinx 25 March 2018 Peter Adamis Life would be much simpler if politics does not become personal. However life experiences has stated otherwise. Mark Anthony and Pompey became jealous of the rising star of Augustus who went onto become the greatest Roman Caesar the Roman world had known. Yet on his death bed, it is alleged that Augustus said, “Have I played my part in this comedy of life?” Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis worked well together until jealousy drove them apart and each went his own way. Arthur Calwell and Robert Menzies on the other hand never allowed their politics to become personal and in the end were seen together discussing their political differences and ideologies. Bob Hawke and Paul Keating were two other examples of a great partnership that went sour. One "reneging" on a deal being struck earlier in their partnership and the other ousting him in the end. John Howard and his personal "stoush" with Peter Costello are good examples of jealousy and power and are not a good cocktail. I am of the belief that John Howard honestly felt that Peter Costello just did not have in him to be a good Prime Minister. John Howard ended up being correct in a roundabout way when Peter Costello turned his back on the Liberal party that supported him throughout his successful years as the nation’s greatest Treasurer. Since that time Peter Costello has tried to return to active politics but has instead began a guerrilla warfare sniping at his once best mate, Michael Kroger.
    [Show full text]