4 ms·

Not sure how 'no such thing as pro-coal' squares with passing a lump of coal around parliament and - instead of working on legislation - putting forward motions

Not sure how 'no such thing as pro-coal' squares with passing a lump of coal around parliament and - instead of working on legislation - putting forward motions to praise how wonderful the stuff is. As far as it being a free market? For infrastructure projects of that scale there's no such thing. Policy dictates what is (and what is not) economical to build every bit as much as the underlying fundamentals.

BLKNSLVR 5y ago
Photo of the honorable Prime Minister of Australia (only the Treasurer at the time however), Scott Morrison, proudly holding up a lump of coal in Australia's parliament.[0] I believe "don't be scared" was what his party said to the opposition at the time. And Barnaby Joyce, the deputy Prime Minister and leader of the conservative Nationals who stand for Christian family values, holding the very same lump of coal[1]. At this time, 2017, he probably hadn't yet publically admitted to having an affair with one of his assistants - who later got pregnant[2]. If Australia's political class hadn't already jumped the shark, this was it. [0]: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-14/scott-morrison-holds-a-lump-of-coal-in-parliament/11867032?nw=0 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-14/scott-morrison-holds-... [1]: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-07/barnaby-joyce-holds-a-lump-of-coal-in-the-house-of-representati/11942156?nw=0 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-07/barnaby-joyce-holds-a... [2]: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/feb/07/barnaby-joyces-wife-natalie-speaks-out-about-his-affair-with-staffer https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/feb/07/barna...
- jamil7 5y ago
  Did they coat the coal in something? How did they not get grubby fingers from it?
  - pjc50 5y ago
    Probably the coal promoter who handed it to them had washed it, and maybe waxed it or covered it in fixative to make the publicity stunt work better. Bit of a metaphor for the whole process.
  - stephen_g 5y ago
    Yes, I believe it was lacquered and given to them by a coal lobby group.
- caf 5y ago
  It should be noted that it's against Standing Orders to brandish a prop in the House.
roenxi 5y ago
They want coal miners to vote for them. But they want everyone to vote for them. The Greens and Labour party are both actively hostile to coal; it was a simple political stunt to sweep up some easy votes. Doesn't mean they're going down with the ship. Sit down and think it through - the Liberals aren't going to waste political capital on coal if it isn't a money spinner. There isn't anything to gain. There are all of 10-15 people in Australia who are ideologically wedded to the idea of coal for its own sake.
- Jedd 5y ago
  > The Greens and Labour party are both actively hostile to coal ... That's not true. The Labor (note spelling) party in AU is actively pro-coal. Sadly most stories are paywalled - but check [0] for the gist - "Labor drops hostility to coal", "Labor backs coal beyond 2050", "AU Labor Party backs coal, gas .." and so on -- there are precious few contra-examples because, basically, the AU Labor party is pro-coal, for much the same set of reasons that the AU Liberal/National party is pro-coal. [0] https://www.google.com/search?q=labor+australia+coal+policy https://www.google.com/search?q=labor+australia+coal+policy
  - roenxi 5y ago
    > Labor drops hostility to coal That one seems to be dated April of this year. I see I'm not alone in perceiving Labor (thanks, forgot) to be anti-coal. They're in a tricky position, trying to placate the nearly-Greens voters on one flank and the CFMEU on the other. Which is why the Liberals are pulling political stunts like waving coal around - it is very hard for Labor to respond to. They have a nasty split in ideology there that they have to manage and it makes political sense to pressure it. None of that represents ideological commitment to coal by Morrison. The Liberals don't especially care where the power comes from as long as it is cheap. Coal, gas, solar, nuclear. Mice in wheels fed a steady diet of sugar. They aren't going to subside environmentalists though, but that is a pro-market ideology, not pro-coal.
    - Jedd 5y ago
      'drops hostility to coal' is perhaps not the embrace of green energy that you may hope. {sigh} From March 2021 [0] "The Australian Labor Party will support an expansion of Australia’s gas industry" , From April 2021 [1] "abandon any carbon emissions reduction target for 2030" , "recommit any Labor government to continuing to support the mining giants based on the lucrative extraction of the main fossil fuels—coal, gas and oil." From June 2021 [2] "The Labor leader will use a speech to the Minerals Council of Australia to reassure mining companies that the opposition supports the continuing export of fossil fuels." , And so on > They're in a tricky position, trying to placate the nearly-Greens voters on one flank and the CFMEU on the other. Which is why the Liberals are pulling political stunts like waving coal around - it is very hard for Labor to respond to. They have a nasty split in ideology there that they have to manage and it makes political sense to pressure it. They're not 'in a tricky position' so much as 'they are a collective of people with substantively differentiating viewpoints but a common interest in power and money' - hence the friction. I envy your idealistic take on Scott Morrison's impartiality towards his largest donors. [0] https://reneweconomy.com.au/labor-to-support-gas-and-ccs-alongside-zero-carbon-target-in-new-policy-platform/ https://reneweconomy.com.au/labor-to-support-gas-and-ccs-alo... [1] https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/04/02/labo-a02.html https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/04/02/labo-a02.html [2] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jun/02/coalition-putting-jobs-and-exports-at-risk-by-opposing-renewables-and-antagonising-china-anthony-albanese-says https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jun/02/coali...

BLKNSLVR 5y ago

Photo of the honorable Prime Minister of Australia (only the Treasurer at the time however), Scott Morrison, proudly holding up a lump of coal in Australia's parliament.[0] I believe "don't be scared" was what his party said to the opposition at the time. And Barnaby Joyce, the deputy Prime Minister and leader of the conservative Nationals who stand for Christian family values, holding the very same lump of coal[1]. At this time, 2017, he probably hadn't yet publically admitted to having an affair with one of his assistants - who later got pregnant[2]. If Australia's political class hadn't already jumped the shark, this was it. [0]: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-14/scott-morrison-holds-a-lump-of-coal-in-parliament/11867032?nw=0 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-14/scott-morrison-holds-... [1]: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-07/barnaby-joyce-holds-a-lump-of-coal-in-the-house-of-representati/11942156?nw=0 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-07/barnaby-joyce-holds-a... [2]: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/feb/07/barnaby-joyces-wife-natalie-speaks-out-about-his-affair-with-staffer https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/feb/07/barna...

jamil7 5y ago
Did they coat the coal in something? How did they not get grubby fingers from it?
- pjc50 5y ago
  Probably the coal promoter who handed it to them had washed it, and maybe waxed it or covered it in fixative to make the publicity stunt work better. Bit of a metaphor for the whole process.
- stephen_g 5y ago
  Yes, I believe it was lacquered and given to them by a coal lobby group.
caf 5y ago
It should be noted that it's against Standing Orders to brandish a prop in the House.

roenxi 5y ago

They want coal miners to vote for them. But they want everyone to vote for them. The Greens and Labour party are both actively hostile to coal; it was a simple political stunt to sweep up some easy votes. Doesn't mean they're going down with the ship. Sit down and think it through - the Liberals aren't going to waste political capital on coal if it isn't a money spinner. There isn't anything to gain. There are all of 10-15 people in Australia who are ideologically wedded to the idea of coal for its own sake.

Jedd 5y ago
> The Greens and Labour party are both actively hostile to coal ... That's not true. The Labor (note spelling) party in AU is actively pro-coal. Sadly most stories are paywalled - but check [0] for the gist - "Labor drops hostility to coal", "Labor backs coal beyond 2050", "AU Labor Party backs coal, gas .." and so on -- there are precious few contra-examples because, basically, the AU Labor party is pro-coal, for much the same set of reasons that the AU Liberal/National party is pro-coal. [0] https://www.google.com/search?q=labor+australia+coal+policy https://www.google.com/search?q=labor+australia+coal+policy
- roenxi 5y ago
  > Labor drops hostility to coal That one seems to be dated April of this year. I see I'm not alone in perceiving Labor (thanks, forgot) to be anti-coal. They're in a tricky position, trying to placate the nearly-Greens voters on one flank and the CFMEU on the other. Which is why the Liberals are pulling political stunts like waving coal around - it is very hard for Labor to respond to. They have a nasty split in ideology there that they have to manage and it makes political sense to pressure it. None of that represents ideological commitment to coal by Morrison. The Liberals don't especially care where the power comes from as long as it is cheap. Coal, gas, solar, nuclear. Mice in wheels fed a steady diet of sugar. They aren't going to subside environmentalists though, but that is a pro-market ideology, not pro-coal.
  - Jedd 5y ago
    'drops hostility to coal' is perhaps not the embrace of green energy that you may hope. {sigh} From March 2021 [0] "The Australian Labor Party will support an expansion of Australia’s gas industry" , From April 2021 [1] "abandon any carbon emissions reduction target for 2030" , "recommit any Labor government to continuing to support the mining giants based on the lucrative extraction of the main fossil fuels—coal, gas and oil." From June 2021 [2] "The Labor leader will use a speech to the Minerals Council of Australia to reassure mining companies that the opposition supports the continuing export of fossil fuels." , And so on > They're in a tricky position, trying to placate the nearly-Greens voters on one flank and the CFMEU on the other. Which is why the Liberals are pulling political stunts like waving coal around - it is very hard for Labor to respond to. They have a nasty split in ideology there that they have to manage and it makes political sense to pressure it. They're not 'in a tricky position' so much as 'they are a collective of people with substantively differentiating viewpoints but a common interest in power and money' - hence the friction. I envy your idealistic take on Scott Morrison's impartiality towards his largest donors. [0] https://reneweconomy.com.au/labor-to-support-gas-and-ccs-alongside-zero-carbon-target-in-new-policy-platform/ https://reneweconomy.com.au/labor-to-support-gas-and-ccs-alo... [1] https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/04/02/labo-a02.html https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/04/02/labo-a02.html [2] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jun/02/coalition-putting-jobs-and-exports-at-risk-by-opposing-renewables-and-antagonising-china-anthony-albanese-says https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jun/02/coali...