Industry lobby groups are out in force against Labor’s energy cap plan – doing the dirty work of fossil fuel giants | Christian Downie

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The advocacy of industry associations should never be confused for the public interest

. In 2021 Chevron paid $30 in income tax. Santos and Woodside had the last laugh though, shelling out $0.

But that’s not the way these industries see it, which is why their industry associations are out in force at the moment. As a researcher who has studied thethere are several things to bear in mind when assessing the claims being made by these groups. First, industry associations are set up by firms to advance the commercial interests of their members, and this typically means their largest members. The reason firms such as BHP, Chevron, Rio Tinto, Santos and Woodside dip into their pockets to keep these groups afloat is so that they can engage in a raft of political activities to protect their profits – think lobbyists walking the halls of parliament, or ad campaigns on TV, or social media decrying any attempt to regulate the industry.

And too often these campaigns are effective. In 2010 when Kevin Rudd proposed a resource super profits tax to ensure taxpayers got a fairer share of the billions being made by miners, the Minerals Council of Australia alonecampaigning against the government, mainly on TV advertisements. Shortly after Rudd fell, the Gillard government walked away from the proposal and the industry kept their super profits. No wonder they are at it again.

The second point to keep in mind is that as well as protecting their profits, the related goal of any industry association is to protect their members’ reputations. That is why these groups and their members often spend millions on public relations campaigns, or why they donate to a local community group or sports team. It is to ensure that their members maintain a social licence to operate.

 

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After the way they campaigned against the Mining Tax you would think Australians would be awake to their duplicity by now.

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