Big mining companies are mega-rich. They always talk in billions.
Spending mere millions on advertising is peanuts for them and the returns they get on their advertising ‘investment’ to buy Australian voters pays off for them a thousand-fold.
[url=http://www.crikey.com.au/2011/08/16/carbon-price-minerals-council-of-australia-mitch-hooke/]Mitch’s new public policy paradigm[/url] is just the old one continued
by Bernard Keane
…Mitch Hooke’s observations in his letter asking for more financial help from Minerals Council of Australia members to attack [government policy proposals] as reported in today’s Financial Review.
” …over the period of the past four years there has been a profound shift in the manner of public policy development and implementation. The new paradigm is one of public contest through the popular media more so than rational considered effective consultation and debate.”
That’s it. Our new paradigm for deciding public policy in Australia at least if it concerns mining is to be having the mining industry spend up big to pervert our democratic process.
It has already worked extremely well for them at least once with their big spending campaign to advertise against the Mining Super Profits Tax. Australian voters voted themselves out of multi-billions of dollars in income to Australia as a result of that advertising effort.
The mining lobby is using the approach again in Queensland to make it look as if farmers love coal seam gas mining on their properties.