By Situation Theatre 20/5/2020
It may have taken some decades, but the hijacking of Australian democracy by the coal and gas sectors is now complete.
Following news Australia’s economic recovery will be led by coal and gas executives and that the Morrison Government has rebranded renewable energy as non-renewable energy, Australia has taken its worst blow yet in the global democracy rankings.
The Democracy Index, which measures the state of democracy in 167 countries, now places Australia at 166th, ahead of North Korea but lagging behind the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which you can tell by the name has serious problems.
One of the lead researchers on the 2020 report said “one of the key measures of democracy is how well the people’s interests are represented by government, the opposition, and the media, as compared to big business. It’s pretty clear that in Australia there is now no distinction to be made between the decisions of the Federal Government, the framing of these decisions by the nation’s media, and the interests of the corporate sector, particularly fossil fuel interests. Under these circumstances it’s impossible to describe the Australian state as anything resembling a democracy.”
“It is possible to bounce back, but unless you reform donations and lobbying, stamp out corruption, and strengthen civil society, you’re gonna keep getting owned by Syria to be honest.”