By Situation Theatre 21/11/2019
Member for Mining Scott Morrison says the fact he is surrounded by advisors with connections to the coal industry, including multinational mining corporations such as Rio Tinto, pro-coal lobbying firms such as Crosby Textor, and members of the Murdoch Press, is unrelated to his fire sale of the national interest.
The Australian Prime Minister has argued there is no direct link between his Chief of Staff, John Kunkel’s former role as Rio Tinto’s chief advisor for Government Relations and Deputy CEO of the Minerals Council for Australia for over six years, and his insane climate policy.
Morrison said “the suggestion that anyway shape or form that there is a link between my denial of climate science and the former mining lobbyists on my staff, including my Principal Private Secretary, Yaron Finkelstein, the former CEO of Crosby Textor (now C|T), a multinational lobbying firm with close ties to the Liberal Party and the mining industry, other C|T alumni like Liberal Party campaign director, Andrew Hirst and his deputy, Isaac Levido, as well as James McGrath, LNP Senator for Queensland and prominent public advocate for Adani’s Carmichael coal mine, doesn’t bear up to credible scientific evidence at all.”
“I think also to suggest some sort of connection between the many members of my communications team who have longstanding ties to the radically pro-coal and anti-climate action Murdoch Press and my refusal to recognise the link between climate change and the bushfire crisis is absurd. I see no link whatsoever between my plans to crackdown on environmental protests and the ideological positions of my speechwriter Matthew Fynes-Clinton, former deputy chief of staff and editor of The Courier Mail, my Press Secretary Andrew Carswell, former chief of staff at The Daily Telegraph, and my advisor Thomas Adolph, formerly with The Australian.
“We could even increase the number of mining lobbyists on my staff without worsening current climate policy.”