The Coal Curse

Resources, Climate and Australia's Future: Quarterly Essay #78

Judith Brett

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English

Black Inc
22 June 2020

Society & culture: general; Politics & government; Australian Society

Australia is a wealthy nation with the economic profile of a developing country – heavy on raw materials, and low on innovation and skilled manufacturing. Once we rode on the sheep’s back for our overseas trade; today we rely on cartloads of coal and tankers of LNG. So must we double down on fossil fuels, now that COVID-19 has halted the flow of international students and tourists? Or is there a better way forward, which supports renewable energy and local manufacturing?

Judith Brett traces the unusual history of Australia’s economy and the “resource curse” that has shaped our politics. She shows how the mining industry learnt to run fear campaigns, and how the Coalition became dominated by fossil-fuel interests to the exclusion of other voices. In this insightful essay about leadership, vision and history, she looks at the costs of Australia’s coal addiction and asks, where will we be if the world stops buying it?

“Faced with the crisis of a global pandemic, for the first time in more than a decade Australia has had evidence-based, bipartisan policy-making. Politicians have listened to the scientists and … put ideology and the protection of vested interests aside and behaved like adults. Can they do the same to commit to fast and effective action to try to save our children’s and grandchildren’s future, to prevent the catastrophic fires and heatwaves the scientists predict, the species extinction and the famines?”

Judith Brett, The Coal Curse

By: Judith Brett
Imprint: Black Inc
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 233mm, Width: 168mm, Spine: 11mm
Weight: 214g
ISBN: 9781760642297
ISBN 10: 1760642290
Pages: 128
Publication Date: 22 June 2020
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Judith Brett is emeritus professor of politics at La Trobe University and one of Australia's leading political thinkers. A former editor of Meanjin and columnist for The Age, she won the National Biography Award in 2018 for The Enigmatic Mr Deakin. Her other books include From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage- How Australia Got Compulsory Voting, Robert Menzies' Forgotten People and Australian Liberals and the Moral Middle Class.