What is state capture and what role does the mining lobby play?
As defined by the World Bank, state capture refers to “the exercise of power by private actors — through control over resources, threat of violence, or other forms of influence — to shape policies or implementation in service of their narrow interests”. State capture is used by many different industries, and one of the worst examples in Australia is the fossil fuel industry. This has come as a result of the mining lobby pouring millions of dollars into the media and politics, creating a narrative that Australia is heavily reliant on fossil fuels and insinuating the mining workforce is bigger than it actually is.
According to the Australia Institute, the mining lobby and fossil fuel industry has a ‘stranglehold on our climate policies and rob us of our democratic right to have leadership to protect our country’.
