Page 137 - Carbon Capitalism and Communication Confronting Climate Crisis

126 D. McKNIGHT AND M. HOBBS

opposition to the Labor government’s policies to reduce carbon emissions.
It is to the final attempt by the Labor government to implement a carbon
price that we now turn.

CASE STUDY #3: INTRODUCTION OF A CARBON TAX,
2011–2013
The third case study concerns the campaign mounted by the coal industry,
along with large sections of business, to oppose a carbon tax during the
period of the Labor government of Prime Minister Julia Gillard (2010–
2013). The carbon tax emerged as the price of the aforementioned alliance
between the minority Labor Party and a group of independent members of
parliament, including a Greens MP. As a consequence of the horse-trading
involved, proposals for a carbon tax (actually a fixed price for carbon
emissions for 3 years after which the price would ‘float’ as part of an
emission trading scheme) came with a number of other measures including
cheap credit and other support for renewable energy projects, along with
an independent watchdog on targets for carbon emissions.
While the government was debating the details of these energy policies
during most of 2011, the coal industry and its allies publicly condemned
any carbon tax, arguing that it would mean the loss of anything between
10,000 and 23,000 jobs and the closure of 16 coal mines (Crowe 2011).
In June it began an advertising campaign with the message “Why should
thousands of Australians lose their jobs if it makes no difference to global
greenhouse emissions?” (Australian Coal Association 2011). As with the
campaign against the previous government’s emissions trading scheme, the
advertisements targeted regional mining areas and their members of par-
liament to create a sense of looming unemployment. The industry was
supported by the Opposition leader, Tony Abbott, who told a conference
of mining companies, “you need to become political activists” to fight the
carbon tax (Coorey 2011). The popular media were seen as a key battle-
ground for public hearts and minds. In a letter to members, the chief of the
mining industry lobby group said that “the new paradigm [of policy
development] is one of public contest through the popular media more so
than rational, considered, effective consultation and debate” (Priest 2011).
The result was the formation in July 2011 of a new and broad business
group, the Australian Trade and Industry Alliance (ATIA), which was
composed of mining, retail and manufacturing bodies. With such broad