Page 160 - Carbon Capitalism and Communication Confronting Climate Crisis

12 NOTHING BUT TRUTHINESS: PUBLIC DISCOURSES … 151

of mining as a foundational tenet in Australian culture, one that holds
mining as central to Australian identity and way of life (Blewett 2012).
The affective argument used by politicians is that Australians are des-
tined to exploit their island continent’s rich mineral resources. Digging
down into the earth makes the present Australian way of life and its con-
tinued future possible (Blainey 2001). In a 2009 Quarterly Essay, energy
expert Guy Pearse described “the sacred place of mining and related
industries in Australia today,” a national imaginary he called “quarry
vision” (ibid., p 4). Coal, he argues, is imagined to be part of Australia’s
“national competitive advantage endowed by providence”, leading to a
“perfect harmony on the importance of the quarry… From every direction
Australians are told that their current and future prosperity depends on
what we dig, drill and smelt for the world” (ibid., p. 1). An entire affective
discourse based on the ‘feeling’ that mining is essential to Australian
identity and Australian prosperity has been erected on this foundation.
This foundation is based on emotional qualities rather than empirical
evidence. A comprehensive study by the progressive think tank The
Australia Institute has demonstrated that Australia’s economy would be
barely affected by a moratorium on approval of new coal mines and mine
expansions (Denniss et al. 2016).
Alongside the narrative of coal as national saviour, other ‘gut feelings’
arguments were used to promote the Carmichael mine. As evidence of
Australian minerals’ special status, unlike coal mined elsewhere in the
world, Australia’s coal was presented as assisting the world in battling
environmental problems, rather than exacerbating them.
One excellent example of this reasoning is this quote, again from former
prime minister Abbott during his visit to India in September 2014, when
he once again praised the Carmichael project:

It’s one of the minor miracles of our time—that Australian coal could
improve the lives of 100 million Indians, and it just goes to show what good
that freer trade can do for the whole world (Prime Minister Transcript 2014).

Echoing arguments propounded by the chief executive of Adani, former
Prime Minister Abbott pushed the moral argument that the mine could
improve Indian living standards, alleviate poverty in India and also reduce
carbon emissions. This last point was also put forward many times by
Australian federal government representatives. In the words of Senator