Activist group 350.org claims fossil-fuel companies' $3.7m donations to Liberal, National and Labor parties taints the electoral process
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| The activist group 350.org has found that since the last federal election donations to the major political parties amounted to $3.69m. Photograph: Robb Kendrick/National Geographic Society/Corbis |
Major political parties have receive $3.7m in donations from fossil-fuel companies since the last election, and will deliver $2,000 in subsidies to the industry for every dollar donated, according to a 350.org report.
"The ongoing failure of our politicians to tackle climate change is directly attributable to the political influence of the fossil-fuel industry," said Blair Palese, the chief executive of 350.org Australia.
"If we are serious about climate solutions, we must end the cosy relationship between our politicians and the big polluters."
The activist organisation has launched the report alongside a campaign asking individual federal politicians to sign a "pollution-free politics pledge", where they commit to refuse donations from the fossil-fuel industry.
It has already been signed by all federal Greens politicians, independents Cathy McGowan and Andrew Wilkie, and outgoing Labor MPs Melissa Parke and Kelvin Thomson.
A list of those who have signed is being curated by 350.org.
"The corrupting influence of political donations that the Liberal, National and Labor parties receive from the fossil-fuel sector will only stop when these donations are banned," said Greens senator Lee Rhiannon.
The Greens have a bill before parliament seeking to ban political donations from the mining sector, and Rhiannon said the campaign to win support for the bill would be "cranked up" in response to the report.
Parke said: "I am a strong supporter of action on climate change and I am against subsidies for the fossil-fuel industry. I would like to see greater restrictions on the influence of that industry."
The report looked at donations declared to the Australian Electoral Commission since the last federal election, which amounted to $3.69m. It then calculated the combined value of four tax rebates and credits that would be used by the fossil-fuel industry in the 2016-2017 financial year, which it estimated would amount to $7.7bn.
The Minerals Council of Australia argues that the mining industry does not receive any subsidies.
350.org included in its analysis that the fuel tax credit made up the bulk of the subsidies with $5.5bn. It is a rebate given to large vehicles that use diesel fuel for business purposes off public roads.
The Minerals Council argues it is not a subsidy, but merely a way of avoiding the fuel being taxed twice: once when used by the business and then again when the business itself is taxed.
Brendan Pearson, chief executive of the Minerals Council of Australia, said: "The ability of individuals, trade unions and corporations to make political donations is part of our robust democratic system.
"The implication that certain individuals or certain sectors of the economy should be prohibited from making donations to political parties is nonsense.
"The mining industry does not receive subsidies."
"The Productivity Commission confirmed that the mining industry was subsidy-free in its most recent Trade and Investment Review 2013-14," he said.
"The report noted that the effective rate of assistance for the mining industry has fallen from 0.2% to 0.1% over the past year," Pearson said.
Charlie Wood, from 350.org, said: "The fact is it's still a massive refund for the fossil-fuel companies.
"The sorts of activities that they are being supported by taxpayers to do are causing damage to the communities and the climate, and creating costs in the system that are then coming back to the taxpayer to pay for," she said.
With a federal election due in 2016, Wood said 350.org would encourage more politicians to sign the pledge and would target those who have been fighting the hardest inside their parties to limit action on climate change.
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