Sky News host Cory Bernardi says the banks’ decision not to fund any new coal mines or fossil fuel power stations have “nothing to do with profitability but everything to do with ideology”.
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The editorial from In My View on Sky News Australia
Australia’s economic recovery from this Coronavirus induced coma will be built on the back of some critical industries…mining and power to name but two.
Mining, particularly coal and iron ore, provides hundreds of thousands of jobs and brings in tens of billions of dollars in export revenue - paying the taxes to fund much of our welfare state.
Our power industry has been our historic competitive advantage. Cheap and reliable power, driven by an abundance of natural resources has enabled industry to thrive.
Both industry advantages are under threat….not just from black, red and green tape, but from zealous activists who spend their lives looking for targets of their Marxist anger.
They are the clowns who glue themselves to city streets, join the convoy of kooks to protest adani and pressure companies (and individuals) to boycott those firms deemed ‘unclean’.
Most thinking people have the wits to resist this madness but there are many in the media and in corporate Australia who fall prey to the parlour tricks played out on twitter and via keyboard warrior campaigns.
In most instances this doesn’t really matter. Weak people yield to whatever prevailing wind blows but there is one industry, which enjoys an extraordinary social license, where it does matter. The Banking industry.
Our banks enjoy government guarantees and have concentrated market power. Yet they have all decided to render judgment on our most important industries and walked away from funding them.
The banks have said they won’t fund new coal mines or new fossil fuel power stations. Those decisions have nothing to do with profitability but everything to do with ideology.
A position driven by social media warriors who have no regard to the consequences of their actions and by partisan union dominated industry super funds who are big investors in our big banks.
Those investments are on behalf of everyday Australians whose livelihoods and wellbeing are directly linked to cheap and reliable power and a successful mining industry. These super funds are effectively campaigning against the interest of the investors they purport to represent.
It’s time the banks (and the industry funds) backed team Australia and revisited their decisions to cut off some of our most important industries.
Cory Bernardi is the author of seven books and has been a member of the Australian rowing team, a publican, an investment portfolio manager and spent nearly 14 years as an Australian Senator.
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