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Financial Review.......
Laura Tingle and Matthew Cranston
Swan lashes billionaires’ influence
“A handful of vested interests that have pocketed a disproportionate share of the nation’s success now feel they have a right to shape Australia’s future to satisfy their own self-interest,” Wayne Swan says. Photo: Glenn Hunt
Fortescue Metals Group founder Andrew Forrest embraces deputy opposition leader Julie Bishop at an anti-mining tax rally in Western Australia in 2010. Photo: Sharon Smith
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart’s increased stake in Fairfax Media has been the final straw for a government that believes it is now under fire from a print media that is outwardly, sometimes irrationally, hostile. Photo: Tony Ashby
“[It’s] obvious from Mr Swan’s comments that he feels he has a responsibility to workers at the exclusion of all other Australians and that clearly explains his poor performance as Treasurer,” Clive Palmer says. Photo: AFP
Australia’s notion of the “fair go” is under threat from an elite group of wealthy business people – including Andrew Forrest, Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer – who are using their riches to undermine good public policy and “threaten our democracy”, Treasurer Wayne Swan says.
Signalling a campaign to challenge what he calls the excessive and increasing power of vested interests, Mr Swan says politicians face a choice between “exploiting divisions by promoting fear [or] appealing to the sense of fairness and decency that is the foundation of our middle-class society”.
Politicians also face a choice “between standing up for workers [or] kneeling down at the feet of the Gina Rineharts and the Clive Palmers”.
Mr Palmer struck back last night, saying politicians had a responsibility to “everyone without fear or favour”. It was “obvious from Mr Swan’s comments that he feels he has a responsibility to workers at the exclusion of all other Australians and that clearly explains his poor performance as Treasurer”, the Queensland mining magnate said.
Many in the government, particularly Mr Swan, are bitter that business has given Labor little credit for keeping the economy afloat during the global financial crisis.
Mr Swan’s targets, in an essay for The Monthly magazine, include “shock-jock ranting” and newspaper editorials. The comments come as the government considers a report on media law reform.
The Treasurer also writes that the Liberal-National Coalition “has radicalised itself into a version of the US Tea Party”.
The outburst against the billionaire business people comes after the bitterness of the debate about the minerals resource rent tax and the carbon price.
Corporate Australia switched during those battles from seeking to influence politics through donations and lobbying to making their case directly to the public with expensive advertising and rallies in 2010.
“The infamous billionaires’ protest against the mining tax would have been laughed out of town in the Australia I grew up in, and yet it received a wide and favourable reception two years ago,” Mr Swan writes.
“A handful of vested interests that have pocketed a disproportionate share of the nation’s success now feel they have a right to shape Australia’s future to satisfy their own selfinterest.”
Mr Swan writes that Australia must be part of a global debate that is also a feature of the US presidential campaign, “about the rich, the poor, the gap between them, and the role of vested interests in the significant widening of that gap in advanced economies over the past three decades”.
Australia’s fair go, he claims, is under threat from the rising power of vested interests, which are “undermining our equality and threatening our democracy”. He intends to pursue this theme in an address at the National Press Club next week.
The mining industry’s campaign against the resources tax was particularly damaging to the government, and helped set the scene for the polling slump that resulted in prime minister Kevin Rudd being toppled in June 2010.
The government largely capitulated to the mining industry’s concerns under Prime Minister Julia Gillard, rewriting the proposed tax at a $110 billion cost to revenue.
But Mrs Rinehart’s increased stake in Fairfax Media has been the final straw for a government that believes it is now under fire from a print media that is outwardly, sometimes irrationally, hostile.
The Treasurer says in the past couple of years, Australia has seen the emergence of coalitions “willing to use their considerable wealth to oppose good public policy and economic reforms designed to benefit the majority”.
“The combination of industry deep pockets, conservative political support, biased editorial policy and shock-jock ranting has been mobilised in an attempt to protect vested interest,” he says.
There were many Australians of great wealth whose “important and considered” contributions to the national debate he welcomed, “whether I agree with them or not”.
“What characterises the vested interests that I’m concerned about is how they misrepresent their selfinterest as the national interest.
“I know that 99 per cent of business people want the best for Australia, and that most people want us to remain the nation of the fair go.
Wayne Swan says John Singleton “let the cat out of the bag when he told The Sydney Morning Herald that he and Rinehart had been ‘able to overtly and covertly attack governments’.”
Photo: Robert Rough
“For every Andrew Forrest who wails about high company taxes and then admits to not paying any, there are a hundred Australian business people who held on to their employees and worked with government to keep the doors of Australian business open during the GFC [global financial crisis].”
US President Barack Obama has described rising income inequality as the defining issue of our time, Mr Swan writes, and would-be US president Mitt Romney was “wealthier than 99.9975 per cent of his fellow Americans”.
Mr Swan says it is the “tiny 1 per cent, or even 0.1 per cent, who are trying to drown out the others, who are blind to the national interest, and who pour their considerable personal fortunes into advertising, armies of lobbyists, dodgy modelling and corporate and commercial manoeuvring designed to influence editorial decisions”.
“The latest example of this is the foray by Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, into Fairfax Media [publisher of The Australian Financial Review], reportedly in an attempt to wield greater influence on public opinion and further her commercial interests at a time when the overwhelming economic consensus is that it’s critical to use the economic weight of the resources boom to strengthen the entire economy.
“Without a blush, her friend and fellow media owner John Singleton let the cat out of the bag when he told The Sydney Morning Herald that he and Rinehart had been ‘able to overtly and covertly attack governments . . . because we have people employed by us like Andrew Bolt and Alan Jones and Ray Hadley who agree with [our] thinking’.
“I fear Australia’s extraordinary success has never been in more jeopardy than right now because of the rising power of vested interests. This poison has infected our politics and is seeping into our economy.”
When informed of Mr Swan’s essay last night, Mr Palmer said he was made a life member of the Liberal Party in 1990 “and I didn’t have a billion dollars then, in fact, I don’t think I even had $1 million”.
The Australian Financial Review
Laura Tingle
Laura Tingle
..............................................................................
Couldn't agree more.
Laura Tingle and Matthew Cranston
Swan lashes billionaires’ influence
“A handful of vested interests that have pocketed a disproportionate share of the nation’s success now feel they have a right to shape Australia’s future to satisfy their own self-interest,” Wayne Swan says. Photo: Glenn Hunt
Fortescue Metals Group founder Andrew Forrest embraces deputy opposition leader Julie Bishop at an anti-mining tax rally in Western Australia in 2010. Photo: Sharon Smith
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart’s increased stake in Fairfax Media has been the final straw for a government that believes it is now under fire from a print media that is outwardly, sometimes irrationally, hostile. Photo: Tony Ashby
“[It’s] obvious from Mr Swan’s comments that he feels he has a responsibility to workers at the exclusion of all other Australians and that clearly explains his poor performance as Treasurer,” Clive Palmer says. Photo: AFP
Australia’s notion of the “fair go” is under threat from an elite group of wealthy business people – including Andrew Forrest, Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer – who are using their riches to undermine good public policy and “threaten our democracy”, Treasurer Wayne Swan says.
Signalling a campaign to challenge what he calls the excessive and increasing power of vested interests, Mr Swan says politicians face a choice between “exploiting divisions by promoting fear [or] appealing to the sense of fairness and decency that is the foundation of our middle-class society”.
Politicians also face a choice “between standing up for workers [or] kneeling down at the feet of the Gina Rineharts and the Clive Palmers”.
Mr Palmer struck back last night, saying politicians had a responsibility to “everyone without fear or favour”. It was “obvious from Mr Swan’s comments that he feels he has a responsibility to workers at the exclusion of all other Australians and that clearly explains his poor performance as Treasurer”, the Queensland mining magnate said.
Many in the government, particularly Mr Swan, are bitter that business has given Labor little credit for keeping the economy afloat during the global financial crisis.
Mr Swan’s targets, in an essay for The Monthly magazine, include “shock-jock ranting” and newspaper editorials. The comments come as the government considers a report on media law reform.
The Treasurer also writes that the Liberal-National Coalition “has radicalised itself into a version of the US Tea Party”.
The outburst against the billionaire business people comes after the bitterness of the debate about the minerals resource rent tax and the carbon price.
Corporate Australia switched during those battles from seeking to influence politics through donations and lobbying to making their case directly to the public with expensive advertising and rallies in 2010.
“The infamous billionaires’ protest against the mining tax would have been laughed out of town in the Australia I grew up in, and yet it received a wide and favourable reception two years ago,” Mr Swan writes.
“A handful of vested interests that have pocketed a disproportionate share of the nation’s success now feel they have a right to shape Australia’s future to satisfy their own selfinterest.”
Mr Swan writes that Australia must be part of a global debate that is also a feature of the US presidential campaign, “about the rich, the poor, the gap between them, and the role of vested interests in the significant widening of that gap in advanced economies over the past three decades”.
Australia’s fair go, he claims, is under threat from the rising power of vested interests, which are “undermining our equality and threatening our democracy”. He intends to pursue this theme in an address at the National Press Club next week.
The mining industry’s campaign against the resources tax was particularly damaging to the government, and helped set the scene for the polling slump that resulted in prime minister Kevin Rudd being toppled in June 2010.
The government largely capitulated to the mining industry’s concerns under Prime Minister Julia Gillard, rewriting the proposed tax at a $110 billion cost to revenue.
But Mrs Rinehart’s increased stake in Fairfax Media has been the final straw for a government that believes it is now under fire from a print media that is outwardly, sometimes irrationally, hostile.
The Treasurer says in the past couple of years, Australia has seen the emergence of coalitions “willing to use their considerable wealth to oppose good public policy and economic reforms designed to benefit the majority”.
“The combination of industry deep pockets, conservative political support, biased editorial policy and shock-jock ranting has been mobilised in an attempt to protect vested interest,” he says.
There were many Australians of great wealth whose “important and considered” contributions to the national debate he welcomed, “whether I agree with them or not”.
“What characterises the vested interests that I’m concerned about is how they misrepresent their selfinterest as the national interest.
“I know that 99 per cent of business people want the best for Australia, and that most people want us to remain the nation of the fair go.
Wayne Swan says John Singleton “let the cat out of the bag when he told The Sydney Morning Herald that he and Rinehart had been ‘able to overtly and covertly attack governments’.”
Photo: Robert Rough
“For every Andrew Forrest who wails about high company taxes and then admits to not paying any, there are a hundred Australian business people who held on to their employees and worked with government to keep the doors of Australian business open during the GFC [global financial crisis].”
US President Barack Obama has described rising income inequality as the defining issue of our time, Mr Swan writes, and would-be US president Mitt Romney was “wealthier than 99.9975 per cent of his fellow Americans”.
Mr Swan says it is the “tiny 1 per cent, or even 0.1 per cent, who are trying to drown out the others, who are blind to the national interest, and who pour their considerable personal fortunes into advertising, armies of lobbyists, dodgy modelling and corporate and commercial manoeuvring designed to influence editorial decisions”.
“The latest example of this is the foray by Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, into Fairfax Media [publisher of The Australian Financial Review], reportedly in an attempt to wield greater influence on public opinion and further her commercial interests at a time when the overwhelming economic consensus is that it’s critical to use the economic weight of the resources boom to strengthen the entire economy.
“Without a blush, her friend and fellow media owner John Singleton let the cat out of the bag when he told The Sydney Morning Herald that he and Rinehart had been ‘able to overtly and covertly attack governments . . . because we have people employed by us like Andrew Bolt and Alan Jones and Ray Hadley who agree with [our] thinking’.
“I fear Australia’s extraordinary success has never been in more jeopardy than right now because of the rising power of vested interests. This poison has infected our politics and is seeping into our economy.”
When informed of Mr Swan’s essay last night, Mr Palmer said he was made a life member of the Liberal Party in 1990 “and I didn’t have a billion dollars then, in fact, I don’t think I even had $1 million”.
The Australian Financial Review
Laura Tingle
Laura Tingle
..............................................................................
Couldn't agree more.
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bravo
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they should stick to trying to run their business's would be my call but in saying that. lobbying to prevent things that effect your profits, even if they are good for the country, is part of running that business
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sorry womble. There's a big difference between lobbying and manipulating the media you own to pursue your own agenda. That's Dr. Evil style stuff.
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Wayne Swan is clearly deluded in making this statement, “The infamous billionaires’ protest against the mining tax would have been laughed out of town in the Australia I grew up in, and yet it received a wide and favourable reception two years ago,” Mr Swan writes.
My recall is that Gina Rinehart and Andrew Forrest were roundly criticised and Swan backs that up himself by descriding it as "infamous". Swan is an intellectual lightweight. |
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AFL, It's obvious you hold a special place in your heart for what you call "the right wing press", but they have been part of the political landscape for years, just like the unions, the churches etc etc.
I've got no idea why someone would listen to the drivel of guys like Alan Jones, but the only redeeming aspect of this type of media (as opposed to dealings behind closed doors), is that it is transparent. Human beings behave selfishly no matter the language they speak or the angle of their politics. This "opinion piece" could be written about many parts of society that have a disproportionate influence in politics. |
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Swan has no idea. If it wasn't for these wealthy people taking risks & creating jobs in the mining industry then where would our economy & his budget be now. But no he would prefer to tax them & discourage them from making investments. he should be thanking them not critising.
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LOL, so Swan should thank and bow to the Mining Industry who held his Gov't and us to ransom with their self serving Media Campaign.
Here is an example of what Gina Rinehart thinks about Taxes, regulation, and employing Australians..... taken from an article i posted on the Climate Change thread.....regarding that crack pot of a RIGHT WING organisation called the IPA........................ By Clive Hamilton Professor of Public Ethics Charles Sturt University...... extract.... Despite its refusal to divulge, we can make a good guess at where a large part of its recent funding has come from - right-wing mining billionaire Gina Rinehart. In August 2010 the Institute's magazine carried a prominent article by one of its staff titled "Unleash the North". It advocated the creation of a special economic zone to cover the northern half of the continent where companies would have lower levels of regulation, cheap labour could be imported from developing countries and tax rates would be cut. This proposal exactly parallels Gina Rinehart's campaign for a special economic zone in northern Australia where companies like hers could enjoy special privileges. She has set up a lobby group called Australians for Northern Development and Economic Vision (ANDEV) to promote the idea. Within months the Institute had established a new ‘North Australia Project', with its own website, and from May 2011 began churning out media releases promoting the special economic zone, beginning with a "landmark Galaxy poll" that purported to show that 60 per cent of Australians "think Canberra is out of touch with Northern Australia". (In a move that shows polling groups will pose the most absurd questions if paid enough to do so, Galaxy asked whether "in your opinion, do decision makers in Canberra understand the needs of families and businesses living in Northern Australia?" as if the average punter is au faitwith the needs of families and businesses in semi-tropical Australia and equally well-informed what "Canberra" thinks about it.) The new director of the North Australia Project, Hugh Tobin, declared: The government should put in place a Special Economic Zone in Northern Australia. A low tax, low regulation zone would drive continued long term investment in the Australian resource industry. John Roskam also began spruiking the marvels of Rinehart's northern zone. Subsequent media releases warned of an out-of-touch Canberra, the danger of falling iron ore prices, the fragility of the resources boom, skills shortages, and the need to cut taxes and simplify regulation. They call for a "business friendly", "low tax, low regulation Special Economic Zone". The IPA's outpourings have been reproduced in mining industry magazines and will undoubtedly soon be echoed by right-wing newspaper columnists. If the words in the media releases were not dictated down the phone by Gina Rinehart, then they could have been. I would be willing to bet $1,000 that she is now a major funder of the Institute of Public Affairs. In fact, the IPA has admitted that it is "working with Australians for Northern Development and Economic Vision", Rinehart's lobby group. In June 2011 the IPA said it was conducting a series of seminars throughout Northern Australia to "build the case for, and gather input into the establishment of a Northern SEZ". It has taken Bob Carter to Weipa, Kunanurra, Darwin, Broome, Mount Isa and several more towns. |
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AFL, yes they should! Who built the mines that have propped up this country for last few years. It wasnt Wayne Swan or the labor party.
So Gina Rinehart doesnt like to pay tax. Does anyone? |
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She doesn't like employing Australians either by the sound of it.....
They think they should dictate the amount of tax they pay, by holding the country to ransom....... Can a private citizen do that? |
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Just watch CH 10 spew her message in the years to come.....
and any newspaper she buys into... and any radio station she buys into... |
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Recent years has seen Rinehart focus on developing Hancock Prospecting's undeveloped deposits, raising capital through joint venture partnerships and turning reserves into revenue producing mines.[8]
Rinehart, via Hancock Prospecting, shares 50% of the profits generated by the Hope Downs mine which is operated by Rio Tinto and produces 30 million tonnes of iron ore annually. Another joint venture with Mineral Resources Limited at Nicholas Downs, northwest of Newman is producing 500 million tonnes of ferruginous manganese.[citation needed] The Alpha Coal and Kevin's Corner projects in Central Queensland, both with production due to commence in 2013, are expected to produce 30 million tonnes of coal each.[29] The Roy Hill iron ore project, south of Port Hedland, in the Pilbara is expected to begin production in 2013 with a yield of 55 million tonnes a year.[30][31] Instead of raising capital to invest in this country maybe she should just sell up, close down the mines & move to a tax haven. Why should the mining industry stand by while they get taxed extra so Swan can hand out money to prop up inefficient manufacturing industries. |
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She cant afford to pay more tax.....you know ... her fair share of our wealth...
 Another whinging billionaire..... My heart bleeds for her....... |
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Any company/industry that negotiates by holding the country to ransom can get stuffed imo
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AFL the mining tax would not been paid by her personally. Just would have led to less investment in mining.My mind boggles how stupid your are for being silly enough to go along with anything that comes out of Wayne Swans mouth. |
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Same attitude as Wilkie.....if I don't get what I want I will bring down the Gov't....
Whilst in negotiation...  |
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Swan may be stupid in your eyes Kye....
at least he didn't sell all our Gold Reserves for $350 an oz ....like Costello did.  |
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Why are Australian minning billionaires all fat and ugly.
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This is the resumption of class warfare from the Labor Party and Wayne Swan.
Wayne Swan couldn't do three rounds with Winnie the Pooh ffs. A complete clown. A COMPLETE clown. Trust Labor to be pulling out the class warfare card in desperate times. Do they have no shame? |
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"wombleoz
they should stick to trying to run their business's would be my call but in saying that. lobbying to prevent things that effect your profits, even if they are good for the country, is part of running that business" This is a democracy wombleoz, a DEMOCRACY. This is not China, nor is it North Korea. This is Australia where we operate under a democracy and where free speech is cherished. These companies are able to lobby just as any individual can lobby. Am I not allowed to have a full page ad published in the Daily Telegraph for $15,000 promoting the Coalition, wombleoz? Yes I am allowed. If I saved up that money to have an ad published thats my right. As it is yours to publish your own ads with your own wealth, however much you may have. This is nonsense. This is class warfare from Labor, its the desperation card. And it is digusting. It's tall poppy syndrome. To slag off someone like Andrew Twiggy Forrest who has contributed millions apon millions to the advancement and employment of indigenous people in the Northern Territory is unforgivable. Mr Swan should unreservedly apologise and yes Kingston, he is an intellectual lightweight, absolutely he is. And what is the difference, wombleoz, between the lobbying from business, which is essentially Swan's argument, and the multi million dollar campaigns launched by the Union movement each and every year....and even more concentrated during an election campaign??????????????????????? This is not only class warfare, but like as if on cue, ABSOLUTE hypocracy from Wayne Swan and the ALP. |
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only a fckstick like JEZ the non punter would be worrying about all this sh1t on Newmarket Day.
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whoopi doo....whoopi doo dah.....run along sunshine |
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Easy to see the divide between men and boys sometimes.
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...and girls
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now fck off back under the fridge you crawled out of. fckn cockroach
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Anyways, let me add one more point.
Attacking these people, these successful people who have built amazing businesses who employ thousands, contribute billions in tax revenue and generate extroardinary economic activity reminds me of "biting the hand that feeds you". These billions contribute to health, education, public housing and on and on and on and on it goes. These socialist elites, such as wombleoz, love sipping lattes, love sipping champagne on Toorak Road and love to campaign for all these public funded ventures, yet on the flipside they bite the hand that feeds government coffers. They're happy for the Union to fund millions in democratic attacks on their Opposition (the LNP), yet they're not so happy when business exercise a similar right. |
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whoopi doo dah
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Get back to the racing thread whoopi doo....keep throwing away your hard earned......or centrelink dole cheque....go on, run along sunshine
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wipe awy your little girl tears....come here...do you need a cuddle?
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comparing the unions to the ultra rich is pathetic, as is calling it class welfare - the ultra rich are a class of their own imo
the unions are their members - genuine real people |
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its class wars....the old us v them mentality.
Again ignoring the fact these companies pump billions into the economy and into the govt coffers. These people who are successful are genuine real people also wombleoz. They have a right to have their say, just as much as the Union movement has a right to have a say. Your suggestions are ludicrous. Are these people not allowed to participate in free speech, simply because they are successful? And are they not "genuine real people" purely because they are successful. The old socialist mentality lives strong in wombleoz's mind. If your agreeing with this pathetic Labor government on their policies, they'll pat you on the back, if not, they'll attack you ferciously as a "threat to democracy" etc. I mean what a complete disgrace. And this is our Treasurer making such claims against our own successful Australians ffs. Biting the hand that feeds you. It's very sad that you and your mates, wombleoz, are resorting to attacking those who have become very successful at what they do and employ thousands apon thousands of Australians and contribute billions to our economy is just senseless nonsense. Your argument, your government and your party are pathetic wombleoz. And my argument comparing successful business people and the union movement is concise. Both have vested interests and in our democracy both have a right to have their voice heard. Pretty fkn simple, I'd suggest. |
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Will be interesting to see just how "genuine" Gina is when more comes out in the next few days i'd suggest - i don't consider threatening to bankrupt your kids is very "genuine" but hey, maybe that's just me
Good on them for doing well overall, good on them for employing people - although apparent Gina is very keen to get Chinese workers in. I think Andrew Twiggy Forrest is the best of the of the 3 the other 2 need to be pt back in their place |
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Dont worry forrest is very much in it for himself , never ceases to highlight his no 1 prioity himself, and hasn't done anywhere as much for the people up north as he claims to have done.
This country's future in particular WA's future needs to be safeguarded not just pillaged by the commonwealth, WA getting less than 2/3 of the GST revenue it generates this year and is treated like second class citizen by the rest of the country except when they need a loan. Without WA's wealth the overwhelming majority of states would be stuffed. We desperately need money for infrastructure to support WA industry and its burgeoning population yet very very few on the eastern seaboard seems to understand that. Its about time the federal government be it labor or liberal realised this and invested in WA's and therefore the country's future. |
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Lets - WA holds the majority of Australia's resources - it's only fair the proceeds of those resources, and the GST they help raise, are spread evenly imo
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LE, GST revenue should and is based on a formula of population and other factors/special needs (eg NT gets much more per head of population).
It should have nothing to do with where the GST is collected. for instance WA doesnt get additional funds just b/c the head office of Westfarmers is located there. This must be a first that i agree with Womble on anything |
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Kye about bloody time I'd suggest  |
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Typical eastern states attitude why should WA prop up the rest of Australia when its own sorely needed infrstructure is neglected, you guys are idiots you can't support the burgeoning population we have because of our resources boom without the required infrastructure to support that population and the industry itself. Instead of holding money back you should be pouring money into WA the sooner you do that the better off the whole country will be as the lack of infrastructure is actually holding back industry development.
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