The Australian mining tax debate: political legacies and comparative perspectives

The political debate concerning the introduction of new national resource rent tax in Australia between 2010 and 2014 provides significant insights into the Australian political system. This collection of papers systematically examines the broader political consequences of the mining tax debate including the power of mining interests and the strategic errors made by the Rudd and Gillard governments. These analyses highlight the institutional limits of the Australian state and the political challenges associated with future economic reform.     

The press and issue framing in the Australian mining tax debate

Using supervised learning techniques to code newspaper articles on the Minerals Resource Rent Tax (originally known as the Resources Super Profits Tax), this article analyses sources of partiality and emphasis in media coverage of the issue. It shows that opponents were more successful in airing their views in the opening stages of the debate, but the government's re-branding led to more favourable media coverage. There was a regional bias, however, with newspapers in states dominated by mining interests more critical than newspapers from other states. The only truly national newspaper (the Australian) was notable for having fewer ‘neutral’ articles, with a relatively high number of both negative and positive articles. The Australian Financial Review, meanwhile, had a greater number of neutral articles. Framing remained homogenous over time though variable across publications.

本文使用指导学习技术,对有关矿产资源租借税的报刊文章进行编码,分析了媒体就此话题的报道其中中立性和重点性的根源。研究显示,反对者在辩论的开始阶段成功地传播他们的观点。不过,政府的再推广也达到了有利的媒体宣传效果。当然,会有地区偏差,矿业利益集团控制的州,那里的报纸会比其他州更持批判立场。唯一名副其实的全国性大报登载的“中性”文章明显要少,负面和正面的文章都比较多,而《澳大利亚财经评论》倒是刊登了较多的中性文章。总之,格局一直比较单一,但具体到出版物则有参差。     

The power of hope: the mobilisation of small and mid-tier companies in the mining industry's campaign against the Resources Super Profits Tax

This article examines the mobilisation of small and mid-tier companies in the mining industry's campaign against the Resources Super Profits Tax (RSPT), drawing on interviews with 18 industry players. The government anticipated that small exploration and development companies would support the RSPT, on account of its promise to contribute towards the costs of exploration and development. In doing so, it was guided by Treasury advice and the assumption of calculative rationality on the part of small companies. Instead, industry leaders forged a common front against the tax within days of its announcement. In doing so, they appealed to the hope of extraordinary returns – or what is sometimes described as ‘sentiment’, ‘animal spirits’ and ‘irrational exuberance’ – among mining entrepreneurs and investors, against the odds. Other researchers have argued that the debate around the RSPT highlights the ‘power of ideas’, but we argue that it highlights the ‘power of hope’.     

Australian political studies and the production of disciplinary innocence

ABSTRACT

While Australian political studies often appears to have neglected engagements with Indigenous peoples and politics, we argue this is not a simple question of omission. In fact, the discipline is deeply implicated in imperial knowledge production and the authorisation of racialised colonial governance. As non-Indigenous scholars working within Australian political studies, in this paper we reflect on our own discipline in light of several decades of critical scholarship, identifying the production of disciplinary innocence through a theoretical and institutional analysis of Australian political studies knowledge practices. We explore this production via canonical knowledges, institutional processes that contain Indigenous people and knowledge to subjects of policy, and the operation of disciplinary divisions which neutralise scholarship on policy and political institutions.     

政治全球化视角下的日本政治大国战略

政治全球化进程的加快对国际政治、国际关系产生了深远的影响。对日本而言,是从经济大国走向政治大国的难得契机,再加上国内新国家主义的鼓动驱策,其政治大国目标清晰,政治大国战略选择日益引人注目。     

The dragon versus the kangaroo: perceptions of Chinese and Australian influence and development assistance in Vanuatu

ABSTRACT

China’s engagement within the South Pacific has increased dramatically in recent years mainly through significant increases in development assistance. Development assistance is provided to address humanitarian needs but to also secure national interests of the donor. This paper examines the extent and nature of Australia’s and China’s influence in Vanuatu from the perspectives of the Ni-Vanuatu people using new data. China is perceived as having the most influence in the country despite Australia’s development assistance being viewed far more positively. Support for infrastructure is the most important factor contributing to a positive image for both countries. Perceptions of land grabbing are the main factor contributing to negative images. Regional differences in perceptions of Australia and China across Vanuatu also exist.     

A Flawed Saint: The Popular Image of William Gladstone in the Australian Colonies

ABSTRACT

This article looks at the popular image of William Gladstone which gradually emerged and evolved in the Australian Colonies throughout the nineteenth century. By using a wide variety of newspaper sources and political speeches, the piece shows how Gladstone was extensively discussed and interpreted on the far side of the ‘British World’. It tracks the ups and downs of the turbulent relationship Gladstone had with the Australian Colonies over his long career, as he influenced Australian history both directly through the policies he implemented and indirectly as an inspiration for local politicians. It concludes that although Gladstone repeatedly aggravated Australian opinion both through his time at the Colonial Office and the ‘soft’ foreign policy he pursued as Prime Minister, his domestic popularity as a successful liberal and democratic figure was enough to make him a hero in colonial eyes. This conclusion shows how ‘British World’ popular sentiment was able to trump nominal local interests. This demonstrates not only the predominance of Britishness in Australian identity during this time period, but also how as a simultaneously separate yet intimately linked part of the Empire, Australians abstracted their own significance and meaning from domestic British politics.     

The platform business model and business ecosystem: quality management and revenue structures*

A platform is a two-sided market. It is an environment established to allow multiple groups such as suppliers and consumers to exchange their views for fair transactions. Platforms evolve through the connection and interaction of participants, and act as ecosystems of coexistence that can provide values and benefits to all participants. Care must be taken in building such a business ecosystem to successfully stabilize the platform model. This research indicates how a business ecosystem can be constructed by analysing quality management and revenue structures – core elements in any platform business model with a distinct group of users on either side. Through 12 case studies using 30 in-depth interviews and 2 focus group interviews, this research suggests the conceptual framework, ‘12 different types of quality management and revenue structure strategies’. These will serve as the conceptual framework from which to build platform business model ecosystems.     

The political economy of the print media and the decline of corporate investigative journalism in Australia

Newspapers in developed economies are experiencing declining advertising and circulation revenues, closures and cutbacks. Investigative journalism's normative role has been described as scrutinising concentrated power sources in liberal democracies. This article examines investigative reporting by the Australian print media that has exposed corporate wrong-doing from affluent times to the current era of newspapers' financial hardship. Applying two content analyses, the article examines business investigative journalism from selected newspapers and specific categories of the peer-reviewed Walkley Awards. The socialist tradition identifies corporate power above other groups in society, and this article finds in accordance with political-economic theories that mainstream newspapers have become conspicuously absent in their investigative role in detecting and exposing corporate transgressions. I conclude that this failure was most notable prior to and during the Global Financial Crisis, and this has implications for the exercise, and scrutiny, of corporate power in Australia.

发达国家的报纸遭遇了广告和发行的滑坡,还有倒闭和削减。调查性新闻的规范角色被描述为自由民主体制内的监督力量。本文考察了澳大利亚印刷媒体从丰裕时代一直到如今报纸财政艰难岁月,对公司过失所做的调查报道。本文使用了内容分析,从选择的报纸和同行评审的Walkley奖的特定类别对商业调查做了研究。社会主义传统认定公司的权力高于社会其他群体,本文同意政治经济学理论,指出主流报纸在履行揭露公司违法不端的调查职责时,是明显缺席的。笔者的结论是,在全球金融危机之前及之中,这种缺席是再明显不过了。这个结论对于公司力量的运动和监督,或许有参考意义。     

In defence of Australian foreign policy: common themes,assumptions, and challenges

ABSTRACT

While interrelated issues and challenges can only expand, the study of foreign policy in Australia is not a very healthy discipline. While not wholly wedged on life-support, there are genuine grounds for concern about the decline of Australian foreign policy (AFP) as a subject for serious academic concentration and its position as a marginalised topic of analysis. Unfortunately, attempts to reinvigorate the field continue to contend with a number of ingrained biases. AFP can be incorrectly dismissed as muddled and marginal while major debate points in the field are often glibly portrayed as broadly settled. This is despite the that fact that it can provide unique insights into policy-making in the twenty-first century while teaching students the benefits of problem-solving through a multi-disciplinary lens. Additionally, there is an ever-changing, contested set of knowledge that future leaders will need to consider in order to be successful, critical thinkers in a multi-agency environment. This will continue to incorporate an evolving variety of significant issues that constitute both conventional and unconventional threats to national interests.     

论民国时期的营业税税率与税负

营业税是民国时期从西方引进的一种现代税收制度,随国家政治与社会经济形势的变化而不断调整。作为税收制度的核心要素,民国时期营业税税率经历了从北洋政府时期的定额税率向南京政府时期的比例税率的转变。在南京国民政府的分税制体制下,地方营业税税率设计存在差别比例税率和单一比例税率两种模式。抗战和内战期间,国民政府逐步统一及大幅提高营业税税率以增加财政收入。营业税纳税人实际税负的增加是税率因素与非税率因素共同作用的结果。民国时期营业税在成为政府重要收入来源的同时,也给工商业经济和普通民众带来沉重的税收负担。     

Labour Market Dynamics in Resource Dependent Regions: an Examination of the Western Australian Goldfields

Labour shortages have become an increasingly significant barrier to economic development in regional Australia. Many firms and government agencies are operating below capacity as a result of their inability to fill jobs. In the mineral resources sector, this has been compounded by rapidly rising demand for commodities and the very remote locations of many mine sites. This paper explores the dynamics of labour shortages in the minerals sector of the Western Australian Goldfields. It demonstrates close linkages between commodity price, labour supply and demand, and resource output. Against the background of a state-wide ‘resources boom’, the paper also points to an increase in intra- and inter- regional competition for labour.     

在"一个国家"和"多元文化主义"的激荡中成长--从公民社会模式看澳大利亚华人的参政空间

九十年代后期澳大利亚华人参政形式发生了结构性转变,由原来的相对散漫而少有华人参政,转变成为华人主动集会结社投身政治.本文认为,这种转变是在特定的历史时空,由华人社群与澳洲主流社会的变化互相激荡而产生的.本文利用公民社会理论来建构一个看待移民社会政治参与的参考架构,用海外华人的视角来审视澳洲华人发展史,讨论九十年代后期澳洲极端派反移民势力的兴起,以及对华人社会的影响.笔者认为,澳洲华人社会这个转变提供了一个华人参政的良好典范,即以少数族裔身份在公民社会中参与政治活动,从而改变主流社会的思维.     

The introduction of Australian digital television: Politics,policy and power

This article discusses the introduction of digital television to Australia, and the competing interests, and conflicts of power, surrounding this. It seeks to explain the primary outcomes of the digital settlement in terms of these interests and these processes of power. It points out how this settlement was very much at odds with the pro-market, deregulatory and competition-oriented reform advanced by the Howard government (and prior to it, the Hawke and Keating governments) in other industry sectors. The digital settlement introduced in 2001 entirely determined what Australians watched on their television screens for the first decade of the 21st century. This article seeks to unpack the processes that led to this outcome.

本文讨论了澳大利亚数字电视的引进以及围绕它的利益博弈和权力斗争。作者力图从利益或权力的角度理解数字电视引进的主要结果。作者指出,数字电视的引进与霍华德政府（以及之前的霍克和基廷政府）推行的市场化、解除管制、竞争导向的改革大相径庭。2001年引进的数字电视整个决定了21世纪头十年澳大利亚人在电视屏幕上看些什么。本文意在揭示通向这一结果的过程。     

The Australian League of Rights and the process of political conversion

An empirical study of Australian League of Rights' supporters demonstrates their intensely held ideological convictions. Such devotees commonly seek to convert others to their belief system which they regard as “sacrosanct” while other modes of thought are ill‐informed and harmful. Their proselytisation technique attempts to make the “target” doubt previously unquestioned notions, thereby creating personal anguish and conflict.

Most researchers believe strain or deprivation to be necessary factors in the conversion process although such strain need not be perceived by others. Empirical difficulties are encountered using a seven‐step model to view conversion. The model has certain serious limitations, owing to the alien position of the researcher and the inevitable post‐hoc rationalisation of respondents. Nevertheless it has some utility in the field situation and is suggested as being broadly applicable as an heuristic tool.     

Middle power strategic choices and horizontal security cooperation: the 2009 Australia-South Korea security cooperation agreement

ABSTRACT

This article examines why Asia-Pacific middle powers cooperate with each other on security issues. The article challenges the assumption that middle powers are primarily influenced by great-power structural factors in their security relations with each other. It argues that the dominant structural explanations of security cooperation between secondary states—balancing against the rise of China, responding to burden-sharing pressure from the United States, or hedging during a period of great power transition—have not been sufficiently tested. Using the 2009 Australia-South Korea security cooperation agreement as a representative example of middle power security cooperation, it finds that inter-personal leadership preferences played a key intervening role in filtering existing structural incentives into actual policy cooperation. It shows how congruence in leadership preferences shapes when and with whom middle powers are likely to cooperate on security issues. The article opens up the research agenda on middle powers by examining how they approach security relations in bilateral and horizontal contexts with each other.     

Public Contest through the Popular Media: The Mining Industry's Advertising War against the Australian Labor Government

This article explores the ‘mining tax ad war of 2010’, which contributed to the removal of a first-term Labor prime minister and shaped Australia's Minerals Resource Rent Tax. In particular, it examines the uses, ethics and consequences of advocacy advertising, which is an under-explored aspect of communication power. The article identifies advocacy advertising as an increasingly prevalent technique used by corporations and lobby groups to influence public policy in Australia. In conclusion, the article focuses on the regulatory environment for such campaigns and the areas of future research that might help to safeguard democratic practices.

本文讨论了2010年的矿税广告战,该战把第一任期的工党领袖拉下了马,并造就了澳大利亚矿产资源租赁税。作者特别分析了广告宣传作为一种没太被研究的通讯权力的用途、伦理和结果。本文指出广告宣传日益成为公司和游说集团用以影响澳大利亚公共政策的流行工具。作者最后集中讨论了这类竞争的管制环境,以及有助于保护民主实践的未来研究领域。     

Constructions of Australia in pro‐ and anti‐asylum seeker political discourse

ABSTRACT. Whilst there has been a proliferation of research on the role of nationalism in the exclusion of asylum seekers, less attention has been paid to how nationalism can be mobilised in accounts opposing, rather than supporting, harsh anti‐asylum seeker regimes. This paper compares the ways in which ‘Australia’ is constructed and used in parliamentary speeches on asylum seekers by both refugee advocates and those seeking harsher asylum seeker laws in Australia. This dual focus is particularly important as it highlights the flexibility of nationalist discourse, in that the same constructions of the nation may be used for both exclusive and inclusive purposes. Whilst typologies of inclusive and exclusive nationalisms, such as Smith's (1991) ethnic/civic typology, focus on the content of nationalist ideologies, we argue that the inclusivity or exclusivity of nationalism can best be determined by examining the subject positions, political solutions and social realities they make possible, and who these discourses benefit and oppress.     

Ecclesial opposition to nonferrous mining in Guatemala: neoliberalism meets the church of the poor in a shattered society

Guatemala, a nation plagued by the legacy of its brutal 36-year civil war, has, in recent years liberalized its mining law to encourage the entry of multinational mining corporations. These mining companies have included two Canadian companies, which have developed the two most prominent, and controversial, mining projects in Guatemala. Using the lens of political ecology to demonstrate how environmental analysis and policy can be reframed towards addressing the problems of the socially vulnerable, this article analyses the opposition of the Roman Catholic Church to mining in Guatemala. The article reviews the development of liberation theology in Latin America and how this has imparted empathy for the poor into the pastoral praxis of the church. The church is opposed to mining largely because of the potential implications of mining's environmental effects upon the livelihoods of the poor. The article postulates that the opposition of the church to mining is an example of an environmental issue connecting groups of people across class and ethnic lines to offset powerful global political and economic forces. The article concludes with a discussion of how this opposition to mining is a demonstration of the opposition of the progressive church to neoliberalism in general.