How much tax #DirtyEnergy companies pay is largely irrelevant to the question we were discussing, since a company that is both taxed and receives significant subsidies will do better than a competitor (e.g. a renewable energy company) that is taxed and doesn't receive those subsidies. I probably should have said something like that. (I could also have made a point about government funds not being derived from taxation, but I really didn't get the vibe that that was going to be particularly fruitful approach for this gentleman.)

Instead I replied that dirty energy companies pay relatively little tax due to exploiting tax loopholes (that they also lobby to put in). He scoffed in disbelief and changed the subject.

With that context, now you'll understand how embarrassed I was to have just stumbled across this table for 2020–21 and realise I was wrong.

Of the twenty-four largest dirty energy companies in Australia, only one of them paid “relatively little” income tax that year.

#TaxAvoidance #TaxJustice #Auspol #DirtyEnergySubsidies #DirtyEnergyDirtyPolitics

After giving a climate talk to a community group the other day, one guy came up to me to "give feedback" (i.e. complain that I didn't focus enough on telling people how to cut their personal #CarbonFootprint - to use the phrase that #BP really wants us to focus on).

This led into a discussion about why individual consumer choices always have the system stacked against them. As part of that point, I mentioned the enormous scale of #DirtyEnergySubsidies (>$7t globally each year, though I focused on $11b annually in Australia, which is a widely cited figure based on a narrower definition of subsidy; he seemed like the kind of guy who wouldn't care as much if I wasn't talking about his country.)

Upon hearing of these subsidies (which were apparently news to him), he said "yeah, but how much tax do they contribute?"

1/2

#Auspol #TaxJustice #FossilFuelSubsidies #DirtyEnergyDirtyPolitics #DirtyEnergy #SystemChangeNotClimateChange

The usual line from the #DirtyEnergy spokespeople elected to parliament is that Australia is too small a player for Oz energy policy to make any significant contribution to #ClimateDisruption.

It's always been a lie. Australia has always punched above its weight when it comes to climate responsibility, having the largest fossil fuel resources per capita in the world.

For years, courts have even largely accepted the government's 'drug dealer' defence when it comes to approving new coal and gas projects ("if we don't sell it, someone else will, who doesn't even have our standards!").

But if you want to see the lie laid bare, check this story. The mere possibility of temporary industrial action at a single Australian dirty energy company is already having global impacts on gas markets.

#Auspol #DirtyEnergyDirtyPolitics #climate #Woodside #ClimateLies #BlowingSmoke

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/20/global-markets-brace-for-supply-disruptions-as-woodside-energy-workers-prepare-to-strike

Want to know what's been going on in New South Wales, Australia's oldest, wealthiest and most populous state? The same shitfuckery that's defined the place since 1788.

Let the #HonestGovernmentAds of #JuiceMedia be your guide to the hilariously dysfunctions of #NSWpol.

Why should you care? (assuming you're not in NSW)

Because NSW is the world's largest exporter of coal (out of all sub-national jurisdictions). And that shows in the quality of the politics: #DirtyEnergyDirtyPolitics.

Given coal is the largest single cause of global climate disruption, this means everyone is local to a coal mine. And so what goes on in #NSWpol doesn't stay in NSW.

But also because these Honest Government Ads have a solid track record of introducing the ludicrous world of #Auspol to people way beyond Oz.

https://inv.riverside.rocks/watch?v=dcqA5Sq8Dqw

Today's political prisoner by @firstdogonthemoon.

"You are welcome to argue that Australia's state and federal governments (along with the police) are not simply the armed wing of the #FossilFuelIndustry... Write your explanation on a postcard and mail it to your grandchildren"

#ClimateProtest #auspol #AusPol2022 #FreeVioletCoco #ClimateCriminals #DirtyEnergyDirtyPolitics #DirtyEnergy #CriminalisationOfDissent

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/dec/07/violet-coco-is-in-prison-meanwhile-the-fossil-fuel-people-are-really-getting-value-for-money

For the purposes of orientation, context and conversation, here are some of my friends, enemies, obsessions, experiences and distractions:
#climate #climatejustice #climateethics #auspol #dirtyenergydirtypolitics #inequality #plutocracy #capitalism #solarpunk #journalism #analysis #geopolitics #climatescience #energy #coal #oil #gas #fossilfuels #dirtyenergy #degrowth #rewilding #leaveitintheground #biodiversity #ecology #ecologicalethics #ecosystems #compost #eattherich #composttherich #Gadigal #Indigenous #alwayswasalwayswillbe #decolonise #landback #whistleblowing #transparency #privacy #ebike #cycling #pedestrian #publictransport #fuckcars #NSWpol #education #patriarchy #transrightsarehumanrights #antifa #christofascism #fascism #acab #feminism #patriarchy #ableism #adhd #neurodiversity #cancer #Scotland #ukpol #Sydney #NSWpol #edinburgh #dnd #dnd5e #obsidian #mastodon #curiosity #kindness #courage