If the Coalition loses this election there will be some insiders pointing fingers at the Business Council of Australia. Continue reading “Why the Voice of Big Business is Facing its Biggest Test” →

This article was first published on The Conversation June 1, 2016 

My surfing companion looked glum. He invested in start-up companies and it had been a bad year.

“I lost more than $200 million this year,” he said.

“That was careless,” I said.

“Yes, my boss thinks so too,” he replied. “But I’ve realised my mistake. I selected companies on the strength of their technology, when I should have picked them based on their relationship to government.” Continue reading “What do business get in return for their donations?” →

The project seeks to test Wayne Swan’s assertion to see if it is true, or just political posturing by the Labor Party.

 

The impetus for this project was that I was teaching a course on Australian politics. To spice things up a bit, I got each student to pick an issue they cared about, and to track their issue through the political decision making process. The students were tasked with identifying who attempted to influence the government decision on their issue and who ultimately prevailed.

I thought it would shake up some of the students doe eyed idealism a little bit. However even I was shocked when the students analysis concluded that big business prevailed in 13 of the 14 issues in which they had interests in play.

 

I am a UNSW academic. My most recent research project was prompted by Wayne Swan’s claims Australian democracy had been hijacked by the 0.01%. Was the former Treasurer just making excuses for a Labor government that had mishandled major reforms? Or is Australia’s democracy in trouble?  What I found changed everything I thought I knew about Australia.