Would the prime minister rule out protecting Australians from terrorism if it cost a single job? Would he promise that no nurse, teacher or other public servant would be sacked in pursuit of a budget surplus?

Of course not. But when it comes to preventing dangerous climate change, the government whose policies closed the entire Australian car industry claims that every job is sacred. Yeah, right.

The one thing we can say with certainty about the coal industry is that, regardless of climate policy, automation will decimate coal communities in the coming decade. The coal companies sacked around half their workforce in the late 80s – the minute new technology let them – and the coal industry is gearing up to do it again. Adani promised its proposed Queensland coalmine would be automated “from pit to port” and the rest of the industry is publicly preparing for the same goal.

But while #ScottyFromMarketing loves to position himself as defending coal workers from climate activists, he is strategically silent when it comes to protecting those same coal workers from the ravages of automation. If the Coalition wanted to protect the jobs of those who currently work in the coal industry, they would ban the introduction of robot-driven trucks and trains in existing mines and ban the construction of new, highly automated mines in regions that have never mined coal. But they won’t, because supporting the coal industry has nothing to do with protecting the jobs of existing coal workers. Coal is about symbolism and the symbiotic relationship between the Coalition and the coal industry.

Fresh from doing nothing to prepare for the worst bushfires Australia has ever seen, Scott Morrison’s latest inactivity revolves around doing nothing to prevent our already changed climate from heatingup even more. Now that pretending there’s doubt about the science of climate change doesn’t cut it, our spin-doctor-in-chief has moved on to feigning concern with the economyas his latest excuse for climate inaction.

The prime minister is under mounting pressure to match the net-zero emission targets for 2050 that’s supported by all Australian states (including New South Wales, Tasmania and South Australia, with Liberal governments). And while he might not hold a hose when the bushfires are raging, there’s no doubt Morrison knows how to put a fire hose on his colleagues.

Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/22/no-one-job-is-wort...

Image at top by Danny... and his dog...