Corruption and the Securitisation of Nature

Rob White

doi:10.5204/ijcjsd.v6i4.449

Abstract

This article considers corruption in Australia in relation to the exploitation and preservation of natural resources. In doing so, it examines issues pertaining to a proposed pulp mill and the forestry industry in Tasmania, the development of mining and ports in Queensland, and international agreements pertaining to deep-sea oil drilling in the Timor Sea. Corruption relating to the environment is interpreted in this article as implying both moral corruption and/or direct corruption. Gaining unfair advantage, protecting specific sectoral interests and over-riding existing environmental regulations are all features of the types of corruption associated with the exploitation of natural resources. The result is lack of transparency, a substantial democratic deficit, and expenditure of public monies, time and resources in support of environmentally and socially dubious activities.

Highlights

This article considers corruption in Australia in relation to the exploitation and preservation of natural resources
It examines issues pertaining to a proposed pulp mill and the forestry industry in Tasmania, the development of mining and ports in Queensland, and international agreements pertaining to deep‐sea oil drilling in the Timor Sea
Before delving into the substance of the article and the linkages between corruption and securitisation of nature, a few words about terminology are in order

Summary

Introduction

This article considers corruption in Australia in relation to the exploitation and preservation of natural resources. In pursuit of the ownership and control over natural resources, and to exploit these for particular purposes, governments and companies have singularly and in conjunction with each other worked to break laws, bend rules and undermine participatory decision‐making processes. Sometimes this takes the form of direct state‐corporate collusion (state‐corporate crime); in other instances, it involves manoeuvring by government officials or company executives to evade the normal operating rules of planning, development and environmental impact assessment. The article considers the specific issue of corruption in Australia as this pertains to the exploitation of natural resources across several different sectors: namely, forestry, mining, and oil and gas extraction

Natural resource extraction and securitisation

Corruption and natural resource exploitation

Oil and gas

Conclusion

Legislative material cited