A Charles Sturt University (CSU) expert of climate politics believes last Monday’s bogus ANZ news release could signify a new weapon in the war between coal mining companies and campaign groups opposed to their activities such as coal exports. “I think young climate activists feel they have been abandoned by their elders, whom they see as bequeathing them a world no-one would want to live in,” said Professor Clive Hamilton, a senior researcher with the University’s Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics.
Anti-coal activist, Mr Jonathan Moylan, issued a media release with an ANZ Bank letterhead reporting that ANZ had withdrawn a $1.2 billion loan to Whitehaven Coal, which is developing a project in Maules Creek near Gunnedah in northern NSW.
The hoax wiped $314 million from the value of Whitehaven Coal before the company and ANZ confirmed the hoax, although the share prices recovered after the ruse was revealed.
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission announced it is investigating whether Moylan has contravened provisions of the Corporations Act by making a false and misleading statement. Whitehaven Coal is also considering legal action against the activist.
Professor Hamilton believes the longer-term effects of Moylan’s hoax on Whitehaven Coal and the fossil fuel industry more broadly have yet to be seen.
“It may prove to be no more than a cri de coeur, but it does raise afresh the question of the use of civil disobedience in climate campaigns,” Professor Hamilton said.
“Environment groups have known for some years that traditional methods of campaigning have been woefully inadequate in securing a political response to the threat posed by global warming, searching in vain for new tactics to raise awareness among a public that does not want to know.
“A sense of despair can take over when they see again the failure of governments to protect the future wellbeing of their citizens and the extraordinary power that fossil fuel corporations exercise over government decisions, regardless of the dire scientific predictions that continue to flood our newsfeeds.”
Professor Hamilton believes Moylan’s ‘virtuous malfeasance’, or hostile actions motivated by the public good aimed at damaging a company’s interests, may be a new form of civil disobedience practiced by a market-savvy generation of young activists.
“Moylan is pioneering a new phase of climate campaigning aimed at making it more difficult for coal and oil companies to do business. He represents a group who engage in civil disobedience while they are otherwise the most law-abiding citizens. They have high regard for the social interest and the keenest understanding of the democratic process, including its failures,” he stated.
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