Tony Abbott and his mates in the Minerals Council of Australia, represent billions of dollars of foreign investment in infrastructure for coal mining. They plan to extract coal out of Australia as fast as possible, no matter how low the price of coal goes down. They want do double Australias capacity for coal export. This has been corrupting Australian government policy. They do so because they are frightened that the world is starting to divest from coal burning, and they will then lose their money on their sunk investments. This will help accelarate the global warming they are so financially frightened of.

The local damage from additional global warming due to our coal, is such that Australia would be far better off, in the long run, even if compensation has to paid back. Why should they be compensated, unless the Australian government has been complicit, as the world has had about 40 years of advanced notice of the dangers of carbon dioxide in causing global warming. The gaps in our energy sector economy can be replaced by cheaper sustainable energy solutions, and need to do so as fast as possible.

Australia has the necessary solar energy and wind resources to be completely free of the need to be burning coal. The investment laydown for a low carbon emissions energy sector could be part satisfied from the money we are still trying to spend to double our coal exports. Employment in the coal mining and burning industries is now only about 1 per cent of our economy, and may be transitioned to the renewable energy sector, and still have more jobs available afterwards.

Income from coal export is less than 2% of our economy, and most of that goes back to overseas shareholders, or overseas tax havens. Australia would be better off stopping that money leak. The coal industry is a threat to other bigger industries such as agriculture and tourism. See how unattractive the great barrier reef will become with global warming, or how prime agricultural land is being ruined by coal mining.

Under the influence of the foreign coal mafia dons of the Minerals Council of Australia, Tony Abbott and his government ignore and disparage the environmental dangers of additional global carbon dioxide emissions.  They ignore the future economic damages from global warming and global ocean acidification. They pander to the propaganda of fossil fuel climate change denial lobbies. They try to destroy Australia's renewable energy sector prospects. Australia will be better off without coal mining altogether, and better off without such a coal industry partisan and corrupted government. When Tony Abbott says "Coal is essential for the prosperity of the world.", he refers pockets of the Minerals Council of Australia, a most deceptively named group, who think they own the whip hand on Australian government policy. The only recourse the Australian people have at the moment is to apply lots of political pressure and eventually explicitly vote these people out of office at the next election, over this critical issue for our future.

References:

 "Coal is good for humanity, coal is good for prosperity, coal is an essential part of our economic future, here in Australia, and right around the world."

Tony Abbott opening a coalmine in Queensland.