Clive Palmer buys himself a permit

It's been a difficult summer but we've learned some useful things. Primarily, we've had an answer to one of this country’s great mysteries: why it is that the LNP are so recalcitrant in the face of overwhelming, no, more than that, crushingly powerful evidence that Climate Change is a real and present danger. Why it is that the deniers don’t simply represent a small but influential rump in the party, but in fact occupy the highest position in the land.

The reasons have, of course, been staring us in the face for some time, all eighty three and a half million of them: dollars that is. Clive Palmer bought the last election for the LNP. This is not some left-wing fantasy. It’s a simple fact: $83.5m. The largest single donation in history, and then some. And what did he want for his money? The ability to mine his tenements in the Galilee Basin. If you think the price Palmer paid was large, look at it this way: he stands to make another four billion or so from his mine. On that calculation 2% isn’t an awful lot to pay.

This is why Adani has to go ahead. Because if it doesn’t then Palmer (and Reinhart) can’t cash in on their investment. There’s nothing more complicated about it.

And while the LNP are the obvious winners in this calculation you’d have to say Queensland Labor have also been cowed by the mathematics. Down on George Street they’re hoping against hope that some legal case, some poor benighted Finch will stop it all happening, because, while they don’t want it to go ahead, they can’t do anything themselves to be seen to be opposing it. You can imagine how hard that is on a personal level, with all those around them, all their friends, relatives, political supporters, giving them a hard time about it. Asking them to grow a spine.

So, while one mystery is resolved, another bunch rise from its ashes: first and foremost: why is the electorate so gullible? Who are these people who believe Clive Palmer is standing up for the little man? Who, in their right mind, thinks he has anyone but his own interest at heart? Here is a man who puts his formidable form up on billboards around the country, his arms spread wide, at the exact same time as he fights in the courts to avoid paying the entitlements of his workers. Everyone knows this. It’s not hidden. There he is, look at him, hobbling into court, Weinsteinly unable to stand. And yet, even then, people are influenced by what he says. People make their vote on the basis of his advice. Apparently, too, all of our lawmakers think it’s okay to buy an election. Really.

If you want to know why we’re where we are, look no further.