Corporations benefit from Australia’s authoritarian slide

Queensland (and Australia at large) may be going down the path of authoritarianism, but at least some faceless corporations are benefiting. Crikey readers noted that Adani will be well off after Queensland’s latest authoritarian slide. In related areas, readers discussed the likelihood of mass action in Australia, and elsewhere discussed the economic fortunes of market darlings.

On Queensland and Adani

Ian Harvey writes: The ability now for Adani to use police to eject Indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands is not only a dagger in the heart of their rights under native title but also their human rights. What is it going to take for us to wake up to the bleeding obvious, that power has shifted from our elected representatives, both state and federal, to the wealthy multinational corporations and powerful vested interests?

On an Australian uprising

Steven Westbrook writes: I hope something is stirring. As a lifelong but now retired trade unionist, people have increasingly seemed to cop it sweet as employer groups dramatically tilt the bargaining system their way and erode basic features like penalty rates. The Coalition appears to have learnt their lesson to chip away a bit at a time so as not to scare the horses all at once.

Roger Clifton writes: When times get hot for the authorities, they will always be able to shut down the internet, including Twitter, etc. Hardcore revolutionaries need to establish a less vulnerable medium for communications. In Soviet times, the Samizdat connected dissidents.

On market darlings

Mark E Smith writes: I’m reminded of the old dictum that markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent. These tech startups and unicorns are the current high profile version of herd investing which to me is not a long step from pump and dump. But someone had to buy early Apple and Cisco too. Those who bought Wise under $10 dollars have likely been smart enough to sell enough to recoup their initial buy and can now sit and wait. I still remember the empty Brash’s stores while they were that year’s share market darling right before they went bust.

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