Rent-seeking behaviour and regulatory capture in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia

Grafton, R. Quentin; Williams, John

doi:10.1080/07900627.2019.1674132

Cited by 47 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Yet, as in North America and Europe, there is pressure in Australia to protect political and industry interests by suppressing information about environmentally damaging policies or ventures (Carter, 2018). Science suppression in Australia is occurring in a broader context of political polarization of environmental regulation (Evans, 2016), increasing corruption (Brown et al., 2018), including “mediated corruption” related to environmental management (Grafton & Williams, 2020), and attempts by vested interests to discredit science (Spash, 2015). These are common themes around the world (Driscoll et al., 2018; Hardy, Tallapragada, Besley, & Yuan, 2019; Stocking & Holstein, 2009), so discoveries and lessons about science suppression in Australia have global relevance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consequences of information suppression in ecological and conservation sciences

Driscoll

Garrard

Kusmanoff

et al. 2020

CONSERVATION LETTERS

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Suppressing expert knowledge can hide environmentally damaging practices and policies from public scrutiny. We surveyed ecologists and conservation scientists from universities, government, and industry across Australia to understand the prevalence and consequences of suppressing science communication. Government (34%) and industry (30%) respondents reported higher rates of undue interference by employers than did university respondents (5%). Internal communications (29%) and media (28%) were curtailed most, followed by journal articles (11%), and presentations (12%). When university and industry researchers avoided public commentary, this was mainly for fear of media misrepresentation, while government employees were most often constrained by senior management and workplace policy. One third of respondents reported personal suffering related to suppression, including job losses and deteriorating mental health. Substantial reforms are needed, including to codes of practice, and governance of environmental assessments and research, so that scientific advice can be reported openly, in a timely manner and free from interference.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consequences of information suppression in ecological and conservation sciences

Driscoll

Garrard

Kusmanoff

et al. 2020

CONSERVATION LETTERS

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show abstract

“…Macallister (2014) noted the increasing disquiet about public concerns of corruption in Australia. Instances of political corruption with little transparency or accountability have occurred under ministerial discretion and direction and have been documented by Prenzler et al (2018) regarding the Abbott Government; Grafton and Williams (2020) over the Murray-Darling Basin case;Hasler (2020) over the Carmichael mine case; and Dixon (2020) regarding Commonwealth cases involving public grant spending in support of vested or partisan interests (such as but not limited to 'sports rorts' 1 , the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, 'car park rorts,' 2 and 'Watergate'). The normalization of these 'pork barrel', 'spoils of office' practices where marginal seats, or seats held by the ruling political party receive more public funding, was publicly acknowledged in the remarks of the former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian: It's not something [pork barreling] the community likes .…”

Section: The Problems Of Political Corruption In Australiamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Challenges of Political Corruption in Australia, the Proposed Commonwealth Integrity Commission Bill (2020) and the Application of the APUNCAC

Rama

Lester

Staples

2022

Laws

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Political corruption affects each nation-state differently, but the outcomes are nominally the same: a deficit of public trust, weakened government institutions and undermined political systems. This article analyzes issues of political corruption in Australia by framing them within a national integrity ecosystem (NIE) and addressing them against the proposed Commonwealth Integrity Commission (CIC) 2020 bill. It also discusses prevalent ‘grey’ areas of Australian politically-corrupt behavior where they interact with the private sector: the revolving door, political donations, and lobbying; and the state of Australia’s implementation of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention. This article argues for their inclusion within the mandated scope of the proposed CIC. There is a need for strong legislation, both domestic and international, to fight corruption. This article then discusses the application of the provisions of the draft Anticorruption Protocol to the UN Convention Against Corruption (APUNCAC) that may apply with respect to these ‘grey’ issues, and how an International Anti-Corruption Court may provide another institutional model for Australia to follow. Finally, this article links these proposals to the 2021 UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Corruption and the 9th Conference of States Parties on the UNCAC (COSP9). These events illustrate multilateral momentum and progress on anti-corruption. As a country that has historically supported the UN multilateral framework and its institutions, this article recommends a proactive approach for Australia so that the passing of a strong domestic anticorruption initiative will contribute to the adoption, and eventual ratification, of the APUNCAC.

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“…Gao et al [27] indicate the positive effect of media in promoting government information disclosure in environmental accidents. Grafton and Williams [28] show that the evidence of regulatory capture in the Murray-Darling Basin stems from a 2017 media investigation of water theft in the northern Murray-Darling Basin.…”

Section: The Affecting Factors Of Regulatory Capturementioning

confidence: 99%

How to Restrain Regulatory Capture and Promote Green Innovation in China. An Analysis Based on Evolutionary Game Theory

Yuan

2021

Sustainability

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In response to severe environmental challenges, green innovation (GI) has been thoroughly considered by various governments. Although China has promulgated many environmental policies to promote environmental governance, regulatory capture and the lack of independent external supervisors lead to a challenging future. This study employs an evolutionary game method to explore how the policy burden and media affect decision-making between local governments and manufacturing enterprises. On this basis, the simulation method is used to examine critical factors that affect regulatory capture and GI. The results show that the policy burden is the main factor that causes regulatory capture. When the policy burden exceeds a certain threshold, it will cause regulatory capture and hinder GI. Moreover, media, as an external supervisor, can restrain regulatory capture and promote GI significantly. Specifically, when the capacity of media supervision is high enough, due to the positive role of the media, it will inhibit the negative effects of policy burdens. Finally, combined with the different development stages of China’s green industry, the corresponding policy recommendations are given. These results extend the research of regulatory capture and provide a reference for governments to promote environmental governance in practice.

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Rent-seeking behaviour and regulatory capture in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia

Cited by 47 publications

References 47 publications

Consequences of information suppression in ecological and conservation sciences

Consequences of information suppression in ecological and conservation sciences

The Challenges of Political Corruption in Australia, the Proposed Commonwealth Integrity Commission Bill (2020) and the Application of the APUNCAC

How to Restrain Regulatory Capture and Promote Green Innovation in China. An Analysis Based on Evolutionary Game Theory

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