“In a normal world, a rise in the export price of coal from $US80 a tonne in January 2021 to today’s price of about $US300 a tonne would have been a signal for the finance markets to invest in new mines, railways and wharves. Yet almost no such investment has been made….
Potential investors, including the big banks, are sinking money instead into the utopian dream of greening the grid and electrifying everything, a project that will cost between $US3 trillion and $US4.5 trillion incidentally, according to a 2022 study by McKinsey.
An ESG rule for super would potentially free up a lazy $3.3 trillion more to be thrown at that project. The 15.6 million Australians who own that capital might or might not think that to be a good thing. Under a government intent in removing their agency, they may find it difficult to object.
As Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said, the government’s concern is the health of the hive, not the bees who made the honey.”
