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Only in Queensland? Coal mines and voting in the 2019 federal election
Citation
Tranter, B and Foxwell-Norton, K, Only in Queensland? Coal mines and voting in the 2019 federal election, Environmental Sociology, 7, (1) pp. 90-101. ISSN 2325-1042 (2021) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
Abstract
Australians are deeply divided over the prospect of new coal mines. Heated political debates at the
federal level between conservative Coalition governments and Labor and the Greens echo divisions
in public opinion. New data from the 2019 Comparative Study of Electoral Systems show that
almost half of all Australians agree the government should allow the development of new coal
mines, although substantial divisions in support are apparent on the basis of social background,
political orientations and party identification. Our social and political background findings are
almost the mirror image of the correlates of accepting anthropogenic climate change. Statebased
differences are also apparent, with Queenslanders more likely than people in other states
to support the construction of new coal mines. Yet, while in regional Queensland voting decisions
may have been influenced by the prospect of increased employment, in general, voting in
Queensland does not appear to be associated strongly with attitudes toward new coal mines.
Simplistic binaries of acting to ameliorate climate change versus supporting the fossil fuel industry
fail to account for the complexity of Australians’ views on coal mining and carbon emissions.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | coal mines, climate change, voting, Australia, party identification, survey |
Research Division: | Human Society |
Research Group: | Sociology |
Research Field: | Environmental sociology |
Objective Division: | Environmental Policy, Climate Change and Natural Hazards |
Objective Group: | Adaptation to climate change |
Objective Field: | Social impacts of climate change and variability |
UTAS Author: | Tranter, B (Professor Bruce Tranter) |
ID Code: | 140378 |
Year Published: | 2021 (online first 2020) |
Deposited By: | Office of the School of Social Sciences |
Deposited On: | 2020-08-12 |
Last Modified: | 2021-08-30 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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