Foreign Direct Investments in Australian Mining and the Failure to Protect Sensitive Environmental Resources

18 Pages Posted: 27 Feb 2018 Last revised: 6 Mar 2018

See all articles by Dodo Jesuthason Thampapillai

Dodo Jesuthason Thampapillai

Crawford School of Public Policy

Iftikhar Lodhi

Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, NUS; Graduate School of Public Policy, Nazarbayev University; National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow); National University of Singapore (NUS) - Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS)

Date Written: February 26, 2018

Abstract

This paper deals with foreign direct investments (FDI) in Australian mining. These investments do invariably impact on sensitive environmental resources that warrant preservation. Inadequate legal safeguards for preserving such resources stem from the lack of recognition offered to the scientific realities of the natural environment. As a result, the long run implications for welfare losses are significant. Two Australian case studies are considered. The first concerns the extraction of mineral deposits that are embedded in a near pristine groundwater resource system. The damages inflicted on the groundwater resource system can lead to hydrologic changes resulting in water scarcity. The second concerns mining operations that have implications for ground and oceanic water resource systems. In both cases, one observes inadequate of binding laws alongside improper economic analyses that have neglected the recognition of basic scientific realities. The improper economic analyses include the over-statement of the benefits of mining.

Suggested Citation

Thampapillai, Dodo Jesuthason and Lodhi, Iftikhar, Foreign Direct Investments in Australian Mining and the Failure to Protect Sensitive Environmental Resources (February 26, 2018). Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy Research Paper No. 18-04, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3129855 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3129855

Dodo Jesuthason Thampapillai (Contact Author)

Crawford School of Public Policy ( email )

ANU College of Asia and the Pacific
J.G. Crawford Building, #132, Lennox Crossing
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200
Australia

Iftikhar Lodhi

Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, NUS ( email )

MM3 Research Area
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Singapore, 259772
Singapore
(+65) 91783446 (Phone)

Graduate School of Public Policy, Nazarbayev University ( email )

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Kazakhstan

National Research University Higher School of Economics (Moscow) ( email )

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Moscow, Moscow 119017
Russia

National University of Singapore (NUS) - Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) ( email )

469A Tower Block
Bukit Timah Road #07-01
Singapore, Singapore 259770
Singapore

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