Jennifer you emerge from your burrow into the "light" which as usual, blinds you to reality.

You are now desperately using the plight of the poor, to increase the profits of the big end of town.

Most environmentalists have nothing to gain by speaking out and lots to lose. Most are not bent on closing down industry but call for proper regulation to reduce hazardous emissions.

Those who are pro-industry have everything to gain by ridiculing the environmentalists by using any sort of propaganda they can resort to.

Historically, the multinational mining companies don't give a hoot about the worker or the poor for that matter! They continue to bombard communities with their flyers insisting they are good corporate citizens!

Here's a few documented facts!

Silicosis from gold mining - operations continued with the full knowledge by governments and industry that this disease was killing workers

Asbestosis - Ops. continued with the full knowledge by governments and industry that this disease was killing workers

Regulation to cap lethal emissions: Almost non-existent and the industry is self-regulated

Australian Mining Company Esmeralda: Polluted the Somes River and the Tisza tributary to the Danube with 3.5million cubic metres of cyanide and then attempted to deny responsibility - buggar the poor!

Prosecution last year of uranium mining company where they supplied water for drinking and bathing to workers which exceeded the safe radiation level 400 times. Prosecuted twice last year.

Roxby Downs - the largest user of u/g water in the southern hemisphere

Roxby Downs - Helping themselves to millions of litres daily, free of charge from the Great Artesian Basin

BHP Nickel Ops: One smelter emits approx. 3,100,000 kilograms of SO2 in one month. Mulitiply that by 12 Jennifer! As for the other chemicals - God knows? They are not obliged to report on those.

Federal Product Stewardship (Waste Oil) Burning millions of this muck over communities knowing the health ramifications

Give us a break Jennifer and come up with some hard evidence next time you want to abuse public gullibility by tugging the heart strings of those who don't know any better!

And so, when I reach the bottom of this less-than-800-word 'article', there's a nice big colourful ad for exactly the same film the author is promoting made by the institution the author works for.

This is not an article. It's 100% advertisement.

>>complaint button<<

Kang, Liam, Shonga and Gecko would have to be the four horsemen of the apocalypse here. Give it a break fellas, your same old bigoted "dogs vomit" would embarrass most toilet walls. You provided nothing in the way of specific response to matters raised by the author and dished up the standard defamatory material.

Yes, mining in some countries takes place in a context of desperate poverty and endemic corruption, and the environmental outcomes match the safeguards in place. But communities, like individuals, need to ascend the hierarchy of needs through economic growth before environmental issues can take greater precedence.

That is not a value judgement. It is a simple statement of fact about human nature. They need a full stomach, safe housing and security before they will give a tinkers cuss about core environmental issues. And they need at least two generations of obscene overindulgence before they start adopting your kind of quasi-religious fetishes masquerading as 'environmental concern'.

But to imply, as you guys have, that mining is all bad and green ngo's are all good, and anyone raising contrary views are paid publicists, makes a pretty substantial case that you are either extraordinarily naieve or just plain stupid. A closed mind either way.

Ooooh! Watch out. It's a right wing think tank. Let's poo-pah everything this article says, and write off the movie as propoganda, because it comes from a right wing think tank. It's all lies, lies, horrible lies, from a horrible, lying, right wing think tank.

Good grief.

That's right, Perseus

Mining companies and governments are exploiting developing countries and are part of the "endemic corruption".

Why aren't technologically advanced mining companies adhering to ethical practices?

We no longer live in the 18th century Industrial Revolution era.

Enter the 21st century Perseus - the "Age of Enlightenment!

How unsurprising, the right wingers dozer & perseus don't bother to read other posts, just dive straight in with cliches and juvenalia.

I did challenge points in the rehashed press release that is Marohasys article, I don't think "mining is all bad", and the IPA ARE paid publicists! Its their core business for gods sake! MArohasy might still be silent on whether Newmont fund the IPA directly, but i'll bet my bike (made of mined metals) at least indirectly via the Minerals Council they do.

Perseus, the "can't save the environment till we're all rich" myth is just for the bloated true believers at the golf club. Rich countries have merely offshored their resource consumption & ecological stupidity to countries at the pointy end of the globalisation stick (what would we do without the IMF eh?).

Please guys, this isn't Tim Blairs or Andrew Bolts blog, a few lines of insults and cliches do not constitute a contribution to discussion.