To be able to operate, corporations like AGL require what is known in the business as SOCIAL LICENSE. This quality is not easily defined but without it, they would NEVER be permitted to infiltrate communities to conduct their hazardous and typically irresponsible business.
The need to have this illusive SOCIAL LICENSE to operate makes it essential for big corporations like AGL to employ “public liaison” specialists whose actual job is to soothe and smooth over all resistance and opposition to whatever operations head office requires, no matter how questionable.
Someone capable of performing this role must be a very special kind of person indeed, expert at creating the illusion that an authentic, two-way relationship based on mutual respect and consultation is developing, when in truth nothing like that actually exists. Their goal is to establish themselves as a credible and receptive person worthy of our trust. By adopting the most effective psychological techniques that express empathy and echo our deeply held concerns, the public is drawn in by a hypnotic display of apparent credibility.
These strategies intended to deliberately manufacture consent are typically employed by corporations wishing to eliminate public action and involvement in their operations. They are based on the writings of US academic Dr Sandman. The defining principle behind his work is creating the appearance of inclusion and transparency. The impression of concessions and compromise is given, when in truth nothing of the kind is offered.
It has been unsettling and disarming to realize that our grave concerns about safety and deep feelings of care for the Bay have been expertly managed and manipulated in a way that favours the outcomes laid down by company executives.
If we thought Jay Gleeson was good at his job, I can’t begin to imagine how his replacement Kelly Parkinson will challenge us. With his real life employment history in working to make even the most repugnant revelations about child slavery palatable to chocolate lovers everywhere, we can expect Mr Parkinson to be working his hardest to confound us all as well.
With their appalling track record, it is not surprising that AGL has recognised the need to obscure their past by working on the psychology of the public. AGL will already have factored in the cost of government penalties and fines for infractions that will inevitably result from the routine practice of their operations. AGL are probably unconcerned about the collateral damage and degradation that will result, because they have no history in the area, and they plan no future here. In line with their business model to date, they will continue the established practice of moving on to the next unsuspecting community trusting enough to allow these corporate criminals in to profit in their midst.
I hope that AGL is beginning to get the picture about what their project actually means to this community, and to all the people who care about the Bay. After all, it’s only fair that they know what they are up against. This company is in the wrong place if they believe it’s business as usual, because Westernport residents are not paralyzed by a sense apathy, or overwhelmed by the seeming inevitability of corporate plans.
We are determined to protect the Bay from the degradation of industry, by making sure the Government does its job enforcing all that is required by the area’s Ramsar and biosphere classifications. They must initiate an Environmental Effects Study-an EES as a matter of urgency.
What I have said here about AGL is based only on the burgeoning list of infractions and breaches that government has found them responsible for, and for which they have been ordered to pay numerous penalties and reparations.
The information contained in this post is not based on personal opinion, but on established corporate practices, and infractions by AGL that are a matter of public record.
This disclaimer forthwith indemnifies me from any and all corporate shenanigans and or subterfuge soever.
