MINING OPERATIONS, CLIMATE CHANGE AND EXPOSURE TO COMMUNITIES

Nick Bainton, Faranak Hardcastle, Rini Astuti

• At CPAS, we also investigate how narratives shape what is valued and what is ignored, and examine how different groups shape — and contest the meaning of a ‘just’ energy transition.  Old and new visions of progress - like circularity and repair - can guide fairer and more sustainable futures.
• Who benefits and who loses in energy transitions depends on whose voices are heard. Stories of technological innovation often hide the true costs of mining, masking harm behind claims of “green” progress.  
• Rising demand for critical minerals essential to the energy transition will intensify communities’ and ecosystems’ combined exposure to both mining activities and climate change impacts. In this project we are conducting a rapid Qualitative Evidence Synthesis to understand the qualitative dimension of the impact of this double exposure on communities, and mining operations.
   

The Quack and the Hacks – Milan Brych and Modern Quackery’s Reliance on Facilitative Networks

Laura Dawes

• This project investigates a notable case of cancer quackery (medical fraud) — that of Milan Brych who operated a clinic in Rarotonga, on the Cook Islands, from 1977-78.  Brych attracted patents from Australia and New Zealand whose hopes for a cure were sadly dashed by this conman.
• The project describes the features of Brych’s claims and persuasive strategies, identifying commonalities with earlier cases of quackery that historians have investigated. It then examines the alliances Brych leveraged, the communication practices he used, and how these interactions operated to create and protect the pipeline of patients running from Australia to the Cook Islands.
• I argue that modern quackery could be considered as not just as the activity of an individual, charismatic figure, but also as an activity of an interlinked network of complementary interests.
  This research adds a modern and an Australian example to scholarship on the history of quackery and makes a new contribution to analysing how late-twentieth century medical fraudsters operate to carve out a protected niche in an environment of robust medical regulation. The research is especially timely, given the interest in the related concept of misinformation