Modern elections, like the one on July 2, 2016 in Australia, increasingly draw attention to the influence of lobby groups, which have much riding on which party takes power. This week in the first part of Dirt Radio, George Rennie, researcher and writer on the growing sway of lobbyists in the political process and the workings of democracy talks about the lobbying strategies of the mining and fossil fuel industries in Australia.

What about the other half of the mining equation - what happens once the lobbying and the digging is done? 50,000 mines have been abandoned all across Australia, with no provisions for rehabilition. In the second half of the show we hear from  Rick Humphries, co-ordinator of Lock the Gate's recently launched Mine Rehabilitation Reform Campaign.