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https://reneweconomy.com.au/duttons-weird-energy-claims-in-leaders-debate-show-hes-living-in-opposite-world/>
"Back in 2022, just after the previous federal election, I think it’s fair to
say that I predicted the tone of this one. I wrote that power prices were
likely to go up under Labor’s first term government regardless of their
policies, and that the Coalition would, in opposition, callously pin the blame
on the Labor party and renewable energy.
It was not exactly a brave prediction, considering this has been a political
tactic going back decades. That does make Labor’s decision to lean hard on the
[energy] bill promise of the last election somewhat strange, and they’re
definitely paying a small price for that this time around.
It showed up clear as day during the most recent leaders debate, when Dutton
claimed that:
“At the moment, the government’s energy policy, with this ‘renewables only’
energy policy, that’s the reason we’ve got 30% increases in food, because it’s
not just your power bill that’s gone up, it’s the local farmer, it’s the local
IGA store, it’s the storage, it’s the cartage, it’s the production of food
right across the economy”.
And “we can’t pretend that, as the Prime Minister and Chris Bowen keep talking
about, that wind is free and solar is free. If that were the case, why have
your power bills gone up by $1,300 instead of down by $275?”.
Generously assuming he meant ‘food prices’ not food, this is absurd. The effect
of renewable energy on electricity bills in Australia is to suppress wholesale
prices, which sometimes flows through to consumer retail bills for households
and businesses.
The key, singular cause of a massive surge in bills in Australia has been
over-reliance on fossil gas – something Dutton wants more of. Very simply: a
pro-fossil policy is greatest threat to the cost of living, and a clean energy
policy is part of the cure for it. The reality is opposite to what Dutton is
claiming."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
