The Energy Security Board has released new modelling on the National Energy Guarantee, but what are we to make of it? Nikki Ison broke down some key misunderstandings yesterday, and Crikey readers add their own below. Meanwhile, is the Turnbull/Great Barrier Reef Foundation controversy getting the coverage it deserves?
Meredith Williams writes: The coal lobby in Australia is the equivalent of the gun lobby in America — obstructing democracy, costing lives and keeping social conscience in the 18th century. But money is power, and coal has the coal-ition by the throat.
Martin Butterfield writes: Is the comment “To yield the results that are needed to appease the Coalition backbench” really fair? Hopefully there are some sensible members of the Coalition backbench (I’d name them if I could think of them) and it’s just the noisy ones named in the article that this is aimed at.
Graybul writes: The NEG is an illusion; a political imperative yes, but no answer for this country’s future capabilities in addressing either climate change, the economy or equitable, open and fair governance of Australians. Whilst Nicky’s welcome unpacking of Acil Allen’s modelling is also essential for public awareness, the “canvas” is purely political. As impacts of climate change intensify, so to does time constraints restrict solutions.
AR writes: The NEG is the equivalent of the same-sex marriage junkmail poll. It’s a sop to the knuckle-draggers in Talcum’s fractious party room; a delaying tactic, expensive, deleterious and utterly pointless, playing politics ‘cos they’re pollies, that’s what they do. If they were any good at anything else they’d be out making a quid instead of sucking the taxpayers’ teats dry.
BeenAround writes: The objective of recent LNP “leaders” it seems is to leave dog turds on the great carpet of Australian society that nobody can clean up, but the IPA and the BCA continue to applaud and defend with lies and distortion.
Howard: the deliberate racist demonisation of refugees that will continue to hurtfully divide Australian society for decades. The destruction of the fiscal revenue base, etc.
Abbott: climate/environment policy disappearing up its own arse, the ridiculous and unnecessary same-sex marriage plebiscite (at least that charade is over), etc.
Turnbull: the shameful legacy of a deliberately disabled NBN that could have been Australia’s next Snowy Scheme, now a pathetic, useless, expensive, obsolete mess.
It would be amusing if it was not so fundamental to ruining egalitarian Australian society.
On Turnbull and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation
Arky writes: “Strangely enough, there’s a near-absence of the kind of media hysteria that greeted the invented claims of Turnbull back in 2009. Perhaps that’s because we’ve now become used to the idea that this government punishes its critics and looks after its friends.”
No. Let’s be straight about this. It’s because the claims are against Turnbull, not against the ALP. End of story. No negative story for the ALP is too small to blow up into the biggest thing since sliced bread. No negative story for Turnbull is too big to bury unless it runs away with the public imagination despite the best efforts of the protection racket (e.g. Choppergate, Barnaby Joyce).
This is not just some partisan conspiracy theory, it’s simple observation. I’m glad to see Crikey is running this story. I lack confidence in anyone else to give it more than the inevitable passing mention tucked away somewhere so they can’t be accused of failing to cover it at all if Media Watch has a look.
Klewso writes: “Reefer Madness”?
Totaram writes: Obviously, there are not enough legislated checks and balances on this kind of malfeasance. They need to be put in place quickly, and then a federal ICAC should be instituted. Without appropriate legislation all these shenanigans would be completely legal, so “nothing to see here and move along” would be the result.
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Oh and for dessert Trumble has created the situation where Foxtel subscribers will be forced off cable and onto satelite service by 2020
Genius stuff from a self proclaimed internet whiz who actually got lucky with an investment during the dial up era
My family has suffered the impact of his ill-advised NBN meddling when we tried to reconnect to services to our new home which was built on part of our original block and which had a Telstra pit in the nature strip
We were told there was no cable service available. Eventually the truth came out that the NBN now owned the cable and was not allowing new connections or event reconnections
As a result we endured no landline, fixed internet or Foxtel for 5 months
We now have crummy ADSL until the NBN works out how to make Trumble’s mixed technology mess work plus we have reluctantly taken up Foxtel by satelite dish. The latter is 1960s technology which we can confirm is susceptible to heavy rain and high winds
Meanwhile I understand from a Telstra source that Trumble has scored fibre to the premises NBN to his home.