Via Gotti today:
Energy anger is Australia is rising rapidly. The business community’s dismay over the disastrous energy situation boiled over at the Australian Leadership Retreat on the Gold Coast at the weekend.
But so did the deep anger from the Indian delegates who pulled no punches when explaining that India saw what was happening in the Adani coal development and in the attitude of the Westpac as a clear form of racism.
Because the Adani energy sessions at the conference were held under the Chatham House Rule there were no attributable quotations, but on the local power front business people are waking up to the fact that Australia has moved from a low-cost energy-secure nation to a high-cost nation with blackouts threatening NSW and Victoria following the South Australian blackouts.
…the Indians at the retreat said India saw Adani as the litmus test for the future relationship between the two nations. They accused Westpac not only of racism but of seeking to look after their coal loans in Newcastle. I certainly do not believe Westpac is racist or that any Newcastle loans have played any role in their decision not to loan to Adani.
I believe Westpac is protecting its Newcastle loans, just as Australia should. Any prudent bank and country would. This is absurdity of the Adani proposal. The mine is high cost at around $100 breakeven as prices are at $73 and falling fast. Moreover, it is large enough to lower global coal prices. Meanwhile, the marginal cost mines that will shut as a result are in NSW. These mines are more efficient than Adani which will need massive public subsidy to operate at all.
And that’s before we account for any externalities such as damage to tourism and global warming.
In short, the choice for Australia is to run efficient thermal coal mines out of NSW or to throw tax-payer subsidies at pure Indian resource nationalism that will make us all poorer.
Damn that’s racist!
As for wider energy anger, there’s good reason for that. East coast gas spot prices eased last week but are still higher than the same gas in Japan:
And contract users are still paying double:
That makes me angry.
