For years labor has played a double game on the east coast gas cartel. It has intimated at various times that it would adopt tougher domestic reservation. But it has never had the cojonies to declare it given its fear of another mining backlash. Now, under the infinitesimal target politics of Anthony Albanese, it appears to have abandoned it altogether. At the AFR:
- Labor’s draft policy platform supports gas as the transitional fuel for climate change mitigation.
- This includes support for unconventional gas extraction including all new projects.
- It rejects public support for gas or gas infrastructure and affirms 2050 carbon net neutral.
Fake it ’til you make it then. Gas is already as doomed as coal for power:
In five years renewables with full battery firming will be much cheaper:
If it goes the way we think it will, renewables plus full storage will be more than 60% cheaper than coal and gas:
This is pure politics from Labor which will be overrun by simple economics, as it knows full well. Hence we see huge new renewables projects underway in traditional coal heartlands in QLD and enormous battery projects in the Hunter with not even the slightest hint of new gas power stations.
Power prices have collapsed in the past twelve months as renewable volumes have grown, gas prices have sunk and demand has shrunk. So this may all seem relatively harmless politics.
But it’s not. Not to industry, which is the real loser now from the gas cartel. There is nothing in Labor’s sell-out plan to reduce the cost of gas to stimulate a manufacturing rebound, let alone preserve what diminishing base we have left.
But, I suppose, if you are captured by China and the CCP, why would you need such a thing?
He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.
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The Labor strategy seems to be “Don’t create polies where the LNP can attack them.” They will get in because the LNP are self destructing.
Or “Don’t create policies that the LNP can steal”.
They need just 1 policy at the moment:
– Promise to introduce a Federal Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) within the first 100 days.
“Non-core” of course…
Greens have been trying to introduce this for over a decade and it hasn’t helped them any.
Yep, they’re applying the Stephen Bradbury political strategy.
Its the extension of extend and pretend to the fossil fuel industry. Politicians are for sale, perhaps they can extend, at least the pretense of some policy that might favour the donors. It is getting to the point in renewables that the Emperor has no clothes but perhaps not for the average punter.
It’s all a pointless argument anyway. The government long ago privatised the energy networks. Our cartel power operators will decide on what’s the most profitable* way to provide us plebs with power.
*may have little or no resemblance to lowest cost or most efficient.
Bangladesh:
Labor are giving support to Clean Coal as well as Gas
No first preference from me.