Good afternoon Prime Minister and Premier,
Before we move on to your new partnership, let us think about Scott Morrison’s words:
“Governments must do no harm”.
As a political thinker he is “out there”, our Scotty isn’t he Gentlemen?
Perhaps we need him on the home team in the energy market do you think?
The solid basis on which the Turnbull/Andrews partnership needs to be formed has to originate with the achievements you have both made so far. Let’s list them:
- Through your deliberate actions (and failure to act) of shutting Hazelwood, you have reduced mankind’s contribution of CO2 by a factor of 0.0002. That reduction, when compared with the CO2 produced by animals consuming vegetation and microbes consuming vegetation is a ratio of 0.000025. Hmmmm……..
- You have just put at least 1,000 people out of work in the Latrobe Valley.
- You will bankrupt many businesses in the Latrobe Valley and devastate a whole slab of the Nation’s economy.
- You have placed the viability of every single manufacturing business in Eastern and South Australia under threat – with the certainty of unemployment for hundreds of thousands of people if the madness continues. These businesses are now less able to compete with imports and less able to compete when exporting.
- You have caused power prices for every single Eastern and South Australian to rise by a ridiculous amount – because the forced removal of a marginal 1600Mw makes a massive difference to the price of a commodity in short supply.
- You have introduced a new unprecedented level of risk of blackouts to 89% of the Australian population. Look at the attached AEMO record for this evidence.
- You have caused an unprecedented rise in the price of east Australian gas by pushing 1600 Mw of generation away from coal and on to our dwindling gas supply.
- Your initiative of closing Hazelwood has increased the probability of gas supply shortages for 89% of our population.
- You have increased our farmers’ costs which also makes them less able to compete with imports and less able to export. After some of them have weathered a few previous frontal assaults from Coles, Woolworths, the Chinese Government and Murray Goulburn, your increased power prices to run milking machines, pumps and chilling equipment are just what a struggling dairy farmer needs.
- You have made the large gas supply companies and power generating companies – and those with a finger in the renewables honey-pot – an absolute fortune for their shareholders. You could be forgiven for thinking that the Australian Federal Government and the Victorian Government actually exist to benefit shareholders of those companies – and not your own constituents!!
Gentlemen, even a compliant media will not save you from what is going to happen soon.
Your choices are simple:
- Wait for a single interconnector trip or other unplanned event to black out a whole slab of Eastern Australia and then receive an absolute flogging over Hazelwood and be forced into an embarrassing re-start of the Station.
- Have some initiative, form a strong home team together and get the Station fired up again without delay.
You have both seen that the Weatherillesque technique of blaming everyone else for his own failures – even with a fully compliant S.A. media on side – wears a bit thin when the lights go out and voters get ready to reach for baseball bats – so it is time for you to form a partnership and start doing the right thing Gentlemen.
You will both be congratulated for putting childish Politics to one side and behaving like true leaders.
Thankyou and best regards,
IAN WATERS
Senior Project Engineer, Australian Manufacturer