Wouldn’t it be lovely…..

Dan

Yes, it is sport that we need to define where we and China are different as pertaining to the Pacific nations. Other than that, what the Pacific needs to see is real action on climate change. Where we can show that we are serious and different even as China opens up a new coal fired power station weekly?

And here I am not talking about renewable options that guarantee power price surges that may triple current power bills for joe average? But rather the nuclear option. But not as conventional nuclear power but rather unconventional SMR, MSR thorium. That are connected to microgrids via under road, cling wrap thin, super conductor graphene.

That after massively reducing transmission/distribution losses, then allow wholesale prices as low as 1 cent PKWH. And a 200% mark up that is still just 3 cents PKWH. And where we build a purpose built factory here in Oz, to mass produce the small modular reactors here for domestic use and as a major export commodity to an energy starved world! TBC.
Alan B.

It's not about Penny Wong. It's about government policy. Wong has gone visiting because she was told to, by her boss, and with the assistance and advice of her department. Wong herself is just another politician, with no particular qualifications.

It has to be said, though, that the Albanese government appears, so far, to be much more interested in the region than the Morrison all-mouth-and-trousers government was. As Greg Sheridan has said, Morrison was all talk on defence, the CCP and his laughable Pacific "family".

Cont. The Chinese and their coal embargo has backfired. We can't mine enough coal now to meet current new demand. Moreover, as the Chinese mine their own coal to replace imports they're scaping the bottom of the barrel. After they mined and burnt coal for centuries, given the age of Chinese civilization, their reserves are seriously depleted.

And we have found other markets where they pay three or four times more. But that outcome is limited and when the Russian/Ukraine war has run its course, the Russians will open the taps and flood the market until they build up their empty cash reserves, as will others (OPEC) feeling the new economic realities.

This means we have limited time to transition to MSR thorium and should given we own around 40% of the world's known reserves. And could pay for all I've suggested if we became a repository for the world's nuclear waste, which in MSR technology is just unspent fuel which has around 90% of its recoverable energy still available. Where the remaining 5-10% is still useful as long life space batteries or even very safe, self charging nuclear batteries that turn harmful rads into trickle charge electric current. Even as they provide a useful free heat source!

All that prevents any of this is tin-eared, recalcitrant politicians sitting on the treasury benches and in the Senate, where their brains are crippled by self imposed idiotic idealogical imperatives. TBC.
Alan B.

ttbn,

Love her or hate her, and I'm sure in your case its the latter, Penny Wong is one of our most capable politicians. Compare that to the "good old days" of the Morrison government, when the likes of Morrison's glove puppet Simon Birmingham said something like; "I rang the Chinese minister several times, but his phone went onto message bank, and he didn't ring me back". A nightmare isn't so bad while you are having it, its only when you wake up that you realise how terrible it was. The Morrison government as Australia's collective nightmare, tolerable while we were having it, but horrible now we have woken up.

Yes Paul and the former PM and deputy PM the two most unpopular politicians we've had for decades both of who were coal advocates! The days of coal are at an end and those pollies that cannot see that and the need to transition to clean green, carbon-free energy are doomed to fail!

People are no longer welded to this or that party! And those parties that think all they need is a better salesman to sell their message are doomed to follow the democrats into political oblivion!

Carbon-free energy that doesn't also tank the economy is limited to two options, MSR thorium that can also be re-tasked to burn nuclear waste and reduce the half-life to just 300 years!

The other referenced option is solar thermal that incorporates heat sinks. Bloody big vacuum flasks that keep useful heat as molten salt for up to a week. And our arid interior is tailor made for that option!

Meaning neither of those options need gas or fossil fuel backups ever, or expensive battery or pumped hydro backstops ever or power prices three or four times more than now! We want to export clean green energy to the world and that means it has to be cheaper than locally available options.

It is a market after all and a competitive one at that. Market success is always determined by price sensitive volume, not self defeating margins! Few if any polly-waffling pollies get that! And a few greens as well?
Alan B.