Hasbeen,

"...shut them down for six months, then reopen, with a new workforce..."

You're obviously from the school of thought that believes if you treat your workforce like sh!t, then you'll prosper.

Good luck with that scenario.

If the world switched to renewables tomorrow it wouldn't affect me.

I'd just ride my flying unicorn up to my palace on top of my mountain and get on with life.

A ridiculous hypothetical question deserves the same sort of answer.

The world will not and could not "switch tomorrow" so your apocalyptic scenarios are just nonsense.

Any changes would have to be staged gradually so minimise impact on several areas but it's worth considering that if the world converted all the existing coal stations to nuclear we would run out of known uranium deposits in a couple of decades.

No Poirot, in a long career in management I have only had to sack one person.

When I found myself way overstaffed in the Tourist cruise boat industry, during our pilot strike, I offered the staff a choice. I could lay off 25% of them, or they could all work a 4 day week. It was their choice, & I gave them a week to decide what they wanted me to do.

This was not as bad in this instance as it would be for many. Due to the nature of the business, with minimum 10 hour days, & weekend shifts there was a lot of overtime, so a 4 day income was still well above average income, & that was their choice.

Fortunately for all, unions were not involved, the seamen's union is one of the worst. They were responsible for the destruction of the Oz shipping industry.

However I have seen the bloody minded attitude of union leadership in a number of disputes, & know they would rather see a business close, than surrender any of the even extreme conditions in vulnerable industries.

The reason we have a much reduced abattoir industry is union bloody mindedness. Unfortunately most of those businesses did not reopen, & a number of towns became disaster zones because of this. It is a pity they would not do more than 4 hours work for a day's pay.

A quick look at the waterfront, & defence industries in Cairns display the same intransigence.

Yes has been, the signs that our miners are floundering under the preasure of ridiculously high costs have been there for some time and, to think any government would be stupid enough to cause more pain, or at least they thought they would, by way of a huge tax on profits, defies logic.

I'm with you on this one, sack the lot and start again and, with a bit of luck we will have a government who cares about business, as opposed to treating them as an on call cash cow as these idiots do.

Good luck convincing anyone here though, as most of them have enjoyed the luxury of having life/jobs provided to them, from largely disrespected risk takers.

Now as for anyone who seriously thinks that I think the world could switch overnight, seriously! Get a grip!

Yep Rehctub over night or over to years, there is no way renewables could carry all but a minor bit of the load.

Yes Nuclear could, at huge expense, & why? There is still, after billions spent trying to prove the theory, no even minor evidence that CO2 is anything but a handy source of plant food.

Even if we are stupid to follow any of the renewable energy trail we now have planned, we would be fools. Just a quick look at Germany, Denmark, or the UK will show governments trying desperately to back of from their programs, with out admitting it is a total catastrophe.

Yes mate, even at 10% of renewables, & the problems they are causing to the respective countries grids, you would be wise to talk loudly, [so friends can find you in the dark], & carry a big torch. You'll need the torch to find your way to bed, in the dark.

Butch . Today we know who the idiots are, they all have names and are all in shame.
The miners imposed their own level of payments to the AU people. So i would not be concerned for them.
As a nation we are in a state of consistent, and sustainable growth. No one can deny that.
We are subject to world shifts in economics, and doing fine.
If there wasn't the constant negativity and scaremongering from the opposition, We may be even better still.
After recent events, we can hope for change, and a return to liberalism.
This opposition have disgraced themselves to a point of disintegration
A restructure is needed now.