There are a few phrases that new Energy Minister Angus Taylor bandies about with increasing frequency of late.
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One is ‘fair dinkum reliable generation’. Another is ‘keeping the lights on’.
It’s like these mantras are meant to cut across otherwise important debate or questions on energy policy.
It’s the old political tactic of using a ‘bridge’.
It works like this. A journalist asks a question. The politician evades the question and says something like, ‘The real point here is...’ or ‘The key point that needs to be made here is...’. And then they trot out the scripted message again.
In this case – you guessed it – “It’s all about keeping the lights on”.
Mr Taylor trotted this one out three times while being questioned on energy policy in Goulburn last week, after the photo opportunity of the hay being given away to the waiting farmers had passed.
Again, no one doubts this was a great event and it was appreciated by the farmers assembled. But it was mainly organised by the Plymouth Brethren, who just roll their sleeves up and get on with things.
Ironically, one of the reasons that farmers may be in need of this hay is because climate change may be making droughts more intense and early here.
The farmers know this.
They voiced this out the front of Parliament House last week to the deaf ears of politicians inside that building, who (like Nero) were fiddling while Australia was burning ... in winter!
We all know what happened to Nero.
Anyway, we are pretty sure that ‘fair dinkum reliable generation’ means keeping clapped-out old coal-fired power stations afloat, rather than ensuring investment to renewable energy projects, which are ironically bringing electricity prices down.
This government’s focus is on cutting electricity prices by going after the power companies who have been ripping off Australians for some time now. Again, no one doubts this is a good thing, but what comes after that?
Liberal governments always focus on the cost of things. Like cynics, they know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.
But what is the cost of continuing to ignore climate change?