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So let me get this straight.
Privatisation is a significant plank in the LNP policy platform.
Under this policy the electricity sectors in most/all states have been privatised.
Electricity prices have sky rocketed despite the invisible hand of the free market.
Now (as a shabby vote buying initiative) there needs to be an inquiry into the privatised electricity supply sector.
Allow me to paraphrase: Now we have flown the plane into the mountain we need an inquest into why the mountain was there in the first place.
If this isn't a clear admission of a structural flaw and a gigantic loving up I don't know what would or could be. Privatisation doesn't work. There is no evidence that it works available and a literal poo poo ton that it does not. Contemplate this for a moment. You privatise something to make/save one million dollars a year every year (a situation that would make all actual privatisation deals green with envy) after a few years of operation the public complain that the privatised suppliers of the service are money grubbing scum that are not meeting the lowest of consumer standards. The government then has an inquest and imposes a regulatory watchdog on the industry (Who still under-perform). The inquest and regulatory watch dog cost the equivalent of around one million dollars a year. You have no achieved zero savings/revenue and the customer has a service that is worse than when it was government operated.
Judith Sloane must be either a troll or a fool
quote:Take note of tough talk and avoid economic disaster The Australian12:00AM March 27, 2017 JUDITH SLOAN Contributing Economics Edito rMelbourne
It’s always hard to pinpoint when a nation starts to go down the gurgler*. Even the most astute commentators didn’t pick the inevitable tragedy that would befall Greece until the process of decline was well under way. The same could be said of Australia. Blessed by the bounty of our mineral resources and sky-high commodity prices, the strong element of decline has been masked by the years of buoyancy associated with a historic investment boom in mining. We are now approaching a clear phase of structural weakening, particularly in relation to our budgetary position but also our political institutions. This is where the Shepherd review comes in. Entitled “Statement of National Challenges: Why Australians are Struggling to Get Ahead”, the project involves “multiple opportunities for community discussion and debate on the nature of the problems and the potential solutions”. Sponsored by the Menzies Research Centre, which is aligned with the Liberal Party, it is proposed that a fact-based assessment of various national challenges takes place so that options to deal with these challenges can be canvassed.
These challenges are listed as: confidence in a growing economy; effective and accountable government; competitive economy and open markets; infrastructure and energy; and imagination and adaptation.
The core premise of the project is that many Australians are struggling to get ahead but governments are equally struggling to meet their expectations. In the words of the first report of the project, “a strong economy is the basis of a just and fair society”. Wealth creation must come before wealth redistribution. Without this acknowledgment, there is a real risk we will end up in a low growth trap with chronic budget deficits and rising government debt, ineffective governments, poorly performing markets, weak investment, low productivity and a lack of imagination and adaptation. Resistance to change will only make matters worse. Now this may all sound rather wordy, but the first report is packed with facts and figures that in particular query the bland and rosy assessments presented in nearly every government budget and intergenerational report.
In useful blunt fashion, the Shepherd review paints a much more pessimistic picture in which the challenges of our steeply rising dependency ratio (in 2015, the prime age population (15 to 64 years) was 4.5 times the population aged 65 years and older; in 2045, it will be three times) make sustained budget repair close to impossible without significant policy changes. The Shepherd review is a welcome addition to the frank discussion we must have to avert us heading down the path too many European countries have taken. The Business Council’s honest assessment of our budget position — we are facing a future tax impost of $5000 per adult a year without remedial action — is similarly useful. It is time for the real discussion to begin and to see through the excuses and obfuscations that characterise the daily output of modern governments at all levels and of all political persuasions.
The wider the participation in the discussion, the more likely it is that sustainable and acceptable solutions can emerge.
* only if you are as clueless and oblivious to all the evidence as you are Judith. It was the Howard/Costello tax cuts of 2005 (source - http://www.tai.org.au/content/peter-costellos-five-most-profligate-decisions-treasurer-cost-budget-56bn-year)
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Mar 27, 2017 01:15
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May 12, 2024 01:54
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That's your answer for everything.
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Mar 27, 2017 02:14
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Also Belconnen is probably the most difficult commuting area of Canberra to get to the airport business park from, yet will be where most employees currently live, own houses, have kids in school etc.
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Mar 27, 2017 11:34
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Turns out wind farms are the great satan.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-28/wind-farm-settings-to-blame-for-sa-blackout-aemo-says/8389920
quote:AEMO releases final report into SA blackout, blames wind farm settings for state-wide power failure By political reporter Nick Harmsen Updated about an hour ago
Overly sensitive protection mechanisms in some South Australian wind farms have been blamed for a catastrophic statewide blackout in September last year by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).
Key points:
AEMO has released its fourth and final report into SA's September blackout
It said overly sensitive settings in some wind farms resulted in the statewide blackout
But it also found the intermittent nature of wind was not to blame
In its fourth and final report into the September 29 blackout, AEMO said it was the action of a control setting responding to multiple disturbances that led to the 'black system'.
The report said the unexpected operation of the control settings resulted in the sudden loss of generation from the wind farms. "Had the generation deficit not occurred, AEMO's modelling indicates SA would have remained connected to Victoria and the black system would have been avoided," the report said. "AEMO cannot rule out the possibility that later events could have caused a black system, but is not aware of any system damage that would have done this." AEMO has also contradicted its own early advice that the changing nature of South Australia's electricity generation mix played no role in the blackout. It said the generation mix now includes increased amounts of non-synchronous inverter-connected generators — in other words, wind and solar.
Big batteries, stabilisation urged for Australia's power system
South Australia's renewables-heavy power mix was a factor in the statewide blackout in September, a new report by the Australian Energy Market Operator confirms. "This generation has different characteristics to a conventional plant, and uses active control systems, or complex software, to ride through disturbances," the report said. "With less synchronous generation online, the system is experiencing more periods with low inertia and low available fault levels, so AEMO is working with industry on ways to use the capability of these new types of power generation to build resilience to extreme events." AEMO said as the generation mix continues to change, it may no longer be able to rely on coal and gas generators to provide a fast enough response to stabilise the grid. "Instead, additional means of procuring these services must be considered, from non-synchronous generators, where it is technically feasible, or from network or non-network services, such as demand response and synchronous condensers." The Australian Energy Market Commission is already taking steps in this regard.
How the weather event tripped the system
On Wednesday September 28, two tornadoes with wind speeds between 190 and 260 kilometres per hour tore through a single-circuit 275-kilovolts transmission line and a double-circuit 275kV transmission line, about 170km apart. The damage to these three transmission lines caused them to trip, and a sequence of faults in quick succession resulted in six voltage dips on the SA grid over a two-minute period at about 4:16pm. As the number of faults on the transmission network grew, nine wind farms in the mid-north of SA exhibited a sustained reduction in power as a protection feature activated. For most of them, the protection settings allowed the wind turbines to withstand a pre-set number of voltage dips within a two-minute period. When the protection feature kicked in, the output of those wind farms fell by 456 megawatts over a period of less than seven seconds. When the wind farms unexpectedly reduced their output, the Heywood Interconnector from Victoria tried to make up the shortfall. About 700 milliseconds after the last wind farm powered down, the flow in the interconnector reached such a level that it activated a special protection scheme that tripped it offline. The sudden loss of power flows across the interconnector sent the frequency in the SA grid plummeting.
South Australia has an automatic load-shedding system designed to kick-in in just such an event.
But the rate of change of the frequency was so rapid, the automatic load-shedding scheme did not work. Without it, the remaining generation was much less than the connected load, and as a result, the entire system collapsed. The SA power system then became separated from the rest of the national grid. AEMO said its "analysis shows that following system separation, frequency collapse and the consequent black system was inevitable".
Why hasn't the entire state blacked out before?
AEMO said unforeseen separation and complete loss of the Heywood Interconnector has occurred six times in the past 17 years. But in every other instance, the system stayed alive. "The key differentiator between the 28 September 2016 event and the other three events is that there was significantly lower inertia in SA in the most recent event, due to a lower number of on-line synchronous generators," the report said. "This resulted in a substantially faster rate of change of frequency compared to the other events, exceeding the ability of the under-frequency load-shedding scheme to arrest the frequency fall before it dropped below 47Hz." Synchronous generators include coal, gas and hydro. The state's last coal generator, at Port Augusta, closed last year. Some gas generators have been mothballed, or used sparingly, especially in circumstances when the state's wind and solar power output is high. Immediately before the blackout, wind had been producing almost half of South Australia's power needs, with much of the remainder being imported from Victoria. South Australia's thermal generators (gas and diesel) had only been outputting about 18 per cent of the state's power needs.
Are wind farms to blame?
It can be argued that the changing nature of the grid, which is seeing wind farms and solar energy replacing traditional thermal generation, did make South Australia more vulnerable to a statewide blackout. There is no doubt the protection settings on some wind farms also contributed to the chain of events which resulted in this blackout. But AEMO also makes it clear the intermittent nature of wind was not to blame. "The most well-known characteristic of wind power, variation of output with wind strength, often termed 'intermittency', was not a material factor in the events immediately prior to the black system." AEMO said changes made to turbine control settings shortly after the event has removed the risk of recurrence given the same number of disturbances.
Well not really but we'll choose to believe it despite any amount of facts. A factoid for long term players - The SA grid is privatised.
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Mar 28, 2017 03:33
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Trampsballs trying to cash in on Cyclone Debbie already in Parliament:
quote:This morning, I spoke again, as I have over the last 24 hours, with Premier Palaszczuk, and at her request, with the Defence Minister, I have arranged for brigadier Chris Field to act as the recovery coordinator. He's a distinguished military officer. I note following the floods of 2011, he was the chief of the Queensland reconstruction authority. Our emergency services are the best of the world. There's 1,000 people deployed or on stand-by to assist, and we thank them for their courage, commitment and selfless service. We're working with the insurance and banking sectors to ensure that all factors are taken into consideration, and all consideration is given when claims are made by households and businesses as a result of this cyclone.
Planning included everything up to but not encompassing our main naval assets:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-28/largest-ships-unable-to-join-cyclone-debbie-emergency-response/8391574
So who goofed Marrisa? Was it actually you or a minion?
quote:Navy's largest ships unable to join Cyclone Debbie emergency response amid engine troubles
Exclusive by defence reporter Andrew Greene
Updated about 6 hours ago
HMAS Adelaide
PHOTO: HMAS Adelaide is currently docked at Sydney's Garden Island Naval base. (File Photo: CPL Kyle Genner)
RELATED STORY: Cyclone Debbie's eye reaches mainland, Bowen loses power
MAP: Garden Island 2011
Engineers are frantically working to solve engine problems on the Royal Australian Navy's two largest ships, with fears the Landing Helicopter Docks (LHDs) could be out of action for several weeks.
The Canberra Class Amphibious Assault Ships HMAS Canberra and HMAS Adelaide are currently docked at Sydney's Garden Island Naval Base where maintenance crews are trying to identify and resolve issues with the LHDs' cutting-edge Azipod propulsion system.
Defence sources have confirmed to the ABC they currently expect the problem will take between seven and 10 days to address, but if further complications are found, the 27,000-tonne ships could remain sidelined for even longer.
The Defence Force insists the inspections have "had no impact on Navy meeting its operational tasks".
In a statement to the ABC on Monday night the Defence Department confirmed a propulsion issue had been identified on board HMAS Canberra during recent trials with military helicopters.<SNIP>
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Mar 28, 2017 06:02
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Imagine if back in the '90s we'd thought, well, climate change needs to be prevented and even if it's not true coal runs out anyway, so let's have a massive government program of subsidies for developing and investing in renewable energy, I mean, this is Australia, we get bombarded with tens of thousands of square kilometres of radioactive sunlight every single day, let's become a world leader in solar and have a booming industry exporting that tech to the rest of the world.
Australia was a solar energy leader until ~ 1990. JWH then came in and jammed progress so far up the populace's collective pooper that was are now solar laggards and international pariahs*. A situation not entirely dissimilar to welfare, humanitarian issues, industrial relations and social policy. Imagine how dissapointed you'd be if you lived to see the wave of progress crest and the break into a billion droplets of trickle down urine. 
*pariah status no longer valid in some other regressive poo poo-hole countries.
Meanwhile in a spirited bid to remain completely poo poo forever: The  productivity commission releases a report on superannuation funds.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-29/productivity-commission-proposes-default-superannuation-overhaul/8395572
quote:Superannuation overhaul could mean you don't need multiple accounts AM By senior business correspondent Peter Ryan Updated about 2 hours ago
Australian workers who end up with multiple default superannuation funds could be winners from a simpler more streamlined system being proposed by the Productivity Commission. In a draft report released today, the Commission wants to overhaul the default contributions system to put workers in a single default scheme in their first job and have them stick with it for their entire working lives. By reducing what the Commission calls a "proliferation" of accounts every time a worker changes their job, the report estimates that around $150 million would be pumped back into retirement nest eggs from lower fees every year. Key recommendations include slashing the high number of default My Super schemes from more than 100 to around five, and allowing tenders and fee-based auctions for default super. Productivity Commission chairman Peter Harris told the ABC's AM program that despite the compulsory superannuation system delivering reasonable returns over the past 25 years, "structural faults" made default superannuation confusing for workers and their employers. "Individuals commented that the whole system looks like the scattering of cornflakes on the ground and it's impossible to pick one up so think I'll walk right on past it," Mr Harris said. "It's like when you go into a New York delicatessen and there are nine kinds of ham, six kinds of mustard and five kinds of bread, a thousand people in the queue behind you and you just want a ham sandwich."
The review into default superannuation was ordered last year by Treasurer Scott Morrison after criticism of the overall system from David Murray, the former Commonwealth Bank chief executive who chaired the Financial System Inquiry. The Productivity Commission said more than 40 per cent of employees had multiple super accounts, and recommended four default models as part of the overhaul — without signalling a preference. The draft report conceded that tinkering with the $2.1 trillion superannuation system was "highly contentious and politically sensitive" given the ongoing war between industry and bank-backed retail funds. "Opening up access to these members and their contributions is a lucrative proposition for new entrants and a competitive threat to incumbents," the report said.
Will the Commission's recommendations change anything?
Peter Harris said it was likely that both industry and retail funds would oppose the key recommendations to change current default arrangements including tendering and auctioning, suggesting their vested interests. "It's one of the things that both of the contending funds were unified on — none of them wanted to go into a fee-based tender or auction. That's the one thing they can agree on," Mr Harris said. The report comes as the Federal Government continues its campaign to dilute union dominance on industry super boards, and banks seek greater access to managing retirement nest eggs. But Peter Harris said the draft Productivity Commission report was not a proxy for government policy. "We don't pay any attention to the ideologies. It's about assisting members to, in the end, have a better retirement," he said. Industry superannuation funds are certain to fight the proposed overhaul amid concerns that they could lose their grip on the $474 billion default superannuation market. In its submission to the inquiry, Industry Super Australia (ISA) said the current default super scheme was "long-standing and effective", repeating that industry funds on average outperformed bank-backed retail funds. The ISA submission also said the Productivity Commission needed to provide an "iron-clad" justification for shaking up the default super system.
So these completely ideologically neutral submissions just happen to specifically target the industry superfunds that are the best performers in the current market. Well that certainly seems reasonable. Why don't they change it so if you have a very low super balance in any account it attracts NO FEES. Watch how fast super funds attempt to transfer these accounts to someone else. If there was a "structural fault(s)" in the existing system then this is it. I have had multiple thousands of dollars dissappear into the supper fee black hole. Why? Because my main super account is not able to accept deposits and the return on the super outside that fund isn't enough to cover the fees on an ongoing basis. They didn't hit me with a kosh and take my money but the result was the same.
e;fb
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Mar 29, 2017 01:13
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Well we had the 'Human Headline' now we have the 'Human* Garbage-fire'.
*DNA testing was inconclusive. Also please note Latham is Centre-Left in the ALP spectrum disorder.
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Mar 29, 2017 05:58
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I like how it goes with his previous sackings.
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Mar 29, 2017 07:36
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Another human sacrifice.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/man-dies-after-being-ejected-from-car-following-bathurst-police-chase-20170329-gv9fnc.html
quote:Man dies after being ejected from car following Bathurst police chase
A man has died and another man is seriously injured in hospital after their car crashed following a police pursuit in the NSW central west. Both men were ejected from the car in the single vehicle crash in South Bathurst, near the intersection of Lloyds Road and Vale Road, police said
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Mar 30, 2017 00:24
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What's the name of the rhetorical trick/logical fallacy where you present your opponent's argument as, for example, "pro-18C senators want to restrict your free speech" instead of "pro-18C senators believe 18C protects people from racial hatred"?
I mean beyond "a lie".
Haven't had one of these for a while:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_GfFq1N-04
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Mar 31, 2017 05:33
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May 12, 2024 01:54
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Businesses don't pay tax on anything; they use offshore holding companies then complain they get taxed too much because they're a bunch of thieving sooks.
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Mar 31, 2017 11:38
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Mar 27, 2017 01:15
