Cormann reaches for his pen and his phone

Cartoon: By Bill Leak  

President Obama has been accused of ruling by decree in our language or to use the US term, by executive orders.  
Under this system a king, emperor, dictator, autocrat, or sundry despot picks up the phone and orders that his will be done.

It seems now that the minister for finance, Mathias Cormann has caught the bug and is using his pen and his phone, (to use the President’s own term) to increase fuel excise without senate approval: 

MOTORISTS are set to pay a $4 billion increase in fuel tax over the next four years despite the Senate’s objections to the controversial budget measure as the Abbott government uses administrative powers to impose the change. 

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann declared the government would adjust the indexation in the belief the change would be legislated in due course, ensuring the revenue could be raised while the Senate argues over the bill. 

The change will take effect from 10 November when the fuel tax will rise from 38.143 cents per litre to 38.6 cents per litre. 

The national average price for unleaded petrol was about 1.52 a litre last week according to the Australian Institute of Petroleum. …

The Liberals and Nationals are playing a dangerous game here if they are relying on Green support to pass this legislation.  While the Greens would welcome any legislation that raised the cost of fuel out of the reach of the poor, they will be in the box seat to move their agenda forward.

They will undoubtedly aim to eliminate the fuel rebate to non-road users, something they have always had in mind.  The fuel tax was originally designed as a user pays system of financing highway construction, although only a small portion goes toward that purpose.  The rest is pissed against the wall and the Greens are smart enough to understand that the LNP are desperate enough to sacrifice the mining and agricultural industries if it is needed to buy votes.

The Liberals have come up with some Gillardesque spin in attempting to blame Shorten in advance for any attempt to block this effort.  They are claiming that if it is not passed, the revenue raised will go back to ‘big oil’ and it will be all his fault.  There is a slight element of truth in this as the tax raised will be paid by oil companies and passed on to consumers.  If it fails to pass, the revenue will go back to those companies, not to the consumers.

It is however, completely dishonest to blame the opposition for a circumstance created by a unilateral decision by the government to start taxing now and waiting for the umpires verdict.

It is worth noting that from the figures above, about 25% of the cost of a tank of fuel goes to the government and they want more.

Senate ‘Q&A’ style panel to investigate Qld government

Or: Beware of Greens bearing gifts

Cartoon: By Paul Zanetti 

About the only thing that inspires any confidence that the Newman government is doing anything right is that crony capitalist and white shoe brigade wannabe, Clive Palmer has an obsessive hatred of it.

After years of being in bed with the LNP and a major donor to it, Clive has spat the dummy after receiving unfavourable decisions on some of his projects. 

While most ex-mistresses settle for writing tell-all books or at least a series of well-paid television interviews, Clive has instead used his diminishing wealth to establish his own political party, which he uses to obstruct the federal government’s agenda and use as a stalking horse against the Newman government.

He has now done a deal with Labor and the Greens to set up an inquiry into the Queensland government: 

... Clive Palmer has been engaged in a bitter and long-running personal feud with Premier Campbell Newman and has now been given a significant weapon to use against him.  It is a loss for the Federal Government which had successfully seen off a previous attempt to establish the inquiry, arguing it was without legal precedent and overrides parliamentary convention. 

Over the next six months the committee will examine Queensland's use of Commonwealth funds, the administration of the state's judicial system, and questions around development and environmental approvals. 

The select committee, which will consist of five members but only one from the Coalition, has a reporting date on or before March 27 next year, very close to the date of the next Queensland election. 

Mr Newman is on holidays but issued a statement calling the inquiry a stunt. His federal counterparts said the inquiry would abuse an established principle that federal and state parliaments stay out of each other's business. 

Senator Eric Abetz, the Leader of the Government in the Senate, said it was part of Mr Palmer's vendetta against Mr Newman. "Basically it's a bitch session about Queensland," Senator Abetz said. …

The composition of the inquiry is very reminiscent of the ABC’s Q&A show in which one member of the right is confronted by three or four lefties plus the moderator.  In this case, the Liberals who have 33 senators have a single representative, Labor (25) have two, the Greens (10) have one, and PUP (3) also have one.

The inquiry was scuttled on an earlier attempt to set it up when the Liberals moved to include the Bligh Labor government’s activities as well.  This one was supposed to avoid such scrutiny.

In further developments, Labor and PUP have found they have been duded by the Greens: 

… The backing of the Greens was crucial to the Palmer United Party’s third attempt to secure a Senate investi­gation into all ­aspects of Queensland Premier Campbell Newman’s Liberal Nat­ional Party government. 

Greens senator for Queensland Larissa Waters denied her party had been caught up in what the Abbott government has dubbed Mr Palmer’s “personal vendetta’’ against Mr Newman. 

“The terms of reference that we’ve had included will ensure that we can look at not just the Newman government’s environmental track record but the dodgy coal-seam gas approvals under the Bligh (Labor) government, and also Mr Palmer’s own activities with his mega mines in the Galilee and his Yabulu refinery on the shores of the Great Barrier Reef,’’ Senator Waters said. 

Yabula is Australia’s highest emitting nickel refinery.  

The Newman government is taking legal advice on the inquiry, and is expected to turn the tables on PUP and use the Senate probe to retaliate and dump on Mr Palmer and Labor. ...

Palmer and Labor would do well to remember the old adage; beware of Greens bearing gifts.

Move to repeal plain packaging

Social Problem: n; Something enjoyed by the multitude, as seen through the eyes of a statist who doesn’t like it. – Jim’s Dictionary

Image: CourtesyThe Australian

Some time ago it was reported here that plain packaging of tobacco products had resulted in a significant rise in counterfeit cigarettes coming in from places like China.  Predictions that this would be the case were dismissed during the passage of the bill. 

Now the very pretext for the legislation has been blown out of the water with the finding that the decline in smoking over the previous four years has come to a screaming halt.  The Australian has reported that the volume of tobacco products used in the last year has increased by 0.3%:  

… The 0.3 per cent increase, though modest, goes against a 15.6 per slide in tobacco sales over the previous four years — and undermines claims by then health minister Nicola Roxon that Australia would introduce the “world’s toughest anti-smoking laws”. 

Plain packaging laws, which came into force in December 2012, have instead boosted demand for cheaper cigarettes, with reports of a more than 50 per cent rise in the market for lower cost cigarettes. …

Now a couple of coalition backbenchers, Liberal MP Alex Hawke, and Nationals MP George­ Christensen have suggested repealing the law, oddly for the LNP on the grounds that it is nanny state legislation: 

Liberal MP Alex Hawke likened the initia­tive to other “nanny state” policies that Labor pursued, “even when it appeared they wouldn’t work”. 

“I think our policy should be evidence-based and where governments get the best bang for their buck; that is on individual responsibility, rather than big government,” Mr Hawke said. He said the tobacco policy had failed and it should “absolutely” be revisited. 

Queensland Nationals MP George­ Christensen said this week that plain packaging signalled an “inch-by-inch encroachment into our personal lives”. … 

… Greens senator Richard Di ­Natale hailed the switch to cheaper cigarettes, saying the policy had undercut the power of brands to attract younger smokers. 

Public Health Association of Australia chief executive Michael Moore said the rise in tobacco sales recorded in the study was a net decrease, when adjusted for population growth, and the few remaining smokers would be the hardest to convince.

The Public Health Association seems to be in denial if it is seriously claiming that population growth is solely responsible for the rise that it claims is a decline.  This ignores the previous 15.6% decline in the previous four years and there has been no huge increase in our numbers in the last twelve months that would account for that.

Senator Di ­Natale’s statement pretty much sums up the Greens approach of being against big tobacco companies rather than smoking.  He is actually cheering the increase in the use of counterfeit cigarettes because he doesn’t like Phillip Morris.

Don’t expect the coalition to act on this anytime soon.  Most LNP members are probably Googling ‘social responsibility’ and staring incredulously at the answer and wondering how such a concept could come into being.

Beef producers give WWF the finger

Beware of Greens bearing gifts, or perhaps;

Nice industry you have there, be a shame if something happened to it.

Various industries have paid a heavy price for listening to the Siren song of environmental groups on sustainability and a cooperative approach to meeting environmental goals in production.

The Tasmanian forestry industry is a case in point where the forests agreement has gutted the timber industry.  This has been so successful from a green perspective that attempts to revive it have been met with claims that it is so small that there is no need to open up more logging areas.

In Queensland, farmers who accepted the Greens support in protecting their land from mining and CSG wells, found that the proposed legislation to ‘protect strategic crop land’ put more restrictions on the farmers themselves than the miners and gas explorers. 

 After moves by the WWF to sucker the beef industry into their global roundtable for sustainable beef, the industry has decided to implement their own, on their own: 

… A so-called “square table’’ meeting in Brisbane on Friday, attended by 27 beef industry leaders, agreed to create a new taskforce to develop the sustainability framework independent of WWF. 

The meeting was chaired by former AACo Managing Director David Farley. 

The meeting, pushed by Queensland Nationals Senators Ron Boswell and Barry O’Sullivan came after warnings from trade expert Alan Oxley that the WWF inspired Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef risked tying farmers up in green tape and was a move designed by environmentalists to “control farming’’. 

The industry lead “square-table’’ forum was attended by the Cattle Council of Australia (CCA), Red Meat Advisory Council (RMAC), Australian Lot Feeders Association (ALFA), Australian Meat Industry Council (AMIC), National Farmers Federation (NFF), AgForce, NSW Farmers Association, Northern Territory Cattleman’s Association (NTCA), Animal Medicines Australia (AMA), Hughes Pastoral, Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) and the Federal Government. 

Red Meat Advisory Council chairman Ross Keane said Australia already had systems in place that were superior to their international competitors. He said the “square table’’ initiative had the backing of the meat industry from processors to retailers. 

The creation of the taskforce placed the control and responsibility of sharing Australian beef’s sustainability credentials squarely in the hands of industry.“As an industry, we need to keep pace — if not stay at the fore of — consumer requirements and community expectations,” Mr Keane said. 

Last month, former trade ambassador and the chairman of the APEC Centre at RMIT University, Mr Oxley, warned beef producers against the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, which is formulating “sustainability’’ guidelines for the Australian industry. 

He accused environmental groups of exploiting secondary boycott loopholes to hold a threat over producers that a major customer such as Woolworths or McDonald’s, which is involved in the roundtable talks, will stop buying their beef unless they sign up to the initiative. 

“This is not just green tape, this is green thuggery,’’ Mr Oxley said. 

“With booming Asian demand, Australia’s beef industry has a very rosy future. Farmers are demanding the government free trade and open foreign markets. They should also demand the government free the domestic market from mafia-style market capture.” …

This is a great first step, but the real fight is yet to come.  The WWF and its green henchmen are not going to take this one lying down and will fight back.  The threat of boycotts by major distributors like McDonalds or Woolworths is real.

Another serious threat is the current government.  Abbott has his back to the wall over the proposed budget and will be looking for friends and support to get some of the more contentious measures through parliament.  This is where the Greens can play a part in screwing graziers over.

Senator Ron Boswell has been one of the primary forces in getting the beef industry to reject the advances of big eco, along with senator elect David Leyonhjelm and others. 

Ron is retiring at the end of June and will leave a huge gap in the political credibility of the coalition government.  He is probably the most highly principled member of the current government since Bert Kelly and Bill Wentworth, and has not hesitated in putting his career on the line in pursuit of what is right on a number of occasions in a long and honorable career.

Whether any of those left are prepared to stand up for the industry in the face of deals to get their agenda past the senate is a matter we should not feel totally optimistic about.

Climate accused of giving aid and comfort to skeptics

 “…but in the new approach, as you know, the important thing is to understand what you're doing rather than to get the right answer.” – Tom Lehrer, ‘New Math’

News of the increase in ice over the Arctic last year; which was supposed to be ice free by now under climate modeling, has left some climate frantics feeling (as Lehrer once described), “like a Christian Scientist with appendicitis.” 

The latest news of record levels of ice in the Antarctic seems to be leaving them with a feeling that the climate they love and want to nurture, has betrayed them.

Frantics have readily accepted the arguments that warming can result in extremely low temperatures, perpetual drought can be characterized by record rainfall, empty dams can be full, and that high temperatures are climate while low ones are weather.  Accepting that the Antarctic has more ice despite assurances that the overwhelming evidence is that the Southern Ocean is warming, may be a bridge too far.  

Far from disappearing, Antarctic ice levels reached a record high on Sept. 22. Climate alarmists are now being forced to reconcile this evidence with their unquestioning belief in global warming. 

The Washington Post’s Jason Samenow reported the National Snow and Ice Data Center’s findings that Antarctic ice had reached record levels. The previous record was set in 2012.In the same article, Jinlun Zhang, a University of Washington climate scientist, simply could not understand how this was possible: “Why would sea ice be increasing?” Despite this, Zhang contended that “[t]he overwhelming evidence is that the Southern Ocean is warming.” 

The rising Antarctic ice levels must have come as a shock to former Vice President Al Gore who blamed Antarctic ice melting on global warming in his 2006 book “An Inconvenient Truth.” Gore quoted scientist John Mercer: “One of the warning signs that a dangerous warming trend is underway in Antarctica will be the breakup of ice shelves on both coasts of the Antarctic peninsula.” … 

… Of course, the obvious answer is that Antarctic temperatures aren’t actually rising. On June 10, the New York Times reported that “[t]he rise in the surface temperature of the earth has been markedly slower over the last 15 years than in the 20 years before that. And that lull in warming has occurred even as greenhouse gases have accumulated in the atmosphere at a record pace.” 

The broadcast networks paid no attention to this lull, instead repeatedly promoting climate change alarmism. CBS correspondent Mark Phillips acknowledged that global temperatures were not rising, but dismissed this fact as “ammunition” for climate skeptics on Sept. 26’s “Evening News,” saying that “another inconvenient truth has emerged on the way to the apocalypse.”

A better explanation is that the apocalypse is probably not happening.

$7,500 fine for helping bogged motorists

It's somewhat ironical that tonight’s episode of Australian Story was about the way people pitched in to help others during the Tasmanian bush fires.  It was a great show featuring the effort by a woman who created a Face Book page that put people in need of help in touch with those willing to give assistance and help coordinate the whole show.

In times of trouble, the best seems to come out in people.  It was not that long ago that we saw victims of a North Queensland cyclone donating their emergency assistance checks to the Victorian bushfire appeal, and before that, Southern farmers donating semi loads of hay to droughted farmers in Queensland.

On the other hand, it is a bad idea to be a Good Samaritan if it is likely to incur the wrath of the Greens or attract the baleful gaze of their captive envirofascists in the Queensland Department of the Environment.  A retired businessman in Harvey Bay has just been fined $7,500 for towing bogged motorists in a national park and could be hit for $15,000 more: 

A GOOD Samaritan who says he has towed more than 200 bogged cars from roads in the Burrum Coast National Park in the past 20 years has been fined $7500 for damaging the park during the rescues. 

Douglas George Waters, 71, appeared in the Hervey Bay Magistrates Court on Monday charged with six counts of breaching a restriction on cultural and natural resources protected areas and one count of driving an unregistered tractor. 

Magistrate Graeme Tatnell convicted Mr Waters on two counts of damaging the national park but dropped the five other charges.  He was fined $7500 - and he may be up for a further $15,000 payment because of a hole he dug while fixing a road. 

Mr Waters has lived on a property in the heart of the Burrum Coast National Park for 25 years and, under the Queensland National Government in 1988, was given permission to maintain the isolated roads leading to his home.  The previous state Labor government cancelled that permission. 

Mr Waters said outside court that the roads had since deteriorated and people could easily become stuck.  He told the Chronicle outside court he was dumbfounded by the lack of common sense.  "At the moment I can't tow anyone out," he said. 

"If you are unlucky enough to be bogged and it's a Friday afternoon or out of normal hours DERM (now Environment and Heritage Protection) has no after-hours number to help which could result in your situation becoming life-threatening."

It is a bit surprising that Mr Waters is “dumbfounded by the lack of common sense” given that he has been dealing with bureaucracy for some time now and should be getting used to it.

It appears that the department was really going after him given the charge of driving an unregistered tractor.  Given that most farm tractors are unregistered unless the farmer has reason to take it on public roads often, and that the road was unmaintained, it has to be assumed that the enviros were trying to get him for everything they could pin on him.  The withdrawal of permission to maintain the road leading to his home may be taken as an attempt to make his continued occupation of his property untenable.

About the only decent thing coming out of this other than the actions of Mr Waters is that the Member for Hinkler, Paul Neville is taking his case up with the Qld government.    

Tasmania bans abortion clinic protests

Image: Tasmanian Health Minister Michelle O'Byrne. (This explains a lot)

In a draconian move by the Tasmanian government, protests cannot be held within a one hundred and fifty meter radius of an abortion clinic.  At this stage there is no other legislation on the books banning any other protests in a similar manner against anything else.

This action is part of the Reproductive Health (Access to Terminations) Bill 2013, so it only applies to protests against abortionists.  It also compels doctors who refuse to carry them out on conscience grounds to refer patents to others who will: 

“The bill proposes a fine of $65,000 or a 12 month jail term for the newly created crime of protesting in an area within a radius of 150 metres from an abortion clinic. This is an inappropriate limitation on freedom of speech. 

“General laws against intimidation already exist in the law and they are appropriate restraints on unacceptable behavior.  

“Singling out particular premises for special treatment undermines equality before the law. This bill does not make it illegal to distribute material outside supermarkets or sports grounds, for instance. The Tasmanian government should not ban protests, whether they occur outside an abortion clinic or a timber mill. 

“The bill also threatens freedom of conscience by forcing doctors who have a conscientious objection to abortion to refer patients to another doctor who does not have such objections. A fine of $32,500 applies to counsellors who refuse to contradict their beliefs. This is a clear and unacceptable infringement of freedom of conscience,” said Mr Breheny.

Tasmania is a state with great potential but cruelled by successive governments over the years.  The current one is made up of far left Labor, in coalition with the Greens, who as close to Bolshies as you can get, this side of Stalin.  It is something like Australia’s California.

As much as the idea of abortion is distasteful, legalizing it creates a safer environment for women who undergo the process.  Its illegality has not prevented many from taking place, but has created a situation where women’s lives are at risk.  It is controversial however, and it is reasonable to expect protests against it.

The left though, regard it as some sort of sacred cow that must not be questioned, let alone be objected to. 

Shooters and Fishers Party sell out right to remain silent

For a short time today it appeared that the Shooters and Fishers Party was going to do the right thing and block the draconian legislation of the O’Farrell banning the right to remain silent.  Early on, reports indicated that SFP was joining the Greens and Labor in blocking it, only to result in a later report that they had supported the government to pass it.

The right to freedom of speech is fundamental in all civilized societies, but has been under serious attack recently, especially by federal Labor after constant erosion over the years.  The right to remain silent is a fundamental part of the right to freedom of speech, in that speech is not really free if there is no right not to speak.  The government and the SFP are claiming the right to make you talk.  

Labor has little to hang its hat on in opposing this measure; they disagree with it because it is not strong enough: 

Opposition Leader John Robertson said Labor would vote against it because it was so "watered down" it was unworkable: "The Attorney-General clearly recognises the major flaws with this legislation, given it has been watered down to the point where it will barely be useable or enforceable. 

"If the Premier was serious about stopping organised crime he would use the legislation the parliament passed a year ago and ban the gangs who are shooting up Sydney streets.

Such a ban as Robertson is calling for is stupid and unworkable, as well as establishing a framework for banning any organization the government develops a dislike for.  The right to freedom of association is also critical to liberty.

Siding with the government is actually a stunning reversal by SFP given the statement in the earlier article by SFP MP Robert Borsak, a man who must have a very flexible set of principles with expedience being one of them: 

The Shooters and Fishers Party, which normally votes with the government, yesterday confirmed it too would oppose the legislation. 

Shooters and Fishers MP Robert Borsak said the minor party was concerned about how the legislation would affect their constituents.  "Given the terrible abuse of power that we've seen in relation to firearm dealers and law-abiding firearm owners, we could not possibly support this," Mr Borsak said. …

The record of the SFP has always been more about protecting their own turf, rather than supporting the rights of their constituency.  Two other parties with strong support for the rights of gun owners and fishermen are the Liberal Democratic Party, and the Outdoor Recreation Party.  Rather than supporting like-minded parties, SFP tends to give their preferences to the LNP, which was the party that passed the current gun laws shooters are angry about. 

They are considered so ineffective by the anti gun frantics, that they were preferenced into two seats in the recent Western Australian election by the greatest gun grabbers of them all, the Greens.  Former Greens leader, Bob Brown is on record for demanding tougher gun laws here using a shooting in Germany as a pretext.

It will be interesting to discover just what sort of underhand deal was done by SFP to secure their support, especially after such a strong statement of ‘principle’ by Borsak.  It could be some minor concession to shooters, or some benefits such as extra staff to their MPs.  Either way, everyone including their supporters have lost out on this decision.  It is now a case of, anyone accused of anything rightly or wrongly has lost their option to remain silent in the face of aggressive police questioning.

Borsak and his party need to understand that legislation should be based on the fundamental rights of the individual in a free society, and the rule of law, not on the basis of, “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours."

Government attempt to take Andrew Bolt off air

Cartoon: By Baloo

Apart from the ABC and SBS, the government broadcasters, and the National Broadband Network there isn’t all that much for a Communications minister to do.  Most radio, television, and newspapers are run quite efficiently by private enterprise, with the possible exception of Fairfax Media.

This is possibly one of the reasons why the current minister, Steven Conroy acts like a man with too little to do.  The other is that he has a petty mind, is a control freak, and has an extraordinary capacity for hatred, especially toward those who criticise his party. 

His record is one of continual attempts to control the output of the private media with enquiries, attempts to regulate media ownership with a public interest test, and an effort to licence journalists.  He even pushed for a super regulator to control newspapers, radio, television, and even blogs that attained more than 43 hits per day. (Not kidding it’s real) 

Cabinet is considering the recommendation of the Convergence Review for a public interest test for media proprietors and the call from Justice Finkelstein for a new statutory super-regulator that would cover radio, television, newspapers and the web, including blogs receiving as few as 43 hits a day.

It is not known why the minimum figure of 43 was chosen, rather than 47, 62, 96, or even 29, but perhaps it was thought that people might think of these as random numbers he pulled out of his hat, or might just look silly. 

His hatred of Andrew Bolt has become something of an obsession though.  He has now proposed legislation to block media companies from partnering with other companies on programs.  While the blurb mentions the 10 networks’ Meet the Press although there is a much higher likelihood that it is aimed squarely at the Bolt Report, in which News Ltd personality Andrew Bolt appears on 10: 

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy is understood to have put the proposals to Julia Gillard on Monday night in an attempt to stop the Ten Network from working with News Limited to produce a Sunday current affairs program. 

As Wayne Swan joined the discussion, Senator Conroy suggested expanding his reform package to ban free-to-air TV networks from outsourcing news and current affairs to other media companies.  Labor's anxiety over the Meet The Press program on Ten contrasts with the show's impact on public affairs, given the forum for political interviews draws fewer than 75,000 viewers on Sundays. 

And the high-level focus on the program appeared to ignore similar deals at the ABC in which Four Corners aired reports by journalists from Fairfax newspapers on subjects such as the Reserve Bank's note-printing subsidiary and global warming in the arctic. 

While the Prime Minister rejected the minister's idea, the talks about such a contentious new measure indicate the fluid state of a reform package that needs to be finalised within a fortnight so there is time to legislate it this year. … 

… The Greens are demanding legislation to stop Ten's agreements with News after being told by the media regulator last year that Lachlan Murdoch's interest in Ten and DMG Radio did not breach current rules because he was not a "controller" of News Corporation, parent company of News Limited, which publishes The Australian. Mr Murdoch sits on the News Corporation board. 

Greens leader Christine Milne accused News of exerting influence over Ten and singled out the creation of a Sunday TV program featuring News columnist Andrew Bolt and the agreement this month for the two companies to co-operate on Meet The Press. 

While Senator Conroy expressed no concern about News and Ten when asked his view in the Senate on Monday, several individuals told The Australian he is privately furious about the alliance.   Labor's frustration with News is well known after cabinet ministers talked about "going to war" with the company in August 2011 because of their anger at reports critical of the government.

The decision to reject this effort may be the only sound judgment Gillard has displayed during her term although it might be merely be an attempt to slap back at the Greens.  Previous efforts to destroy Bolt have only gained him more public support; this will be no different.  If they keep trying they are likely to give him the reputation of “The man they couldn’t root, shoot, or electrocute.”

Greedy Gas Giants Gazump Gullible Greens

Cartoon By Baloo

 By Viv Forbes, Chairman,

The Carbon Sense Coalition 

 Have you wondered why carbon energy giants such as Shell, Exxon, BP, BHP and Origin Energy are in favour of carbon taxes, carbon capture and green energy subsidies?



It’s neither altruistic concern about global warming, nor to boost the investment return from their solar panels. Rather, they have all made big investment bets on that other carbon fuel, natural gas. Killing off coal suits their bottom line.



Coal is the biggest competitor for gas in many energy markets. The carbon tax and mandatory carbon dioxide capture will fall heaviest on coal and will ensure that few new coal-fired power plants are built. And green energy targets and subsidies will force-feed electricity playthings like wind and solar power.



But wind and solar can only produce costly intermittent power, and must be backed up by reliable energy generators which can be switched on and off at the whim of the weather. In most places, that probably means GAS.



Thus, when coal and nuclear power have been assassinated by the greens, and the wind and solar farms are rusting away in industrial oblivion, the main generators left standing will be ... gas-fired power stations. And everyone will pay even more for electricity.



The gullible greens have been gazumped by the gas giants.