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| These are cooling towers, and that is steam, not pollution. |
Energy policy is clearly about choices. Mr Howard said in his book A Sense of Balance that it was a mistake to trade away an Australian Nuclear Industry in 1998, but the political realities at the time meant that Labor was opposed to Australia’s ability to develop life-saving medical products. Mr Howard did what needed to be done at the time. Unlike the proposed Voice, if the political will exists, the prohibition on nuclear can be amended by legislation. At the end of my presentation, I will show you a model I developed to understand how policies relating to networked technologies such as energy, transport, and telecommunications are impacted by choices made in the past. In effect, policies that follow certain patterns are like habits – they are easy to slip back into and difficult to change. But tonight, I want to make it clear that our energy future is a choice, and choosing our current policy to crash through or crash is a choice that will impact our prosperity and energy security for generations to come. To ensure I do not miss my key point in the time I have tonight, may I begin by urging that we choose wisely.