ALL ARTICLES

Canberra should be a hothouse for 'green' transport skills

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Japanese-made electric bus on display at the Osaka Mobility Show, 8 December 2023.

Transport Minister Chris Steel has advised that we will have to wait until after the ACT election for the business case for stage 2B of the tram network. But with the ACT Government’s tram project central to reducing emissions, why are we waiting? Is light rail really the environmental panacea it is cracked up to be? We need to be focusing on developing local skills, rather than relying on a privatised tram network to take care of Canberra’s future.

My latest article in The Canberra Times, available here: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8456049/why-canberra-should-develop-workers-green-transport-skills/?cs=14246.



Activists have severely damaged the arts in Australia

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Politicisation of the arts in Australia has upset half the audience [Michael de Percy CC BY-ND 4.9]

Some of our finest cultural institutions have been hijacked by political activists. Captive audiences have been subjected to political activism while artists have used their taxpayer and subscriber-funded platforms to advance their personal political agendas. Such political activism has severely damaged the arts in Australia. And the lack of swift action by the leaders of these institutions means the damage will be difficult to repair in the foreseeable future. 

Here is my latest article in The Spectator Australia's Flat White, Activists have severely damaged the arts in Australia:

Albo’s control of your TV is only the tip of the iceberg

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Then they came for my smart TV...

With Communications Minister Michelle Rowland expected to introduce a ‘prominence’ bill this week, Australians should be very worried about the government attempting to control our smart devices and the information we receive. We are on the slippery slope to socialism and it will only get worse as the Albanese government destroys our standard of living in pursuit of its socialist agenda.

The green-left agenda, previously the purview of conspiracy theorists, is now out in the open. It manifests in government policies designed to reduce our individual carbon footprints. It has no regard for our liberty.

Here is my latest article in The Spectator Australia's Flat White, Albo’s control of your TV is only the tip of the iceberg.

My presentation at the Robert Menzies Institute's Annual Conference

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My paper at the Robert Menzies Institute's Annual Conference 2023

The video recording of my presentation is available below:

The Menzies Ascendency: Australia in the Atomic Age

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Keith Rigg (R) with Sir Robert Menzies signing a bat, circa 1950 [Rigg Family Album CC BY 3.0]

I will present my final paper for the Robert Menzies Institute's Third Annual Conference, 'The Menzies Ascendency: Implementing a Liberal Agenda and Consolidating Gains, 1954-1961' on Friday 24th November 2023. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the University of Canberra's  Faculty of Business, Government and Law Seminar Series in May 2023.

The slides and abstract from my final presentation are below, along with a podcast episode with Georgina Downer, CEO of the Robert Menzies Institute:

Abstract

Menzies embraced the atomic age rather more enthusiastically than many other Australians. He envisaged Australia’s substantial uranium and thorium reserves providing Australia with a source of clean, reliable, and affordable energy that would ultimately replace fossil fuels. But he also knew that “what is best advertised tends to be more popularly understood”. Despite the opening of a nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights in 1958 to “test materials for their suitability in use in future power reactors”, the purpose of Australia’s first nuclear reactor was gradually reduced to producing medical radioisotopes and conducting research. Menzies faced similar concerns about the safety of nuclear reactors, the propensity for conflating nuclear industries with nuclear weapons, and storing nuclear waste to those concerns political leaders face today. But with Australia’s strategic defence capabilities enhanced by nuclear-powered submarines through the AUKUS agreement, and the absence of a ‘Plan B’ for a carbon-neutral future, the unrealised potential of Australia’s atomic age has manifested into the very lack of skills Menzies was concerned about in 1962. The Lucas Heights facility was more than just a case of hubris, or “what are they doing here that can't be better done elsewhere?” It provided opportunities for training Australian scientists and sharing and transferring nuclear-related research and knowledge. At the same time, recently declassified documents suggest that Menzies aimed to develop Australia’s nuclear capability amid eleven years of atomic weapons tests conducted by Britain in Australia. While much has been written about “nuclear colonialism” following the Royal Commission into the tests, very little attention has been given to the unrealised potential of Australia’s nuclear industry envisaged during the atomic age. This paper, then, traces the development and subsequent stagnation of the nuclear industry in Australia, with a focus on Menzies’ legacy and its influence on energy and defence policy today.


It's economically unjustifiable to extend Canberra's light rail network

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Trams are old-fashioned. Electric buses are cheaper and more flexible. 

The IMF recently advised Australian governments to slow down infrastructure spending to curb inflation.

The alternative is to leave the heavy lifting to home owners with mortgages. The latest interest rate increase by the Reserve Bank delivers a potent message to light rail pundits: can Canberra afford to push on?

 





Public Policy: From the Hustings

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Public policy textbooks from my undergraduate degree

Below are the slides for my online presentation to CEDA's Public Policy Dynamics course on 14th November 2023. My aim is to highlight the political side of the policy process that is rarely seen by public servants working in policy roles within government. The presentation draws on my experience as an academic and as a practitioner.

Whither journalism for the common people?

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Leigh Hunt, the quintessential journalist

Who knew that news media services would become so partisan that they would support government agendas that conflict with the common people? The Albanese government is attempting to prioritise the failing ABC and SBS news services over other news on smart TVs and social media while also trying to control ‘the truth’ through its proposed Combating Misinformation and Disinformation Bill. The recent Voice Referendum demonstrated how out of touch the mainstream media has become.

In the absence of journalism that gives a voice to the trials and travails of the common people, the fourth estate – and therefore liberal democracy itself – is under threat.

Here is my latest article in The Spectator Australia's Flat White, Whither journalism for the common people?

Superiority complex at the heart of elite activism

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The defeat of the Voice Referendum is no reason to rejoice, but rather a time for reflection. Indigenous communities need the government to focus on providing support that suits their circumstances, rather than a Canberra-based bureaucracy that makes representations on behalf of people who already have representatives. This view was supported by a majority of Australians at the referendum. Regrettably, however, many supporters of the ‘Yes’ campaign have since decided to double down on their failed policy stance, suggesting that elite activists believe they know better than Australian voters.

Here is my latest article in The Spectator Australia's Flat White, Superiority complex at the heart of elite activism.

Gunning Report: Upper Lachlan 63% rate rise meeting

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About 150 people attended the Gunning 63% ULSC rate rise meeting today 

At 3pm today, I attended the meeting conducted by the Upper Lachlan Shire Council at the Shire Hall in Gunning. The first thing I noticed was the presence of four armed NSW Police officers. Many residents suggested that the meeting was little more than a tick-a-box requirement for IPART for a special rate variation to increase rates by 62.85 per cent over the next three years, with a 55 per cent increase next year. 

The meeting didn't go well for the council, and the majority of people I spoke with thought that council had already made up their minds and this was an expensive way of meeting their tick-a-box requirements. 

Council were unable to answer any questions today so what we could end up with is anybody's guess.

This is my best recollection of the meeting for those who were unable to attend. If you support the rate rise, this report is not for you (one person supported the rate rise using the example of Strathfield Council in Sydney).

The meeting began with the MC, Warren [someone] (who had lived in Gunning previously) doing an acknowledgement of country. At this point I immediately called out, "We voted against this rot". Not off to a good start. (For the record, my great-grandmother was Kamilaroi and her father was most likely from Walhallow Aboriginal Mission. Her mother and grandmothers went out of their way for my great-grandmother to be an Australian. I honour that commitment.)

We then sat through a recorded presentation on a screen that was difficult to read from a distance. The video was already on YouTube:


The MC asked for any questions about the content of the presentation. The bottom line is that the only people who answered questions were Alex Waldron, previously the acting general manager who now refers to herself as the CEO, and the finance officer who could only refer us to a website for more information. Apparently minutes were taken and these will be made available at some stage.

The basic outcome of the meeting was that residents are upset and angry at the Upper Lachlan Shire Council. Councillor Lauren Woodbridge appeared to threaten that if we didn't increase rates we could lose the Gunning Library. She was met with a former mayor of ULSC telling her that she had no right to threaten ratepayers in that way. It is a shame because I daresay the people of Gunning would get behind Lauren if she represented the people who elected her instead of supporting the wasteful financial management that got us here in the first place.

None of the 90 minutes' worth of questions were answered and the only other elected representative who spoke was the mayor, Councillor Pam Kensit. I actually cannot recall what she said because it was all waffle to me.

People noted that Gunning Shire Council increased rates by some 75% (or so) before amalgamating, refuting the claim that ULSC had never increased rates beyond the amount pegged by IPART. Gunning Shire Council was also in the black before amalgamation, and everyone wanted to know how ULSC had let Gunning's roads and especially the creek become so run-down. 

I noted the dual bike lane on Saxby Street and the absence of kerb and guttering, the mural painted on the bare Besser blocks of the Gunning Scout Hall, and the drag queen readings to children at the library that we paid some $1,000 per session, and then that they had asked veterans to do so for free, and, never having had any interest in veterans beforehand, that we veterans decided not to do so as a way to justify their expensive drag queen readings. I asked which councillor would break ranks with this circle of incompetence. No answer. 

Many others had their say over a 90 minute period, including a project manager who was able to refute much of the information presented by the council staff who spoke while the councillors sat there silent. There was also a former council engineer who stated that council needed to set out the technical standards of service that were not mentioned in the report by the consultant, AEC Group. Of course, there was no meaningful response and the CEO and finance person had nothing to add.

The general response from the community was that council has not shown value for money in the use of ratepayers' funds to date, and the community does not trust them to use the proposed increased rates in a way that represents value for money.

None of our elected representatives spoke in any meaningful way. The mayor showed a complete absence of leadership by remaining silent. The MC attempted to answer questions on council's behalf a few times but was met with calls of "who are you?"

What are the proposed rate increases? And what can you do about it?

1. The proposal is as follows:

The proposal as presented by Upper Lachlan Shire Council

2. Provide feedback to ULSC using this link: https://upperlachlan.nsw.gov.au/council/special-rate-variation/#:~:text=Council%20wants%20to%20hear%20from%20its%20residents%20on%20their%20views%20in%20regards%20to%20the%20Special%20Rate%20Variation%20please%20provide%20your%20feedback%20on%20the%20below%20form%3A. Sorry it is a long link but they have buried it at the bottom of a page, so I have linked directly to where you input your feedback.

3. Sign the petition. Anne set up the hard copy petition that is all over the Shire. I set up the online version of the petition today here: https://chng.it/CYypnnG4PQ.

4. Write to Wendy Tuckerman, our NSW MLA, and ask her to support an e-Petition to the NSW Government to investigate the Upper Lachlan Shire Council for their toxic culture that has residents concerned for their ability to afford to continue to live in the Shire. This is serious stuff, but four generations of my family and many others served in the Australian Army so we could have these political rights. Please honour our veterans by using the very rights they dedicated their lives to. Wendy's email address is: goulburn@parliament.nsw.gov.au. Please let me know if she will not support our request and I will lobby another NSW MLA to support us. Please see my letter below but please modify it - politicians respond better to individualised letters rather than copies of copies...

Dear Wendy,

I would like your support to create a NSW e-Petition to have the Upper Lachlan Shire Council brought to account for a toxic culture and for its current attempt to increase rates by up to some 64 per cent next year. Despite spending on numerous virtue signalling activities and focusing on grants that fit a particular identity politics narrative championed by the ULSC general manager, they have decided to spend some $150,000 engaging a consultant to present three different scenarios to increase rates at a time when basis services are not being provided, and tip prices have increased by around 50 per cent.

I would appreciate some advice but this council is behaving in a similar manner to Wingecarribee, they are refusing to engage properly with ratepayers except in a minimalist, during work hours fashion, and they are not providing the services we currently pay for. Increasing rates will only increase waste.

Are you willing to support our petition to have the Upper Lachlan Shire Council investigated by the Local Government Minister for its toxic culture? Or perhaps suggest an alternative proposition that will bring a sense of justice to the current injustice we are experiencing?

Best wishes,

Michael.

--
Dr Michael de Percy FRSA FCILT
Keswick
30 Saxby Street
Gunning NSW 2581
+61 0457 063 286
Le Flâneur Politique politicalscience.com.au ISSN 2652-8851.

Dilectio Libertas et Doctrina

5. There are people in our community who are struggling to make ends meet and one broke down while asking their question today. Please honour these people by respectfully saying "No" to an unjustified rate increase. Councils are not permanent entities - Wingecarribee Council was sacked by our local member when she was Local Government Minister. Together we can achieve anything. See here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-14/wingecarribee-councillors-sacked/101236902.

Further reading:

I am a political scientist and I am committed to standing up for Australia's "forgotten people". I regularly write for The Spectator and occasionally appear on Spectator TV. For over 195 years, The Spectator has supported free speech and it has done so in Australia since 2008. My articles are available online at: https://www.spectator.com.au/author/michael-de-percy/. Please note I am not paid to write for The Spectator. Please contact me at michael@politicalscience.com.au if you have any questions or comments. Thank you.

Note: An earlier version of this article had some incorrect information that has since been amended. Thanks to those who provided the correct information.

Let’s focus on fixing potholes

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The Viral Titanic Pothole Meme

From The Spectator's "Double Shot" newsletter:

Michael de Percy makes a salient point with the most prosaic of examples. Make our governments get out of identity politics, rent-seeking and pursuing the ideological agendas of the few, and get back to providing reliable services for the many – starting with fixing potholes. It’s a message that should be heeded by all three levels of our government.

Here is my latest article in The Spectator Australia's Flat White, Fixing potholes is a policy we can all agree on.

Coastal wind farms: On Sunday, the people said ‘no’ again

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Coastal Wind Farms [Photo: Unsplash CC0]

When the first coastal wind farms were announced by Energy Minister Chris Bowen, I thought I was dreaming.

Australia has some of the best beaches in the world. People come to this country to see its unspoilt natural beauty. Despite a 42 per cent decline following the lockdowns, tourism remains Australia’s 14th-largest export industry. Along with education, it is one of the most sustainable industries that contributes to our standard of living.

Nobody wants to come to Australia to see rotting wind turbines at our beaches.

They can visit their own failed renewable energy white elephants at home. To make matters worse, our Energy Minister is pitching his vibe to elite activists while refusing to listen to ordinary Australians.

Groups of those aforementioned ordinary Australians are turning to social media in their thousands, particularly Facebook, to vent their frustration and to organise protests. These are farmers, fishers, tourism operators, tradies, surfers – everyday Australians. You might call them the forgotten people. They are slow to move but once motivated, they grow like a snowball.

Today they will gather in the surf near Port Stephens. The protest is called Paddle Out. Like many other groups who do not want to bear the cost of Mr Bowen’s fantasy, the people of Port Stephens have a Facebook group and theirs is a movement we should all support.

Here is my latest article in The Spectator Australia's Flat White, Coastal wind farms: this Sunday, the people say ‘no’ again.

Albo gives EV drivers a free ride

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EVs relaxing at Chernobyl

It is no secret that federal fuel excise revenues have been in decline for years, and something needs to be done about it. In fact, along with prominent transport industry experts, we wrote a book about it some five years ago. But the High Court, in a 4/3 split decision, has landed the problem in the Albanese government’s lap. What they do about it will impact us for decades to come.

Here is my latest article in The Spectator Australia's Flat White, Albo gives EV drivers a free ride.

Old-fashioned light rail costs more to go slowly to fewer places

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Dr Michael de Percy at the Canberra Metro light rail terminus

Burley Griffin’s 1911 award-winning design for Canberra envisaged mass transit in the form of electric trams. At the time, the major capital cities in Australia had electric trams to bring workers into the CBD from the suburbs. But in 1926, as the national capital prepared to host Parliament, the first public bus services began operating in Canberra. Buses provided cheap, reliable, flexible, and fast public transport that didn’t require the expensive and inflexible infrastructure needed to operate trams. The bus was a modern technological innovation that soon made the tram obsolete in most of the other capital cities.

The people have spoken, but elite activists aren't listening

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Prime Minister Albanese [Photo: US Secretary of Defense - CC BY 2.0]

Not only was it an expensive exercise at the height of a cost of living crisis, the Prime Minister oversaw a campaign that tore Australia apart along the lines of race like never before in this nation's history

New Zealand’s dance with division is not over yet

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New Zealanders aren't mugs, but they are not in the clear yet.

New Zealand’s October 14 election coincided with the Voice referendum where Australians decisively said ‘No’ to enshrining divisive race-based politics in the Constitution. Watching from across the pond, New Zealanders might reflect on the Australian experience that divided and continues to divide the nation as elite activists double down on their pre-referendum positions. However, New Zealanders may have little influence on the outcome as their Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system forces coalition governments. This may mean the Act Party, the National Party’s junior coalition partner, will expect the government to test the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi by referendum. The decolonising trend that is currently shaking the foundations of Western liberal democracies is still evident in New Zealand politics. Indeed, it may well be a long, slow accident in the making if things don’t go in Chris Luxon’s favour.

Australia's Nuclear Future: It's your choice

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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.

If I were as brave as Jacinta

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Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price

This week, Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price demonstrated her credentials as a potential Australian Prime Minister. She is a member of the Country Liberal Party, so there is no reason she cannot lead the senior party of the federal Liberal-National Coalition, nor is there any real impediment, other than convention, to a Prime Minister also being a Senator. To be sure, it would be awkward to lead a government from across the hall, but there is no actual legal impediment. And given Senator Price’s courage, she certainly has the fortitude to make it work. And she would be a political leader because of sheer competence rather than any deference to intersectionality. Which leads me to my ‘sliding doors’ moment – what would I do if I were as brave as Senator Price?

Here is my latest article in The Spectator Australia's Flat White, "If I were as brave as Jacinta".

Australia has created its own energy crisis powered by green-left ideology

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We've created our own energy crisis through green-left ideology
 

Labor’s energy policy won’t reduce our energy bills by $275 in 2025. When questioned about this promise in 2021, Prime Minister Albanese replied, ‘I don’t think, I know. I know because we have done the modelling.’ The ABC’s ‘promise check’ tells us this election promise is ‘stalled’ while admitting that the energy price increases blamed on war in Ukraine evident by February 24, 2022 did not stop the Albanese government from repeating the promised $275 reduction until May 18, 2022. Renewables have been promoted as the panacea for reducing energy bills, but Australia is amid an energy crisis driven by the Albanese government’s ideological stance on renewables.

Here is my latest article in The Spectator Australia's Flat White, "Australia's ideologically-driven energy crisis".


My Local Council Has Lost the Plot

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No kerb and gutter in Gunning, but we have drag queen readings for kids.
 

One great thing about Australia’s Federation is its system of checks and balances. In addition to a Westminster-style separation of powers (between the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary), we also have the Washington-style division of powers (between the national government, the states, and local councils). Our ‘Washminster’ arrangements help guard against what Alexis de Tocqueville referred to as the ‘tyranny of the majority’. When it works, it works well. But increasingly, local governments are neglecting their primary roles and focusing on issues beyond their ambit.

Here is my latest article in The Spectator Australia's Flat White, "Local councils are becoming fiefdoms obsessed with identity politics".

Life without a desk is hardly worth living

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My makeshift desk at AmmutsØn Craft Beer Dive, Vienna. Corpus Christi holiday, 8th June 2023. 

While immersing myself in Viennese culture and history as part of my ongoing cross-country comparative studies into transport, telecommunications, and energy policy, I find it frustrating that my hotel has no desks in any of its rooms. 

Jaz in the City is one of many trendy concept hotels that emerged in the pre-COVID era. The hotel and the staff are great, but there aren't any desks. It is now my sixth day and I have finally found a location with good Wi-Fi and a power point and space where I can plug in all of my USB devices from my laptop. I can also write up my journal which has been hit and miss over the last few days.

The idea of not having a desk in a hotel is foreign to me. Almost every hotel has a desk (with hotel stationery) where one can write letters or set up one's laptop. But for some reason, Jaz has none and almost nowhere to sit at a comfortable level to type and write.

It has been an enlightening experience to think about emerging trends and thoughts about society. We met a young Australian waiter at an historic cafe who stated that he escaped Melbourne's lockdowns and that, unlike Australia, he could at least afford a place to live in Austria. 

But the top tax rate in Austria is the third highest in the OECD after Denmark and France. To compare Australia and Austria (there is an interesting t-shirt here that reads "There are no kangaroos in Austria"), Australia's total tax revenue as a percentage of GDP is 29.6%.

Austria, on the other hand, has total tax revenue of 43.5 per cent of GDP. The top marginal tax rate in Austria is 55% compared with Australia at 45%.

My young friend is no doubt taking advantage of other people's money when it comes to living in Austria. Couple that with many academics who are now pushing for government-funded housing in Australia and lamenting Australians' reluctance to rent for life rather than own a house, and I can see where this foreign culture comes from.

It was most noticeable today in the Leopold Museum where certain artworks were tilted at 5 and 6 degrees to demonstrate how unsettling climate change might be if the earth's climate were to increase by "a few degrees more". But the Leopold Museum was a case of "Art imitating Woke" and I was surprised that a serious art gallery would have so readily jumped on board with the latest "the end is nigh" nutters.

Courbet would be aghast at the establishment using his works to propagate climate anxiety!

My favourite satirist, Rowan Dean, has pointed out how current approaches that align with The Voice are intent on undoing Sir Robert Menzies' dream of all Australians owning their own home. 

The socialisation of private property is a key goal of climate change-oriented designers. I noticed how socialist ideology permeates all aspects of art and design in Austria. The 10 Commandments for the 21st Century were one of many installations in the lower bowels of the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK):


It is interesting, too, that the upper floors of the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) were devoted to Austria's embracing of the Arts and Crafts movement, most notably of the Englishman William Morris, in the rush towards modernism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The "Austrian" style that emerged is more appropriately referred to as the "Vienna" style. I am yet to determine whether Austria has copied yet another global movement, in this case, "climate anxiety", or whether this time around they are leading the cause.

But what is clear to me is that, like Marxist ideals and other socialist variations that have occurred since the revolution of 1848 in Austria and in various other socially-engineered experiments outside of the Soviet or Communist states, have all failed after a short period of time. 

Human nature is notoriously fluid and escapes any attempt to pin it down.

Recent news in Australia today has pointed to the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, and Katy Gallagher, as both being complicit in dodgy behaviour relating to the Brittany Higgins settlement. At the same time, the ABC's audience figures are collapsing along with support for The Voice as idealism is smashed against the harsh reality of politics.

I have been struggling to see the point of my recent journalistic writing as mere ephemera. Like Aristotle said:
Time crumbles things; everything grows old under the power of Time and is forgotten through the lapse of Time. The young are permanently in a state resembling intoxication. Remember that time slurs over everything, let all deeds fade, blurs all writings and kills all memories.
With such a perspective, everything is ephemeral. My ephemera has enabled me to develop thoughts and ideas that can be applied to other things, It is not just the output of a single piece of work, as my experience of Vienna's galleries has provided. 

I was able to have a few clear thoughts with my pop-up desk today.

But without a desk, nothing happens it seems.


Developing our own capability: Australia’s Nuclear Journey

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Michael de Percy with Georgina Downer, Afternoon Light Podcast, Robert Menzies Institute

It was under Robert Menzies that Australia entered the nuclear age with the opening of the Lucas Heights Reactor in 1958. 65 years on, what looked to be the first step in a much bigger story remains practically the only step Australia has taken towards harnessing the potency of the atom to power our nation. As nuclear energy once again appears on the political radar, it is worth taking a look back and seeing what potential Australians once saw in nuclear and what could have been. 

In this week’s episode of the Afternoon Light podcast, Robert Menzies Institute CEO Georgina Downer talks to Dr Michael de Percy about how Menzies represents Australia’s unrealised nuclear potential. 

Dr Michael de Percy FRSA FCILT is Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Canberra. His qualifications include a PhD in Political Science from the Australian National University, a Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours) from the University of Canberra, and a Bachelor of Arts from Deakin University. He is a graduate of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, where he received the Royal Australian Artillery prize. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and Vice-Chair of the ACT and Southern NSW Chapter, Vice President of the Telecommunications Association (TelSoc - Australia's oldest learned society), Public Policy Editor of the Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, and a member of the Australian Nuclear Association. He was appointed to the Australian Research Council's College of Experts in 2022.

The podcast is available on YouTube or Spotify:


Spectator TV: Where's our energy Plan B?

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Dr Michael de Percy on Chris Bowen's energy policy with Alexandra Marshall, Spectator TV 
 
Alexandra Marshall of Spectator TV interviewed me on 26 May 2023 about my article in Spectator Australia entitled, Where’s our energy Plan B, Chris Bowen?

To watch the full interview, visit https://watch.adh.tv/videos/spectator-tv-australia-friday-26-may-2023 and start from 27:36.

YouTube highlights are available below:

Australia is treading towards an energy armageddon: Michael de Percy | Spectator TV


Nuclear power is the only feasible path to net zero: Michael de Percy | Spectator TV


It’s time the ABC was privatised

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Coronation Procession at the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla. Photo: Katie Chan [CC BY-SA 4.0]

In my view, the ABC no longer provides news and current affairs content that is relevant to mainstream Australians. This means that mainstream Australian taxpayers are funding the Woke, biased content that constantly streams from the so-called public broadcaster. Yet the ABC’s news and current affairs service only represents a narrow, left-wing audience. It is time the people who actually watch or listen to the ABC paid for it. It is time for the ABC’s news and current affairs service to be privatised.

Here is my latest article in The Spectator Australia's Flat White, "It’s time the ABC was privatised".

Labor's Coal-Fired Green Dream

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Coal Mine in the Hunter Valley, NSW, 2011. Photo: Max Phillips [CC BY 2.0]

With cost-of-living pressures really starting to hurt Australians, Labor’s green dream would be a complete nightmare if it wasn’t for coal.

When then Treasurer Scott Morrison brought a lump of coal into the House of Representatives, the left-leaning media were quick to respond:

‘What a bunch of clowns, hamming it up – while out in the real world an ominous and oppressive heat just won’t let up’.

Fast forward to 2023 and Labor’s budget surplus has little to do with sound economic management, and much to do with unexpectedly high prices for exports of fossil fuels. And this is despite Labor’s running mates, the Greens, doing everything to demonise coal and gas.

In the real world, it takes more than just dreams to power the nation.

Here is my latest article in The Spectator's Flat White, Labor's Coal-Fired Green Dream.

Australia in the Atomic Age: Menzies’ legacy and nuclear’s unrealised potential

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High Flux Australian Reactor (HIFAR), Lucas Heights, opened in 1958.

Tomorrow I will present this work in progress for a paper for the Robert Menzies Institute's Third Annual Conference, 'The Menzies Ascendency: Implementing a Liberal Agenda and COnsolidating Gains, 1954-1961'.

The slides and abstract from my work-in-progress presentation are below. 

Slides

Abstract

Menzies embraced the atomic age rather more enthusiastically than many other Australians. He envisaged Australia’s substantial uranium and thorium reserves providing Australia with a source of clean, reliable, and affordable energy that would ultimately replace fossil fuels. But he also knew that “what is best advertised tends to be more popularly understood”. Despite the opening of a nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights in 1958 to “test materials for their suitability in use in future power reactors”, the purpose of Australia’s first nuclear reactor was gradually reduced to producing medical radioisotopes and conducting research. Menzies faced similar concerns about the safety of nuclear reactors, the propensity for conflating nuclear industries with nuclear weapons, and storing nuclear waste to those concerns political leaders face today. But with Australia’s strategic defence capabilities enhanced by nuclear-powered submarines through the AUKUS agreement, and the absence of a ‘Plan B’ for a carbon-neutral future, the unrealised potential of Australia’s atomic age has manifested into the very lack of skills Menzies was concerned about in 1962. The Lucas Heights facility was more than just a case of hubris, or “what are they doing here that can't be better done elsewhere?” It provided opportunities for training Australian scientists and sharing and transferring nuclear-related research and knowledge. At the same time, recently declassified documents suggest that Menzies aimed to develop Australia’s nuclear capability amid eleven years of atomic weapons tests conducted by Britain in Australia. While much has been written about “nuclear colonialism” following the Royal Commission into the tests, very little attention has been given to the unrealised potential of Australia’s nuclear industry envisaged during the atomic age. This paper, then, traces the development and subsequent stagnation of the nuclear industry in Australia, with a focus on Menzies’ legacy and its influence on energy and defence policy today.

Dumb Ideas: Where's our energy Plan B?

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Nuclear Power Plant [CC0]

Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, has released a video calling Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s plan for nuclear energy ‘a dumb idea for Australia’. Mr Bowen’s statement is at odds with the people and also at odds with his Prime Minister’s promises – it’s hardly the stuff of ‘the government I lead will respect every one of you every day’ and ‘together we can end the climate wars’.

If nuclear is not on the table, and Australia is to achieve a target of 82 per cent renewables energy generation by 2030, then what ideas are not ‘dumb’?

Here is my latest article in The Spectator's Flat White, Where’s our energy Plan B, Chris Bowen?

Australia's Korean War 70 years on

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At the DMZ, April 2023

As we approach the 70th anniversary of the Korean Armistice Agreement (July 27, 1953), it is timely to reflect on Australia’s contribution to securing what is effectively the frontier of democracy.

Here is my latest article in The Spectator's Flat White, Australia's Korean War 70 years on.

Challenges to political leadership through the prism of the National Cabinet: Representing one’s ‘gang’ or one’s ideology?

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"First Ministers" - the bizarrely elitist term for members of the informal National Cabinet

My paper below has been accepted for presentation at the 2023 Public Policy Network Conference at the Museum of Australian Democracy on Wednesday 12th April. The abstract and slides for my paper are set out below.

Abstract

The Albanese government has achieved an apparent policy consensus among Australia’s ‘first ministers’ in the quasi-institution known as the National Cabinet. But behind the public-facing consensus lies vicious party in-fighting that threatens to undermine the legitimacy of Australia’s political party leaders. A unique feature of political leadership is the need for leaders to keep their party base onside while also representing the interests of their constituents and their political party colleagues. Prioritising one group over another requires careful consideration for a leader to achieve their desired policy outcomes without losing support for their leadership. The National Cabinet has been used as a public relations vehicle by the Albanese government where premiers who are alone in their disagreement are spotlighted for negative public discourse. At the same time, the legitimacy of political leaders who support policy areas where consensus exists in the National Cabinet (such as The Voice and energy policy) is threatened by industry lobby groups, political party members, and power brokers within political parties. This paper, then, considers the impact of the National Cabinet on political leadership. The paper considers two case studies, The Voice and energy policy, to examine the power plays that influence the policy positions adopted by political leaders. It then considers the democratic deficit created by political leaders who stray from their party’s platform and how this influences a leader’s legitimacy within the party structure. The paper argues that the National Cabinet, now a regular feature of Australian politics, has allowed greater concentration of power in the prime minister’s leadership. The paper addresses the question: Has the National Cabinet weakened the ability of state and territory leaders to represent their parties’ bases, making it easier for ideology-based federal policy to gain public support?

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