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The case for a government-owned nuclear reactor fleet

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Australia has laready built two major nuclear reactors. The HIFAR Reactor at Lucas Heights.

Peter Dutton’s announcement that the Coalition will build seven nuclear reactors on the sites of existing coal-fired power stations is good policy and it will work. In response, the Albanese government has nothing but lame memes and a $1.3 trillion renewables policy that shows no signs of providing reliable, affordable electricity for industry or consumers.

Indeed, under Albo’s watch, Australia is in the worst shape it’s ever been, considering the cost-of-living crisis is an own-goal by Albo and Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen. Even the much-maligned RMIT ABC Fact Check is now saying that Bowen’s claims about nuclear plants are ‘exaggerated’.

Labor is scared because it knows its ideologically driven energy policy is a grifter’s paradise that has nothing to do with providing cheap and reliable energy.

But much of this has been said already and it is not the point of my argument.

Here I outline the merits of a government-owned and built fleet of nuclear reactors for Australia.

Alexandra Marshall had this to say in the Unfiltered newsletter:

Michael de Percy makes the case for Dutton’s government-owned nuclear reactor fleet. Yes, there are some things that government can, and should, involve themselves in. Securing a reliable energy grid is one of them.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, The case for a government-owned nuclear reactor fleet.

Taiwan and Australia: She’ll be right, mate?

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Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, Liberty Square, Taipei, 9 June 2024

From Taipei: One of the first things that struck me about Taiwan is that I felt like I was in Cairns. The monsoon rain, the dark skies… You are wet, but you are also hot and sweating and you just have to settle into it. It’s a good thing the local drop is good and cheap, as any Aussie who as lived in Australia’s north would appreciate.

After travelling from Shanghai to Seoul to Taipei in succession, it took a few days to work out which apps I could use to navigate and pay for food, and which language I should use for the normal courtesies. Restrictions in each country require one to be flexible. It was certainly a journey along a spectrum from the highly regulated to the less regulated society.

Writing in the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes had this to say:

Writing from Taipei, Michael de Percy recounts some of the modern history of Taiwan, and how this democracy has flourished in spite of everything thrown at it. He argues that Australia can’t leave little Taiwan to the mercy of Red China with a ‘she’ll be right’ attitude to Asian geopolitics: he’s right.

Writing in the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall had this to say:

The whole ‘she’ll be right’ philosophy that Australians are so fond of might not work out for Taiwan. Writing from his travels in the area, Michael de Percy notes a similar laid back attitude to existential threats in Taiwan – an attitude not shared by the country’s neighbours.

My latest article in The Spectator Australia, Taiwan and Australia: She’ll be right, mate?

Rescuing hostages amid the Israel Defense Forces’ trial by media

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Australia's relationship with Israel is unnecessarily strained [Source: Deposit Photos]

My article with Andrew Fox and Sascha Dov Bachmann in The Spectator Australia, Rescuing hostages amid the Israel Defence Forces’ trial by mediaRescuing hostages amid the Israel Defence Forces’ trial by media.

Over the weekend, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) pulled off a daring daylight raid to rescue four hostages held by Hamas from two different locations in Gaza. The hostages were held in civilian houses near a busy marketplace in Nuseirat in central Gaza.

From what we know, after freeing the hostages, an IDF extraction vehicle broke down and drew fire from dozens of Hamas fighters armed with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms.

The IDF returned fire using jets and helicopters, surged ground troops into the area, and cleared a safe extraction route. The result was four Israeli hostages from the Nova festival massacre were rescued, and one senior Israeli special forces officer was killed, along with a significant number of Hamas terrorists and Palestinian civilians, including women and children.

After Israel’s tactical success, civilian casualty figures in Gaza become the focus of the international media and the basis for condemnation.

Writing in the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes had this to say:

When it comes to Israel rescuing her hostages from the barbaric hands of Hamas, she has to do it with two hands tied behind her back. Not only does she have to contend with the rallying of ignorant activists for Hamas, but she must also do everything kosher and above board, under the microscopic scrutiny of a global media and journalists who seemingly loathe the very existence of the Jewish state, and will exploit any excess or slip-up against her. Sascha Bachmann, Michael de Percy and Andrew Fox make this point: ‘If Australian hostages were taken by a terrorist group, we would rightly expect the Australian Defence Force to do everything possible to bring the hostages home safe’. Why shouldn’t the IDF plan to do the same, and its commitment to keep collateral loss of life to a minimum be accepted and respected?

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