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Can future Liberals achieve small government?

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Opposition leader Peter Dutton says Australia's proposed nuclear reactor fleet will be government owned.

The Liberals have never achieved small government in Australia, and they are unlikely to do so because of our political culture and contemporary ideas about the role of government in society. Small government is an ideal that is most obvious when contrasted with Labor’s interventionist approach to markets. But the parties’ ideals rarely get in the way of pragmatism when it comes to electoral politics.

My latest opinion piece appears in Crikey's "Where to for real Liberals?", a new series on the future of the Liberal Party under Peter Dutton.

National security amid Albo’s hip and cool dereliction of duty

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Anthony Albanese is trying to be hip and cool to the left but he is seen weak by everyone else.

Channelling a new generation of hip and cool appeasers, our Prime Minister seems to get his priorities dangerously wrong. From his failed Voice Referendum to his celebration of Assange’s return (after a plea bargain where Assange was convicted under the US Espionage Act), Albo loves nothing better than being in the spotlight for his trendy actions.

The Prime Minister who ‘gets things done’ wants to appear hip and cool. But nothing can be further from the truth.

Whether it is the economy, energy, social cohesion, handling of the current antisemitism crisis, or issues affecting the Indigenous population, Albo is hell-bent on being on the ‘right side of history’.

But one cannot control the past or the future and he is neglecting the present.

My latest with Professor Sascha Dov Bachmann in The Spectator Australia, National security amid Albo’s hip and cool dereliction of duty.

No, Mr Bowen, community batteries are not a substitute for nuclear

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Community batteries will be used to store excess solar energy [Photo: © Depositphotos.com]

At a recent press conference in Bexley North in Sydney’s south, Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen announced the opening of the latest community battery. Labor has promised to roll out at least 400 community batteries in the coming years.

In a tweet announcing the opening of the battery (which includes an EV charger), Mr Bowen stated:

This is practical, cheaper renewable energy now not expensive nuclear energy in 20 years.

But what Mr Bowen didn’t say is that this battery will not keep the lights on if the power goes out. And not only that, if the power goes out the battery ceases to function until the power comes back on.

In the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall had this to say:

And finally, Michael de Percy tells Mr Bowen ‘no’. Community batteries are not the saviour of the renewable energy grid. Indeed, in most cases the batteries only work when the grid has power – so too bad if you thought they were a protection against blackouts. These wasteful, expensive installations are only adding to the bill – and what a nasty bill it is.

My article laso appeared in the Best of Flat White:

This week in Flat White, attention has shifted from the merits of nuclear to the serious problems with Chris Bowen’s battery future. Michael de Percy points out a gap of expectation and reality within the public. No, community batteries do not keep the lights on. Worse, some of the largest battery projects only work while the grid is functioning so anyone who thinks they will smooth over the wind droughts and cloudy days will be disappointed. They are not comparable to the baseload energy offered by nuclear, in spite of what the three-eyed fish memes from Labor say.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, No, Mr Bowen, community batteries are not a substitute for nuclear.

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