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There have been all sorts of interpretations of this issue in the media.
The following chart shows national and interstate differences. Note that Western Australia and the Northern Territory are not supplied by the National Electricity Market.
source: Energy Supply Association of Australia
All sides have recently blamed heavy investment in ‘wires and poles’ as a principal component in the pre-carbon tax increases. But this is only part of the story.
In September and October 2017 Wendy and I took another trip to the United States where we wanted to see some of the 'middle bits'. Travel notes from earlier visits to the East coast and West Coast can also be found on this website.
For over six weeks we travelled through a dozen states and stayed for a night or more in 20 different cities, towns or locations. This involved six domestic flights for the longer legs; five car hires and many thousands of miles of driving on America's excellent National Highways and in between on many not so excellent local roads and streets.
We had decided to start in Chicago and 'head on down south' to New Orleans via: Tennessee; Georgia; Louisiana; and South Carolina. From there we would head west to: Texas; New Mexico; Arizona; Utah and Nevada; then to Los Angeles and home. That's only a dozen states - so there are still lots of 'middle bits' left to be seen.
During the trip, disaster, in the form of three hurricanes and a mass shooting, seemed to precede us by a couple of days.
The United States is a fascinating country that has so much history, culture and language in common with us that it's extremely accessible. So these notes have turned out to be long and could easily have been much longer.
On the occasion of an afternoon tea to mark this significant milestone...
| When I was one, I was just begun; When I was two, I was nearly new; When I was Three, I was hardly me; * * * But then I was sixty, and as clever as clever; Wouldn't it be nice to stay sixty for ever and ever? (With apologies to AA Milne) |
Hang on! Now I'm seventy? How did that happen?
The State election on 26th March saw a crushing political defeat for the Australian Labor Party in New South Wales. Both sides of politics are still coming to terms with the magnitude of this change. On the Labor side internal recriminations seem to have spread beyond NSW. The Coalition now seem to have an assured eight and probably twelve years, or more, to carry out their agenda.
On April 3, following the advice of the Executive Council, the Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales, gave effect to an Order to restructure the NSW Public Service. Read more...
It remains to be seen how the restructured agencies will go about the business of rebuilding the State.