Energy policy
Who is the LNP serving- the Minerals Council of Australia or taxpayers by ignoring their own experts advice?
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The LNP is yet again kicking the energy policy can down the road using tax payers money and ignoring the advice of their own experts.
The beneficiaries of this are the companies making money from the status quo and the LNP politicians - who differentiate themselves from the other team by being boosters for 19th century technology - all the while ignoring the laws of physics and economics. The mugs are the taxpayers who are paying now and in the future.
Who is listening to the experts who are telling us about the 'low hanging fruit' of demand management- which would cost us less than providing more power and the urgent need for a durable energy policy to fix the mess created by LNP's policy vacuum?
They're puzzled as to why we don't have 21 st century technology and so am I.
Julie Mulhauser, Canterbury
Support for Donald Trump
During a drink at the pub or a barbecue, we often ask, “What do you think of Donald Trump, the president of America?” Well, I tell you from my point of view I think he is wonderful. If I was American, I would have voted for him at the recent election. We all should keep interested in the months ahead through the North Korea conflict, as it may turn into a world-wide war. We need to be aware what is happening on a daily basis.
I know that our society is probably split in half, but maybe your readers would have been like me at that time when we constantly watched the television, read the newspapers saying to ourselves, “Who would I vote for?”. We all did it.
Australian people are very reserved and usually don’t answer these questions socially, which is a shame because we should. And the story still goes on. Nevertheless, I like him and I am sorry there is not enough room here to explain fully why. So, if you see me in the street and you wish to talk about it, just pull me up.
Part of the reason I like him is because he thinks like a business man and has always made his own decisions because of his previous business since a boy. Because being a president or a prime minister or a mayor or a councillor, there is not much difference running those corporations as it is to running a business or huge corporation. And as you know, I have been in business all my life. There are big decisions that must be made and Mr Trump likes to get on and make the decisions, and I agree with that theory. In the present climate, Hillary would have another cup of tea.
Did you hear his Warsaw speech? It went something like this.
He briefly named Islamic terrorism as the latest totalitarian ideology which threatens our freedoms. He was tough on Russia, while emphasising shared values, laying the parameters for a useful meeting with Vladimir Putin.
But, most remarkably, he singled out for praise the unique moral virtues of Western civilisation, and referenced God 10 times.
He spoke of nations being more than the sum of their GDP, with faith in God, family and “the dignity of every human life” crucial to our survival. “We can have the largest economies and the most lethal weapons anywhere on Earth, but if we do not have strong families and strong values, then we will be weak and we will not survive…
“The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive,” Trump said.
“Do we have the confidence in our values to defend them at any cost? Do we have enough respect for our citizens to protect our borders?
It was powerfully symbolic for Trump to choose Poland to make such a speech before joining the sneering elitists of Europe at the G20, hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
It comes at a time when Poland is resisting pressure from the EU to take in a “quota” from among more than a million asylum seekers, mainly young Muslim men, who have entered Europe from the Middle East and Africa since Merkel opened the borders in 2015. Trump spoke in Krasinski Square, in a city entirely rebuilt after World War II, in front of a monument to 200,000 Poles killed in the heroic Warsaw uprising against the Nazis in 1944, as described in Norman Davies’ Rising ’44.
The story of Poland is the story of a people who have never lost hope, who have never been broken and who have never, ever forgotten who they are. I can recall thinking this way most of my life.
“And when the day came on June 2nd, 1979, and one million Poles gathered around Victory Square for their very first mass with their Polish pope, that day every Communist in Warsaw mush have known that their oppressive system would soon come crashing down.
That message is as true today as ever: “The people of Poland, the people of America and the people of Europe still cry out, ‘We want God’.”
Ultimately, Trump was optimistic, lauding Poland as an example for those “who wish to summon the courage and the will to defend our civilisation … Just as Poland could not be broken, I declare today for the world to hear that the west will never, ever be broken. Our values will prevail. Our people will thrive. And our civilisation will triumph.”
I have read and met a number of Polish people in my life and I have a lot of admiration for their determination. And it is not a coincidence that Mr Trump has used them as an example in his speech. I have to say, I think like this and if you don’t agree, then it’s a shame. Because I hope we don’t get into a situation in years to come when we are all needed to be together, strong and determined, with faith in each other for our future. Don’t leave it until it’s too late.
Warren Woodley OAM, Tamworth