As a Wilde young London lad named Oscar once quipped: “The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.”
STT is happy to know we’re being “talked” about. Not least by that struggling lefty-rag, The Age.
Libs defy party on wind farms
The Age
Chris Johnson
26 May 2013
Outspoken Liberal MPs plan to defy publicly the official party line by attending a Tea Party-style anti-wind-farm rally at Parliament House, widening the rift in Coalition ranks over renewable energy targets.
The Canberra rally on June 18 is being promoted through a clandestine group using a website called stopthesethings.com, which conceals the identity of many of its supporters.
Broadcaster Alan Jones is named on the site as master of ceremonies for the event, which is being touted as the ”Wind Power Fraud” rally.
NSW Liberal MPs Craig Kelly and Alby Schultz are among the line-up of speakers, as is West Australian Liberal senator Chris Bach. The Coalition’s star candidate to replace the retiring Mr Schultz in the seat of Hume Angus Taylor has also been recruited.
The boldness of the Liberal wind-farm opponents is raising suggestions the Coalition is about to backflip on the renewable energy target, a bipartisan commitment to source a fifth of Australia’s power from renewables by 2020.
The shadow environment minister Greg Hunt recently confirmed the party’s commitment to the target and chose not to chastise the MPs who had begun speaking out against it.
”The Coalition is aware of the community concerns regarding wind farms,” Mr Hunt said. ”We have committed to a full medical research into the potential impact if elected. It is important that MPs listen to their communities … there is no change to our support for the 20 per cent target.”
During a post-budget interview with Mr Jones, shadow treasurer Joe Hockey would not be drawn on the issue, saying only that he would have to consult with his colleagues.
The rally’s organisers are goading Mr Hockey to ”come clean” over renewable energy.
Victorian senator John Madigan (Democratic Labor) and independent South Australian senator Nick Xenophon will also speak. The pair has co-sponsored of an excessive noise bill in relation to wind farms.
Senator Xenophon said he was invited through Senator Madigan’s office and didn’t really know who was behind the rally.
”I don’t look at all my invitations that closely,” he said. ”But I am happy to talk at the event and I will say that, while I do believe something should be done about climate change, the economics of wind farms don’t stack up and neither do the environmental benefits.”
Senator Madigan’s office confirmed he was scheduled to address the gathering.
Environmental groups did not wish to comment, but it’s understood plans are being considered to stage a Canberra event in support of renewable energy on the same day.
The Age
One thing we have to take issue with is this nonsense about the Rally being one giant “tea-party”.
Now, STT is well aware of the health improving qualities of tea, packed with anti-oxidants as it is, but our boys tend to reserve tea for breakfast as part of their routine hangover cure.
The other boys in the STT economics department keep telling me
drinking Bud is like making love in a canoe. I don’t get it?
No, the battle is usually about whether we stock the beer fridge with Coopers or Boags
– the only agreement being that there’s no way in hell we’re drinking that stuff with foreign labels brewed and bottled in Carlton.
So if you’re heading to the Rally, bring your own thermos – the only chance of tea being served is if Mrs Doyle turns up. See you there, June 18, Parliament House, Canberra. We’ll shout you a Coopers or 3.
About stopthesethings
STOP THESE THINGS 
I do enjoy the ongoing debates about the global climate, where it’s going and why.
Renewable energy and the pros and cons.
Knowledgeable scientists have much credible input, but politicians have a much louder input.
Where will it all end up???
Perhaps my cartoon from last year can put it into perspective……..
http://cartoonmick.wordpress.com/editorial-political/#jp-carousel-205
Cheers
Mick
It doesn’t seem to have dawned on some coalition politicians that scrapping the carbon dioxide tax, the tax we weren’t going to have, is only part of the job of restoring affordable electricity for Australians.
The other lurking monster is the RET/REC scheme (now known as the LRET/LGC scheme) for which Australian electricity users presently pay a compulsory subsidy, mainly to the wind industry, amounting to around half what the CO2 tax is currently adding to their electricity bills. But that’s not the whole story, under the RET scheme the amount of “renewable” power generated (mainly by windmills) must increase year by year such that by 2017 the total renewable sourced Megawatt hours (MWhr) has to be almost double what it is today. In order to encourage the investment needed to double the amount of new renewable generation, it has been variously estimated that the REC price, the price paid to wind or solar proponents for each MWhr of power they generate (currently around $38 per MWhr) will need to at least double.
If you do the sums, double the amount of “Green” power, subsidised at double the present rate means a fourfold increase in the compulsory RET subsidy we presently pay on our electricity bills. So even with the CO2 tax gone (repealed) if the RET scheme remains intact, by 2017 the Green taxes on our electricity bills will have increased by 33%. If you thought you were being squeezed now, you ain’t seen nothing yet baby!
Are you listening Greg, Tony?
Good on you STT, the natives are getting restless, must be the vibrations from the infrasound you’re sending out.
This should make you even happier, it was posted on the FB page of you know who, under the title:
‘This is an amazingly good bit of journalism to be coming from a Murdoch newspaper!’
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/wind-power-in-the-sights-of-climate-change-deniers-the-australian-environment-foundation/story-e6frerdf-1226651595470?fb_action_ids=10151706366913109&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_ref=rec-bot&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582
Go get ’em, STT.
Let`s all raise a glass to the supporters at the Canberra rally. Any politicians that have not figured out that wind turbines are a complete waste of time and money….do not deserve to hold public office.