THE GILLARD-RUDD Government has tried desperately to claim that they saved Australia from going into recession through their stimulus package. But this is the same stimulus package that featured the wasteful, disastrous and deadly Home Insulation Program.This was a program cobbled together in the most incompetent of rush by the Gang-of-Four, led by ... more
THE great vision for Newcastle would be to help keep the local mines running by reducing their methane, rather than the government's plan to close them down. And there must be a plan to help bury the massive overhead transmission lines and to replace them with high-voltage DC underground cables, which would reduce emissions and clean up our skies. ... more
Productivity, not population, is the key to quality of life.THE key to quality of life for Australian families and communities during the coming four decades is not a population of 36 million, as Kevin Rudd advocates, but carefully managed sustainable growth. A random declaration of bigness is no substitute for a planned vision of a sustainable ... more
WISDOM can come at the most unexpected times. While strapping my knee this week after another running injury the local physiotherapist reflected on Copenhagen and made the simple observation that the only way to make progress on global climate action was to follow his two simple rules for recovering from an injury. First, isolate the key moving ... more
We’ve all heard of Eumundi State School. It’s famously where the Prime Minister told us before the last election that he was a country boy. And what he was really telling us was that he would stand up for the country. He would stand up for ordinary Australians. He would stand up for people who lived in areas that they believed in and loved. Yet ... more
It’s like an episode from The Emperor’s New Clothes. Why is it that Peter Garrett is about the only person who doesn’t see the need for a full investigation into the waste and rorting in the multi-billion pink batts program? MP’s offices and media outlets around Australia are abuzz with stories of dodgy dealings in the pink batts plan, which is a ... more
Australians are inspired by the great mirror fields of solar energy in California and Nevada. That vision is possible in Australia. But it is a vision now at risk. Labor's hot air means renewables such as wind farming are even further off being realised.For over a year now, the government has delayed renewable energy legislation which would ... more
Published in the quarterly Network magazine Group Training Australia'The largest employer network of apprentices and trainees' It used to be a choice between the environment and the economy. The smart money these days is on how new environmental challenges can actually help to deliver new industries and new jobs.Where is the focus on encouraging ... more
Blog posted on Open Forum Ten years ago, few people imagined an economy where many people made a living buying and selling goods online. An economy where businesses may never actually see their customers or the goods they are selling. Businesses where a computer and a credit card are king. In the next ten years, we will see a new world where ... more
There are solutions to climate change, as clever Australians are showing, writes Greg Hunt.THE great mirror fields of California and Nevada are a vision of the future. No other form of new energy captures the imagination, inspires and allows us to understand the coming transition to a clean economy as easily as vast solar arrays in the ... more
If it weren't for the dykes, Holland would flood with seawater. But in a country once called "New Holland" plans are being drawn up to pull down the barriers that keep the sea from inundating the Murray Lower Lakes. Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett will decide whether to approve a plan to bust open the barrages that hold back the sea. ... more
South Australia can lead the nation in a new water revolution. At a time when the Lower Lakes are under stress, at a time when our city water resources are under stress and at a time when our farmers are under stress, we need to fundamentally rethink the way in which we use water.Waiting for rain is not enough. A two-pronged water revolution would ... more