Credlin: Every failure makes Bowen more determined to take us all over an energy Niagara Falls

With energy security in the hands of the bloke who attacked investment homes and retirees when treasurer, and blew up our borders when immigration minister, it’s three strikes and out for Chris Bowen, writes Peta Credlin.

Is Chris Bowen the most dangerous man in Australia? Normally, I’d say that the prime minister of the day is the most impactful person in the country – for better or for worse – but because Anthony Albanese seems so detached from the processes of his own government, I’m not sure that he’s even presiding over our energy policy, let alone running it.

With such a hands-off PM, that means the country is in the invidious position of our energy security being in the hands of the same bloke who thought up Labor’s disastrous policies to attack investment homes and retirees when treasurer, and blew up our borders when immigration minister in the Rudd-Gillard years.

If that’s his record, any wonder even experts are worried about the reliability of Australia’s electricity grid.

Just last week, we learnt that Bowen will spend $137 million to keep the Port Kembla steelworks operating and $63 million to keep the Whyalla steelworks operating – subsidies that would not have been necessary had the government not imposed a 5 per cent per year emissions cut on heavy industry.

So subsiding coal at the same time as demonising it.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gaye Gerard

As well, it was reported that Labor’s Net Zero energy upgrade program in Victoria had created “absolute carnage” with thousands of free fridges being dumped on doorsteps costing taxpayers millions.

Why have your power bills gone up by at least 20 per cent since the Albanese government took office, rather than falling by the $275 per household per year that the PM promised over and over again before the election?

Our power supply is being run to reduce emissions rather than to deliver affordable and reliable power. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Essentially, because our power supply is now being run to reduce emissions rather than to deliver affordable and reliable power. Hence the insane rush to replace the coal-fired generation that currently produces more than 60 per cent of our electricity with 82 per cent renewable power within just six years.

As energy minister, Bowen keeps reiterating that wind and solar are the cheapest form of power. But that’s a lie because it only works when the sun is shining or the wind blowing, and because modern life demands power 24/7, the cost of the back-up supply must be included and, so too, the means to get power from the solar farm to our urban grid.

The cost of this new transmission infrastructure is truly staggering; at least $80 billion at last estimate, or $80,000,000,000. Scary isn’t it when we remember that $1 billion is $1000 million.

And beyond the cost, the rollout timetable is already running years behind schedule. To meet Bowen’s target, we need to erect more than 40 large wind turbines every single month, and install more than 22,000 solar panels every single day over the next six years, plus build at least 10,000 kilometres of new transmission lines to service this new de-centralised power grid.

Remember, all this will have to be paid for by us consumers.

The Portland aluminium smelter. The Victorian is paying a vast (but still secret) subsidy to keep coal-fired power stations open lest it lose the smelter and its hundreds of jobs.

Not only will this crazy crusade play havoc with our energy bills, it will lead to the de-industrialisation of the country, just when we most need to be able to make things here, in order to meet the China challenge.

The sanity-bereft Victorian government, which hates coal and bans all new household gas connections, is paying a vast (but still secret) subsidy to keep coal-fired power stations open lest it lose the Portland aluminium smelter and its hundreds of jobs. Almost inevitably, something similar will be needed if the heavy industries around Gladstone in Queensland, and the Hunter in NSW, are to survive in an era of expensive weather-dependent power.

The more insane feature of the Bowen pipe dream is his absurd belief that legislating these targets will miraculously make them happen but engineering reality doesn’t roll over as easily as big corporates seem to do.

Australia needs 10 times more solar capacity than is currently being installed. Picture: Kelly Barnes/The Australian

Finally, at least some voices are being raised against the climate cult, notwithstanding the risk of being cancelled and branded a “denier”. Late last year, key energy executives started to question the practical feasibility of Labor’s targets, notwithstanding the fact that they’d been legislated. Last week, even the head of the Renewable Energy Agency said that the dream of becoming a green hydrogen superpower was unachievable because we’d need 10 times more solar capacity than is currently being installed; and the price of solar power would need to drop by two-thirds.

So far, though, every failure and every warning just makes our energy minister more determined to take us all over an energy Niagara Falls. But if his earlier record as the immigration minister who presided over the greatest number of illegal boat arrivals in history is any indication, adding in his lamentable push to raid the savings of retirees too, you’ve got to say that with Chris Bowen now in charge of energy, it’s three strikes and you’re out!

BETTER BELIEVE LABOR WILL COME AFTER NEGATIVE GEARING

Make no mistake, Labor is coming after negative gearing. Again. Because the Prime Minister’s credibility has now been shot after his solemn promise to deliver the stage three tax cuts was so spectacularly broken last week, no voter can trust Labor now.

It doesn’t matter that their earlier attempt to hit investment property owners in the 2019 election was a key feature in Scott Morrison’s miracle win. Modern Labor hates aspiration and that anyone who works hard should be allowed to get ahead.

Which is madness. Not least of all because official statistics show that, on average, most people only own one investment property (if any) and that the average income of these owners is $90,000 – or around average earnings – and no more. In fact, it’s the Labor frontbenchers who own multiple investment properties.

When under pressure last week over rumours that negative gearing was back in the gun, the

Treasurer declared that the government had ‘no plans’ to get rid of it. No plans of course, until they do have plans. The ‘no plans’ line is a well-used response to give politicians wriggle-room.

And it was exposed as just that when Finance Minister Katy Gallagher was caught out on the Today show refusing to rule out (multiple times) changes to negative gearing.

Labor now has a huge trust deficit with voters, even if they can be won over by the $15 a week that the tax cuts represent. I don’t think they can because $15 is a drop in the ocean compared to increases in power, rents, mortgages, petrol, food and more.

But once a politician breaks a promise, or as the PM did, declares that “my word is my bond”, and then breaks it, unless they are willing to take that change to an election, the electorate will change them.

Watch Peta on Credlin on Sky News, weeknights at 6pm

Originally published as Credlin: Every failure makes Bowen more determined to take us all over an energy Niagara Falls