Rita Panahi: Political leaders sacrificing the nation’s prosperity for net-zero pipedream

Political leaders have been hyperfocused on emission targets and failed to prioritise cheap, reliable energy, which is plunging Australians into energy poverty.

Australians should be enjoying the cheapest, most reliable energy on the planet but instead we have among the highest prices that are crippling businesses and seeing an increasing number of households plunged into energy poverty.

Now, we are being told to turn off heaters, dryers and even kettles to reduce soaring electricity bills.

Insane advice for the citizens of a prosperous nation uniquely blessed with natural resources. Australia is the world’s biggest exporter of coal and among the biggest producers of uranium and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

We are indeed the “Lucky Country” but sadly our political leaders are willing to sacrifice the nation’s prosperity for a net-zero pipedream.

Instead of ensuring the comfort and prosperity of Australians and giving our industries a competitive advantage, we have tumbled down the path to unreliable and expensive sources of energy with no baseload power to replace coal.

Australians have some of the highest energy prices on the planet. Picture: iStock

And, unlike other first world nations including France, UK, US, Sweden, South Korea and Finland, we have no nuclear energy to fall back on.

The spectacularly wrong climate catastrophists whose predictions of doom and gloom never eventuate have created their own existential crisis.

It’s not global warming that will kill Australians, but the cold.

A 2019 paper in Internal Medicine Journal revealed that in just two inner-city emergency departments in Melbourne, more than 200 patients (the overwhelming majority of whom were pensioners found indoors) presented with hypothermia, with 23 people dying, over a seven-year period to 2016.

Now, what would the numbers look like today and not just from two Melbourne emergency departments but hospitals and medical centres around the country?

Energy costs have soared since 2016 and pensioners, working class and even middle income Australians are struggling to pay the exorbitant prices.

Australians are being told to turn off heaters, dryers and even kettles to reduce soaring electricity bills. Picture: Hamish Blair

It should shame this nation’s leaders that a single person dies from hyperthermia because they are reluctant to adequately heat their home.

Around the world the cold kills many more people than the heat; even in relatively warm climates like Australia deaths due to cold are significantly higher than deaths due to heat.

Around 6.5 per cent of deaths in Australia are attributed to cold weather, while hot weather accounts for 0.5 per cent, according to Monash University researchers.

And now the populace is receiving advice from experts about limiting use of personal heaters so their energy bills are a little less frightening.

Under the headline Aussies Urged to Reduce Use of Heaters As Cold Weather Sets In, news.com.au provided advice from “experts” to “go easy on the heating this winter” to avoid bill shock.

Leading energy comparison organisation Canstar Blue’s utilities editor Tara Donnelly said: “While there are some appliances a family can’t avoid using, such as the fridge, other appliances are more of a luxury that save time or add comfort or entertainment … portable heaters, electric blankets, even TVs and gaming consoles.”

Apparently, portable heaters are a “nice-to-have” item, not a necessity in 2023, and people can instead wear extra layers of clothing.

Households struggling with electricity and gas bills were also advised to cut the number of laundry loads put through the dryer and to consider heating the kettle just once a day, and then using a Thermos rather than re-boiling throughout the day.

That could save you a whopping $2 a month!

Households struggling with bills are being advised to use the kettle just once a day.

Have we lost our collective minds? Instead of making full use of the natural resources we are blessed with and ensuring our living standards are not only maintained but improved, we are opting to regress to appease the climate gods.

One in four Australian households struggle to pay their energy bills, according to research published by RMIT in April.

The researchers identified six hidden energy vulnerabilities including “underconsumption where households limit or turn off cooling, heating and/or lights to avoid disconnections”.

They also found “some households disguise energy poverty by using public facilities such as showers or pooling money for bills between families”.

Federal and state governments, of all stripes, have failed to prioritise cheap, reliable energy and have been hyperfocused on emission targets.

That will ultimately see many more Australians plunged into energy poverty. And, if you still believe the lie that renewables are the cheapest form of energy, then you’re not the brightest bulb in the box.