Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s energy plan carries a constellation of asterisks
SHAKY GROUND
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s declaration that her government’s renewable energy plan is “concrete” could hardly be described as rock solid.
The renewable energy plan would see state-owned coal-fired power phased out by 2035 and replaced by renewable energy, to hit a target of 80 per cent green electricity generation by that year.
“Our Energy and Jobs Plan is a concrete, substantial plan,” Palaszczuk insisted in parliament on Thursday.
“It is going to be $62bn and it is already backed with money from our government to kickstart those planning processes. It is involving a SuperGrid and it is changing our coal-fired power stations into clean energy hubs.”
But Palaszczuk may need to check the definition of “concrete”, because the government’s energy plan is overshadowed by a constellation of asterisks.
You see, the fine print of the long-heralded policy reveals the plan relies heavily on hypothetical funding from the private sector and the federal government.
And its two centrepiece pumped hydro projects – Borumba Dam and the Pioneer-Burdekin site – have never been subject to detailed environmental or engineering investigations.
In September, a press release from Palaszczuk conceded as much, right down near the bottom.
“Queensland Hydro will conduct further studies and deliver a detailed assessment for the Pioneer-Burdekin project to government in 2024,” the release said.
“This will include consultation with traditional owners and the community, hydrological modelling and assessment of environmental and social impacts, as well as commercial and financial modelling.
“Queensland Hydro will also continue to investigate other large-scale, long-duration pumped hydro sites in the event the project is unable to proceed.”
Concrete? Not quite.
A group of strange bedfellows – One Nation, the Greens and the unions – have been questioning whether the government-owned energy assets will be privatised by stealth as the state accelerates its uptake of renewables.
Under questioning from One Nation’s Stephen Andrew, Energy Minister Mick de Brenni could not say what percentage of renewable energy planned for Queensland would be owned and operated by the state.
The proportion of Queensland’s electricity generation sector in public hands dropped 1 per cent to 65 per cent last financial year.
COAL COMFORT
Meanwhile, the Queensland government-owned Callide coal-fired power station has quietly let slip to the market that one of its generating units will be out of action for even longer.
CS Energy’s Callide power station, near Biloela in central Queensland, has been plagued by issues. One day last month it went entirely offline, with all four of its generating units not working.
One of the four was fixed within hours, but the future of the C3 unit is still in doubt. It was knocked out by the collapse of a cooling tower early last month, with state-owned CS Energy and its joint-venture partner InterGen Australia initially estimating it would be back up and running by November 21. That was then pushed back to January 3, and now, a CS Energy spokeswoman confirms the latest estimate is a return in February.
As to why the delay was not announced on the government-owned corporation’s website, the spokeswoman said the company had told the energy market.
“It is not unusual for generators to adjust their return to service dates for units that are undergoing major maintenance or repairs, depending on issues identified during the process,” she said.
“We don’t typically publish a media release for every forecast return to service update for the various generating units in our portfolio.”
TIKTOK TAKEOVER
David Crisafulli can well and truly take off the L-plates on his drive to win over younger voters on social media.
The Liberal National Party Opposition Leader is set to see his latest TikTok video tick over two million views on Friday, in what Chooks reckons is a new record for a Queensland state pollie.
The clip from his parliamentary speech on learner licensing fees has been seen 1.9 million times in little more than a day, garnering an enormous 242,500 likes and 4231 comments.
It turns out Queensland has the most expensive learner’s licence fees in Australia – $186.55 compared to other states where the cost ranges from $25 to $126.10 – and TikTok users are not at all happy about it.
Crisafulli’s video has more than doubled the views of Annastacia Palaszczuk’s top TikTok posted back in October 2021 – which clocked up 639,200 views – of kids from Thuringowa High School, near Townsville, dancing while promoting the benefits of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Comparing the pair, the LNP has two dedicated social media staffers, while Palaszczuk’s team includes a dedicated unit of ex-journos. Someone inside Crisafulli’s camp described getting traction as a “David and Goliath battle”.
“The Premier has 30 media spinners alone to craft her public image and the Opposition has just a handful of staff for more than 30 MPs,” the Crisafulli flak said.
“When it comes to social media it’s definitely a David and Goliath battle and it appears David is leading the way.”
The Opposition Leader has come a long way since getting out-liked by a picture of the Premier’s mum’s cat last year.
CHICKEN FANCIERS
Sometimes Chooks get the impression that Queensland’s esteemed members of parliament long to make an appearance in our humble column.
Take this effort from Treasurer Cameron Dick in parliament on Friday. Dick began by having a go at LNP deputy Jarrod Bleijie’s former careers as both a conveyancing lawyer and a Kentucky Fried Chicken manager, before lamenting Bleijie’s departure from the role of Manager of Opposition Business in parliament.
“Now we have the Member for Glasshouse [Andrew Powell] scratching around the standing orders as he waits to work his way back up the pecking order,” Dick clucked.
“And at the top of that pecking order, is the purported rooster of the LNP, the member for Broadwater [David Crisafulli]. Speaker, he is no bantam, he is in fact the great turkey of the LNP.”
Dick finished by wishing all in parliament a Merry Christmas, including his “friends” in the opposition. Christmas, ’tis the season for wishful thinking.
JAILHOUSE ROCK
The aforementioned rooster/turkey of the LNP, David Crisafulli, popped onto the radio with Sydney-based 2GB morning show host Ray Hadley this week.
Hadley asked Crisafulli what law reforms he would introduce to crack down on sex offenders, should he become premier at the next state election in October 2024.
“I want to lock them up; we are going to ensure our laws genuinely are the toughest,” Crisafulli said.
And then he got himself tongue-tied, reflecting on his blink-and-you’ll-miss-it stint in government under former premier Campbell Newman.
“Let me point to some past examples to show you that we’ve got a little bit of pedigree in this area,” Crisafulli told Hadley.
“In the short period of time when we were in jail, there were many offences that were strengthened – and your listeners will remember there was some contention around many of them.”
Now, Chooks has spoken to some LNP MPs who can only bring themselves to think of Newman’s reign while rocking quietly in the corner of a darkened room, but to liken it to jail is a bit much.
Speaking of slips of the tongue, Agriculture Minister Mark Furner had a doozy on Friday morning, telling parliament something that was “water soluble and is already broken down by naturally occurring bacteria and fungi. It therefore does not cause a build-up of toxin residuals in soil, water or plants, nor does it bioaccumulate in orgasms, uh, organisms”.
Furner turned red and the parliamentary chamber erupted in laughter.
WHO LET THE DOGS OUT?
A debate on the use of pronged dog collars let pollies off the leash this week.
The house has been considering whether to ban the collars, which Agriculture Minister Mark Furner says causes pain and fear in dogs.
During the debate, Labor MP Joan Pease asked the LNP: “Would you wear one?”
Funny she should ask because Chooks witnessed a slew of opposition MPs trying on a pronged dog collar, courtesy of Lockyer MP Jim McDonald.
Determined to prove they do not hurt, McDonald was traipsing the halls of parliament this week, offering up a collar for journalists and MPs to try on. Sadly, Chooks was banned from photographing this event for posterity.
Currumbin MP Laura Gerber told parliament she tried it on and it did not “penetrate or pierce the skin”.
Despite McDonald’s creative efforts, the bill to ban the controversial collar passed on Friday.
FESTIVE FRUGALITY
Former federal MP Andrew Laming hasn’t let the fact he’s no longer a parliamentarian stop him from spreading a little bit of Christmas cheer – or from using his old stationery.
Laming popped a photo on Facebook at the weekend, noting he was spending a rainy Sunday “thanking good people with early Christmas wishes”.
An eagle-eyed Chooks correspondent took a closer look at Laming’s envelopes, discovering they were still emblazoned with Canberra’s Parliament House and his MP signature block.
SPOTTED
An old bloke with a white beard at the lighting of the parliamentary Christmas tree lights on Thursday night. Nope, it wasn’t Santa. It was Queensland’s own bringer of festive cheer and factional powerbroking, Left faction convener and United Workers Union state boss Gary Bullock.
Sadly, the days of the Left faction’s legendary parliamentary Christmas parties, hosted by the faction’s former leader Jackie Trad, seem to be behind them, with no shindig held this year.
The Right were spotted gathering after the lighting of the Christmas tree for a civilised cheeseboard and a glass of wine.
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G’day readers, and welcome to what could be the last Feeding the Chooks of the year, depending on how festively minded your correspondents are this December. Now let’s get cracking.