Albanese’s election campaign pitch must focus on economy

After seven quarters of falling GPD per capita, high inflation and other financial mistakes, it’s clear the Australian economy is in dire straits. Economic experts have identified one primary cause: productivity failures (“PM’s dilemma: How to sell a weak economy”, 7-8/12). Aus­tralia has had massive electricity cost rises driven by ideology rather than rational economics. No attention to needed productivity and low-cost electricity. Businesses closing as costs exceed productivity. Large salary rises awarded to union members without commensurate productivity gains. Huge increases to public service numbers have been a pay-off to union mates but carry no national productivity gains. Our export businesses are going backwards in the face of pay rate changes initiated by the Albanese government. These will have adverse effects on productivity and business sustainability. With the economy in the hands of a Prime Minister and Treasurer who have no real world business skills, it explains our current problems.

Lee Smith, Kenmore, Qld

Basslink tug-o-war

Victoria’s plan to unplug Tasmania’s green push shows little understanding of the need for reliable energy (“Victoria plan to unplug Tassie green power push,” 7-8/12). The Basslink tug-o-war will have no one to pull from either end when Tasmania experiences another 2016 drought. Water was short and Tasmania needed power from reliable Loy Yang Power Station, not the unreliable add-ons of wind and solar. In 2016, the extension cord across the bed of the Strait broke, and Tasmania’s state government scrambled to add emergency gas and diesel generators to keep lights on and industries operating. Loy Yang converts low-grade (available all-day, everyday on demand) coal into high grade electricity and, once provided, Australia’s lowest-cost power into the energy grid. It is to be retired a decade shy of its design life in order to help meet ideological objectives.

John McRobert, Indooroopilly, Qld

Climate zealotry

Australia’s second-longest serving prime minister John Howard writes in The Weekend Australian: “Time-honoured notions such as freedom of inquiry and the need to regularly question seemingly settled assumptions have gone by the board” (“Road to climate atheism paved with zealotry”, 7-8/12). A prime example of this is the embedded assumption that human activity is the main driver of climate change. Anyone who dares to question the majority view is dismissed as a denier and brutally told that the science has been ­settled. But as Howard writes: “If ever an issue in mankind’s existence required rational analysis and cool heads, it is climate change.”

Dale Ellis, Innisfail, Qld

John Howard’s article reminds me of the time a decade ago when it was reported that Tony Abbott was about to reduce the number of CSIRO climate scientists (“Road to climate atheism paved with zealotry”, 7-8 December). The loudest protests came from those who were taking a break from telling us that “the science is settled”. It’s sometimes hard to understand some whose enthusiasm for a cause exceeds their reasoning ability.

David Morrison, Springwood, NSW

Germany’s lesson

Both Germany and Australia are in economic decline as they pursue useless and extraordinarily expensive renewable energy superpower dreams, making electricity unaffordable, forcing industry offshore and leading to lower living standards. That Germany closed its nuclear power plants and Australia bans them, leading to a rethink on the need for base-load power from coal and gas, is very telling. (“The German Chancellor’s nightmare revisited”, 8-7/12). A dynamic and vibrant US economy under a technologically agnostic Trump presidency compared to the struggling economies of Germany and Australia being straight-jacketed from woke aspirations will present a very stark contrast.

Ron Hobba, Camberwell, Vic

Productivity pizza

Greg Craven rightly argues that the only political message that resonates at this time is the cost of living (“Progressive issues fail the Friday night pizza test”, 7-8/12). Cost of living, as identified by the Craven pizza test, will always dominate in times of declining living standards.

This is consistent with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which explains that the lower level of needs relating to basic needs for survival must be satisfied before higher level needs can be addressed. This is bad news for any incumbent government. Incumbent governments get the blame because living standards have not improved on their watch. Productivity is the key to increasing living standards. This must be the focus of any government right now.

David Muir, Indooroopilly, Qld