Solar flair

SUNSHINE STATES

Solar power hit a record high in Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia this spring as the generation from rooftops caused electricity demand to fall to a historic low. Incredibly, on October 17, South Australia generated enough solar to power 92% of the state’s needs, the ABC reports — the state has the largest solar uptake in the country. Can solar generate so much power that it overloads the grid? It can and it has, in SA at least — in that case, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) can just turn solar panels off. The best path forward, according to renewable expert Professor Andrew Blakers, however, is to bolster the system with batteries and pump hydro systems, so our energy mix remains just that — a mix. It also means “if it’s really sunny and windy in Queensland we can send it south and return the favour the next day”. What a world.

Meanwhile, however, Indigenous leader Marcia Langton has warned land clearing for massive solar farms in the outback will have a bigger impact than “mines, bigger than tourism, bigger than urban expansion” on First Nations lands, The Australian ($) reports. Langton, who leads an Indigenous research team at the University of Melbourne, acknowledged the utmost importance of the green energy transition for the planet but pointed out that a solar farm can cover 17,000 square kilometres — that’s why an Indigenous Voice to Parliament is so important, she continued, because it would give First Nations peoples in regional and rural places a say.

It comes as tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes is in a very public spat with AGL Energy chair Patricia McKenzie over his wish to close coal power plants sooner to limit warming to 1.5C. Cannon-Brookes is AGL’s largest shareholder, but McKenzie writes for the AFR today that his goal would require 98GW of new supply to be built by 2030, compared with 2.2GW built on average over the past five years. McKenzie claims the lights would go out and prices would soar if we brought the closure forward to 2029. Even if her claim is true, what is the alternative in her mind, one has to wonder? Even if we do cap warming to 1.5C — which we probably won’t — scientists have concluded sea levels could rise by up to 77 centimetres, putting 10 million more people at risk along the world’s coastlines, and 70-90% of our coral reefs will almost certainly die.

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PLANE AND NOT-SO-SIMPLE

In the past year, Brisbane Airport has received more noise complaints than the nine other major airports combined, The Courier Mail ($) reports — 1309 disgruntled people, compared with 1237 total complainants elsewhere in Australia. But did the Greens help boost the numbers? During the federal election, the minor party letterbox-dropped QR codes to make complaining easier as candidates campaigned heavily on the aviation noise pollution — and there was a spike in complaints between April and June. It’s been steady ever since — Brisbane Airport said one guy complained 290 times in the past month alone, with a spokesperson slamming the “well-orchestrated activist campaign for political purposes”. But Greens MP Max Chandler–Mather waved that away, retorting that the airport had opened a runway “that pushed a large number of flights over a dense area of Brisbane” — what did it expect?

Meanwhile, Qantas has been named and shamed in the 2022 Choice Shonky awards, Guardian Australia reports. The consumer advocacy group created a whole new award category for the national airline, known as the “spirit of disappointment”. Choice found Qantas and Jetstar are sitting on $1.4 billion in travel credits, but it takes 21 minutes to even get someone on the phone (Qantas denied this), and most of the time you have to spend money to claim your credits. Qantas domestic flights arrived on time less than half of the time in July, and was the most complained about company this year, Choice added. It comes after Qantas and Jetstar has banned a Kiwi rugby player and his family, news.com.au reports, after a viral video that showed an argument between him and a flight attendant. In a Facebook post, Zakir Slaimankhel claims staff forgot to put the pram on the plane, and then “belittled” and “shouted at” his wife when she was changing the nappy of her five-month-old, which left her shaking and in tears. He also alleged a flight attendant made a disparaging comment about her hijab, as Stuff continues. But Qantas strongly denied this, and said staff and customer safety was its number one priority.

A TAX AND DEFENCE

A third of public companies in Australia — 782, to be precise — did not pay a cent of tax in 2020-21, the Australian Tax Office says. The ATO flagged it was chasing up 113 companies over about $3 billion. That’s not to say they’re tax cheats, per se — the deputy commissioner pointed out to the ABC that you have to turn a profit to pay tax, and it was a tough year for many amid the pandemic stranglehold. Interestingly, company tax actually hit a record high in 2020-21 — the ATO collected $11.4 billion, up nearly 20% from the previous year. Why? High commodity prices, mostly. Also of note: of the 2468 companies that reported to the ATO, about half — 1376 — are foreign-owned, but it was the 563 public entities who paid nearly two-thirds of all company tax (the 529 remaining entities are Australian-owned private companies).

Most Australians — even Coalition voters — want the government to tax the mega profits of the booming oil and gas industry, Guardian Australia reports. It’s the finding of the latest Climate of the Nation survey of voters, which spoke to 2691 people, of whom 61% voted in favour of more super-profit tax. Also in tax news, OnlyFans stars are claiming “botox, boob jobs, coffee pods, laser hair removal, pedicures and bed sheets” on their tax return, according to the NT News. H&R Block’s Mark Chapman says pretty much any medical procedure is not tax-deductible, even though the adult industry may see cosmetic work as work-related. But pole dancing, an entry ticket to Sexpo, and “fetish equipment, adult novelties and sex toys” are all fine to claim, he adds. My stars.

ON A LIGHTER NOTE

Warranted or not, Americans have a bad reputation on the world stage for geography. In 2005, CNN was red-faced after famously reporting that Toulouse and Strasbourg were in Switzerland and Germany, and the US broadcaster didn’t learn its lesson when, in 2014, it declared the Ukrainian region of the Donbas was in Pakistan — which is a continent away, as EuroNews reports. So when a Twitter user posted “I’m sure Americans don’t even know the name of this country” alongside a world map showing a country bordering the west side of Portugal and northern Spain, and someone in the replies piped up with, oh, that’s Listenbourg, there was a flurry of chatter. Wait, where? A lot of sheepish people wondered (a few of them quietly, no doubt).

Helpful social media users more than rose to the occasion, producing a satellite map showing the country, while a Twitter account owned by Listenbourg’s Ministry of the Interior joined the conversation with a photograph of a Listenbourg passport and encouraged folks to ask questions. Chatter immediately sprung up about Listenbourg’s famed Formula 1 Grand Prix, while a national anthem together with a red-and-white flag sporting a golden eagle appeared on YouTube on a page owned by the Listenbourg government. The French Wikipedia entry for the Republic of Listenbourg delved into more of the country’s rich European history, including that Listenbourg’s king Listen XV was, in fact, the first Sun King, going to war against Louis XIV for the prestigious title in 1661. Of course, my dear Worm reader, there is no country bordering to the west of Portugal and northern Spain. But you knew that. Right?

Hoping you can see what’s what today.

SAY WHAT?

The pro-Gina PR push has gone into overdrive with article after article about Gina’s philanthropic niceness. What they really mean is money talks. Gina throws money at things to win them over.

Tony Armstrong

The ABC presenter and Barrabinya man received a barrage of backlash when he expressed support for Indigenous netball star Donnell Wallam over Hancock Prospecting sponsoring the Diamonds after the late Lang Hancock called for the sterilisation of Indigenous people in the ’80s. Armstrong says many argued that Hancock’s daughter Gina Rinehart’s good work eclipsed his racism.

CRIKEY RECAP

What planet is Philip Lowe living on? Not the one Australian workers inhabit

Bernard Keane and Glenn Dyer

Nov 02, 2022

46

“Lowe and his fellow board members opining about worsening inequality and living standards and warning of a wages-prices spiral, while apparently oblivious to wages collapsing, is exactly the stereotype that populists love to paint of economic policymakers — out-of-touch elites. Maybe during its deliberations yesterday Lowe and the board thought they were back in early 2013, when the RBA lifted the cash rate 0.25% to 2.85%.

“Inflation was 2.5%, the Aussie dollar was trading above parity and crushing the life out of the economy, while the wage price index was 3.4% — a level unseen ever since. Now WPI is 2.6%, with the RBA and Treasury insisting it will go higher, rapidly. This is where the gaslighting comes in. Having once lamented wages growth with a two in front of it, Lowe now wants us to believe WPI in the high twos is good wages growth and workers should be grateful if they can get 3%.”

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And they’re off! Crikey’s short guide to the Victorian election

Charlie Lewis

Nov 02, 2022

9

“Perhaps its unfair to refer Andrews’ Labor government as a clown car — that’s not quite the tone it strikes. As we wrote when Andrews was thrust into the national spotlight, the government has for large parts of its time in power been competent. Not that this has been all for the good — but whether it’s the removal of level crossings or bulldozing sacred Indigenous trees, introducing no-fee TAFE or criminalising protest, it gets stuff done.

“But whatever its good qualities, any government subject to an excoriating Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC) and Victorian ombudsman report revealing nepotism, rampant branch stacking and egregious misuse of public resources over many years, mere months out from an election, surely ought to not be so nigh-on guaranteed reelection?”

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‘Planet killer’ asteroid heading towards Earth — where many deadlier things lie

Julia Bergin

Nov 02, 2022

5

“So what about the risk? How concerned should our great (to the power of x)-grandchildren be about the 2022 AP7 and its compatriots destroying the Earth and humanity? In short: it’s a ‘potential’ that would be deadly if it eventuated, but the possibility of another health pandemic, nuclear war, a large volcanic eruption, a coronal mass ejection (a cosmic event that would ultimately meddle with everything electrical on Earth) are also on the cards.

“Then there’s death on account of climate change, which already has the numbers on its side. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 25% of all deaths globally are due to environmental factors, including poor air and water quality, lack of sanitation and exposure to toxic chemicals. The WHO has also tipped that between 2030 and 2050, climate change will cause about 250,000 excess deaths a year, due to malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress. Much to look forward to.”

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Four key takeaways from Israel’s parliamentary elections (Al Jazeera)

North Korea launches 23 missiles, triggering air-raid alarm in South (The New York Times)

CBC shutting down its China news bureau (CBC)

Netherlands orders closure of ‘illegal Chinese police stations’ in Amsterdam and Rotterdam (EuroNews)

Ukraine grain export deal back on track as Russia resumes role (Reuters)

CVS and Walgreens agree to pay $10b to settle opioids lawsuits (BBC)

Denmark’s centre-left coalition wins election majority (The New York Times)

THE COMMENTARIAT

Despite years of exposure to the climate science, I don’t believe we are headed for total societal collapse — Rebecca Huntley (The Guardian): “I’m not immune to the message. I just know I can’t do the work I need to do unless I treat this information in a particular way. Namely like a floor-length taffeta dress I once bought for a formal event: it hangs in my wardrobe as a reminder, worn only occasionally, but I can’t relax or do actual work in it. That requires the elasticated pants of functional denial. I am often asked why other people outside the climate movement don’t react immediately with alarm and take to the streets when they read headlines like this. They may actually be immune to the message. They may not pay attention to the United Nations. But more likely their failure to respond is a very human response.

“To feel fear, we must observe and register a threat, such as the sight of a predator. That will then activate our ‘fight or flight’ response. Climate change seems to defy nearly all the evolutionary and cognitive triggers for urgent action. Of course, the kinds of extreme weather events we have seen in Australia and around the world are as tangible a threat to us as a terrorist attack or a virus. But in order to see these floods and fires in the same vein you must make the connection — that this is climate change created by humans rather than just Mother Nature doing her thing.”

Xi’s mandate for tough times — Andrew Sheng and Xiao Geng (AFR) ($): “As the political scientist Zheng Yongnian presciently observed in 2019, China is at risk of falling into two traps: the middle-income trap and the Thucydides trap. Avoiding them, and building a prosperous, modern, secure, and people-centred China, will require effective and wise leadership. That the new leadership is united behind Xi cannot be doubted, as many worked closely with him in Fujian, Zhejiang and Shanghai before his elevation to the central leadership.

“New members of the Politburo Standing Committee include the likely next premier, Li Qiang, who served until recently as the CPC secretary of Shanghai, and the likely next first vice premier, Ding Xuexiang, Xi’s former chief of staff. The CPC secretaries of Guangdong and Beijing — Li Xi and Cai Qi respectively — are also joining the party’s top leadership group. The returning standing committee members have similarly strong ties with Xi. Wang Huning — who is likely to chair the national political consultative conference — has served as a trusted political adviser not only to Xi, but also to Xi’s predecessors, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao. Zhao Leji — who will probably chair the next national people’s congress — was head of the anti-corruption body during Xi’s last term.”

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Online

• Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus will speak on the Albanese government’s plan for advancing human rights, including justice for First Nations peoples and communities and a national anti-racism strategy, in a webinar.

Eora Nation Country (also known as Sydney)

• Minister for Resources Madeleine King will speak at the International Mining and Resources Conference, at the Convention Centre.

• Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Emma McBride will present the Australian Mental Health Prize, which recognises outstanding work in promoting mental health, at UNSW.

• Gamilaroi academic Amy Thunig will chat about her new memoir, Tell Me Again, at Glee Books.

Kulin Nation Country (also known as Melbourne)

• Best-selling British historian Sir Antony Beevor will reflect on the past to analyse the present and speculate on what lies ahead, in a talk held by the Wheeler Centre.

Ngunnawal Country (also known as Canberra)

• Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth will speak on the plan to end violence against women and children, at the National Press Club.