The last week has proven that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has a fraught relationship with renewable energy. In June he praised South Australia, calling the state a “leader in clean energy generation”. Last week he was less positive on them:

“There is no doubt that a heavy reliance on intermittent renewables — by which in South Australia we’re mostly talking about wind, there’s also solar but intermittent renewables — does place very different strains and pressures on a grid, than reliance on traditional base load power, whether it is fossil fuel or of course hydro, which of course as long as the water is in the dam is very reliable as well.”

A tipster tells us Turnbull hasn’t always been so negative on renewables:

“Back about 2011 I used to do a job on the road outside Mal’s house at Point Piper and I was impressed by the number of solar panels on his roof (and by the two Priuses in the drive). Now I lie awake at night wondering if he is still putting NSW’s energy security at risk.”