American energy expert's brutal message to Anthony Albanese's government: 'What is wrong with you Australians?'
An American energy expert has delivered a blistering verdict on Australia's energy policy describing it as 'baffling' and potentially disastrous for the nation's economy.
During an interview on with Peta Credlin, veteran energy analyst Robert Bryce, who is on a sold out national tour to blow the lid off the true cost of net zero, said the policy was destroying Australia's economic future.
'What is wrong with you Australians? You have natural resources that are the envy of the rest of world,' he said.
'You're the Saudi Arabia of the Southern Hemisphere, you export seven times more coal than you consume and yet you don't want to burn coal.
'You have nearly 30 per cent of the world's uranium and you won't build nuclear reactors.
'You export three times more natural gas in the form of LNG than you consume, and you won't drill for gas.
'I've got no dog in this fight, but it just is incredible to see how bad the policy is here in such a resource-rich country.'
Australia's net zero policy aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to virtually zero by 2050 through a transition to renewables, storage, and gas-backup.
Mr Bryce warned that Australia's push toward net‑zero was placing a heavy economic strain on ordinary households, as soaring power prices ripple through the economy driving up costs in key industries and inflating prices for everything from construction to groceries.
He said earlier this month Victoria used 13 per cent of its gas in three days after alternative energy sources failed to produce the level of energy required to power the state.
'How many warnings do you need before your policymakers wake up and smell the coffee?,' he said.
'Even if you're not serious about climate change - natural gas to nuclear is the way forward.'
Mr Bryce said countries around the world were looking to nuclear energy including Poland, France and Germany.
'There's more energy realism in the rest of the world, and unfortunately, for some reason, it hasn't come all the way down under yet,' he said.
'Again, I want the best for Australia. I've got no dog in this fight, but it just is incredible to see how bad the policy is here in such a resource-rich country.'
Power bill increases of more than nine per cent have been locked in for some Australian households from July 1 with high demand and network outages blamed for the steep wholesale prices feeding into higher retail prices, along with low levels of renewable energy as Australian governments try to phase out coal-fired power stations.
Meanwhile there was a grim warning last week from the boss of Transgrid, Australia's largest electricity transmission provider, that the nation's power grid was dangerously light and needed back-up buffers like coal.
Chief executive Brett Redman told The Australian newspaper it was time to prioritise putting more buffer back into the system.
'We've really stripped the system very, very thin,' he said.
'The probability of more and more say failures of units and coal fired generators or unforeseen weather events, you name it, it's going to happen.
'On those days where things go wrong, no one's going to want to hear explained to them how statistically, that seemed very unlikely... even as people are taking cold showers.'
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