US energy expert Robert Bryce warns Australia is ‘acting like an energy weakling' despite being a global powerhouse in resources
A leading American energy expert has delivered a scathing assessment of Australia's energy policies, accusing the country of recklessly undermining its own strengths in the global energy market.
Robert Bryce, a veteran energy analyst and journalist who has testified before the US Congress and written for the Wall Street Journal, is currently touring Australia with the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA).
During his visit, Mr Bryce did not mince words, branding Australia's approach to net zero as "madness" and "reckless".
'You're an energy superpower, and yet you act like an energy weakling. I just don't get it,' Mr Bryce said during an interview with Ben Fordham on Thursday morning, pointing to Australia's vast natural resources and puzzling refusal to fully utilise them.
In particular, Mr Bryce was sharply critical of Australia's pledge to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
'You're pledging to zero out your emissions by 2050 — that's next week, in terms of planning purposes,' he said.
'You export seven times more coal than you consume, and you're blowing up your coal plants.'
Mr Bryce expressed disbelief at Australia's contradictory position on nuclear power, describing it as illogical to say 'yes to net zero and no to nuclear power' when the country holds nearly a third of the world's uranium reserves.
'You have almost a third of the world's uranium here, and you won't build a reactor,' he said.
'You export three times more natural gas in the form of LNG than you consume, and yet you won't drill for it onshore.'
He went further in likening Australia's policy stance to Saudi Arabia in refusing to use its own oil.
'You're the Saudi Arabia of the Southern Hemisphere,' he said.
'But imagine the Saudis have all this oil and they're not going to use it themselves. 'Oh, we'll export it, but we don't want to use this terrible stuff ourselves'.'
On the issue of emissions, Mr Bryce argued Australia's self-imposed sacrifices would do little to impact global climate trends.
'Australia's emissions have gone from about 1.5% to 1% of the global total, while China and India together have gone from about 18% to 40%, and that percentage is rising.'
Calling for a return to common sense, Mr Bryce said the first step should be to 'stop doing stupid things' such as shutting down coal plants prematurely.
He also warned of the consequences for working-class Australians, who are already facing rising electricity costs.
'Your power prices are skyrocketing and with no benefit to the poor and the working class,' he said, framing the issue as a key battleground for the opposition.
On the broader question of climate resilience, Mr Bryce questioned the wisdom of making the grid dependent on weather.
'If the climate is becoming more extreme, it's the height of foolishness to make your most important energy network dependent on the weather,' he said.
'You should be making it weather-resilient, not weather-dependent.'
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