We have had a varitable manual written here in recent times on how to commit political suicide.

First there was the "there will be no carbon tax" lie, followed by the introduction of a $23 per tonne tax on carbon, then there was the Malaysia solution for the processing of asylum seekers struck down by the High Court to be replaced by the reintroduction of the "inhumane" Pacific solution, not to mention the ambushing of the Leader of the Opposition by aboriginal protestors organised by the Prime Ministers Department and now we have a total reversal of climate change policy we no longer lead but kowtow to Europe and throw our flagship policies out the window
Government to scrap carbon floor price

Really, this is too much, that stupid redheaded, empty headed, daughter of a pommy must go. This is not government, this is a worse debacle than Whitlam

My Oz-speak is poor - what's a "daughter of a pommy?"

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Originally Posted by ebaines

My Oz-speak is poor - what's a "daughter of a pommy?"

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Well it is well known that pommies are ba$tards and a daughter of a ba$tard is a Bltch, so I was being polite and trying not to breach the PC rules here. A pommy is an englishman by the way and we were subject to more than a century of colonial rule by pommy ba$tards. She is also not a native but one of the "boat people"

Here is a translation
boat people; immigrants who come by boat whether legally or illegally
pommy; a person from England who thinks he is better than others
Ba$tard; a term of endearment except if you are a pommy
Bltch; a female dog, rapid and needing to be put down
PC; a quaint american custom
Pacific Solution leaving boat people to rot on a tropic isle
Malayasia Solution deporting boat people to Malayasia

You mean your special interest groups are clogging the toilets with their money, power, and influence?

No surprisingly our special interest groups don't have money or if they do they spend it on booze, etc. strange things happen here when politicians get into election mode, contrast this with your own circumstance. They just announced a national dental health scheme. Capped at $1000 a person, an expansion of our national medical health scheme, the sort of thing you fellows seem to hate, now when you add this largesse to the reduction in revenue from carbon trading we will soon have a deficit the size of yours, still never mind, we will be in good company, won't we.

The saga continues, another piece of political suicide, or is it a government clearing the decks for action before an election
Govt scraps plans to shut down dirty power stations - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
It seems the Carbon Tax is rapidly unwinding in the face of a government who can't do the hard yards and keeps adding to the ammunition of its enemies

Maybe some tax incentives or even better, some fines for polluting? We have closed many here that its not feasible to upgrade. I think the balance is they don't have to sell, they do have to change.

No matter what's the case the government has to define some very clear rules and standards before anything can be done. Non compliance is a very big stick to leverage any outcome.

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Originally Posted by talaniman

Maybe some tax incentives or even better, some fines for polluting? We have closed many here that its not feasible to upgrade. I think the balance is they don't have to sell, they do have to change.

No matter whats the case the government has to define some very clear rules and standards before anything can be done. Non compliance is a very big stick to leverage any outcome.

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Tal fines for polluting, that is what the Carbon Tax is, allegedly, a fine for polluting, but oddly enough we have borrowed the idea that carbon omissions are pollution. These power stations are particularly dirty, not because of their process but because of their fuel, brown coal, so there is no compliance issue here. The government would like to see them shut down because they are an embarrassment, not because they have anything to replace them with

Maybe some investment in further processing is an option.

Lignite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Lignite has a high content of volatile matter which makes it easier to convert into gas and liquid petroleum products than higher ranking coals. Unfortunately its high moisture content and susceptibility to spontaneous combustion can cause problems in transportation and storage. But it is now known that efficient processes that remove latent moisture locked within the structure of brown coal will relegate the risk of spontaneous combustion to the same level as black coal, will transform the calorific value of brown coal to a black coal equivalent fuel while significantly reducing the emissions profile of 'densified' brown coal to a level similar to or better than most black coals.[3]

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Originally Posted by talaniman

Maybe some investment in further processing is an option.

Lignite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Yes Tal we have heard that CSG might be a solution, but it has its own pollution problems, but get this, because the government in its wisdom now ties their scheme to the european system these dirty power stations now receive a $1billion subsidy where before they had a reduction in profit of $900 million. There is a real double whammy from policy on the run. I predict that this policy will be buried in the Senate if it even passes the Reps

They have to raise capital for new cleaner facilities or upgrade older ones some how, but a subsidy may not raise that kind of cash or push for alternatives to coal or oil, but Europes cap and trade policy may be the model to follow.

But whether a smart energy policy is in place the reduction of pollutants has to be actual, and not just on paper shifting money back and forth.

EDIT/

http://afr.com/p/national/dirty_powe...Cy6EhJ0OHDBt6K

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The Australian Conservation Foundation said the government ought to reconsider the $5 billion in compensation given to brown coal generators under the carbon price scheme.

“Closing our dirtiest coal-fired power stations was a central plank of the Clean Energy Future package,” it said.

“If these dirty old clunkers are not shut down, the companies that own them certainly don't deserve $5.5 billion in handouts from the taxpayer for nothing.

“There's no 'value for money' in giving $5.5 billion in freebies to our dirtiest coal-fired generators.”

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Just read this and it occurs to me that you have fat cat lobby in Australia too! Hopefully your senate is unbought.

Tal our Senate is a different structure to yours, it is elected on proportional representation which means minor parties get in and hold the balance of power. Right now there is a strong Green constituecy, meaning that a radial environmental agenda is in play and they are not happy campers. This nonsense with the Carbon Tax is because of them, the price of government.That thing with the powerr stations wouldn't be an issue if they had not been privatised

We don't suffer the same sort of corruption here that you do, much stronger scrutiny and disclosure laws. An MP just got jail for rorting expenses claims.There are industry lobbies who work hard but don't get their agenda up as often. Tobacco just go a kick in the balls, coal is unhappy, as is uranium, education is positively ropeable, gambling might have won and then we come to carbon, etc, cut your throat Julia Gillard.

We also don't allow staples to bills, everything must pass through the budget or stand alone for funding