Electricity generation, free speech, and LibertyFest

Dear ,

We had a big September with some wins on electricity, and hopefully more to come. You might also be interested in attending the upcoming LibertyFest Brisbane, to be held on October 14.

With a state election likely anytime between now and March next year, we will be doing our best to ensure that electricity is front and centre in the campaign. It is hard to believe how state and federal governments between them have vandalised what used to be one of the best power systems in the world. It is essential that this stop, and a good place to draw the line is Queensland.

The root causes of the problems are the reckless, headlong rush towards a renewable energy nirvana; a whacky cost-plus system for regulating network charges; and a lack of competition in the generation and supply systems. Add to that the actions of corporate opportunists like AGL, who want to game the system by limiting supply and pushing their returns up by exploiting scarcity, and you have a disaster on your hands.

This is made worse by politicians who want to cover-up their mistakes, and then double-down on them, by propagating mindless memes like "Renewables are cheaper, therefore the solution to high power prices is more renewables". Much of my activity has been devoted to working towards advocating for a rational system that preserves the standards of living for those least able to look after themselves, and maintains and creates local jobs, and raises living standards.

I have had an enourmous amount of help from those who participated in our Thinkshop on August 31. There was a tremendous amount of experience in electricity in the room, and we'll be holding more of them on other issues to harness the knowledge and experience amongst our friends and supporters and help to channel it towards policy change.

Another issue to watch in the coming months is free speech in Queensland. I was extremely disappointed to see the federal government introduce a version of 18C on steroids for the Gay Marriage survey. Seems they learned nothing from the 18C debate. But how many of us are aware Queensland has its own version of 18C which is even more noxious? Section 124A of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Qld) adds "religion", "sexuality" and "gender identity" to the list of issues on which you must not "incite hatred towards, serious contempt for, or severe ridicule of" a person or group of people.

Whatever your position on the Gay Marriage survey, people must be free to obey their conscience, and this legislation is similar to the Tasmanian legislation that was used to prosecute the Catholic Church in Tasmania for expressing their adherence to the current legal definition of marriage.

It doesn't matter what the federal parliament legislates on religious freedom. Without an overhaul of all state legislation, religious freedom will be at risk.

And finally, for all things related to liberty, and the classical rights and freedoms, you couldn't do better than come to LibertyFest Brisbane. An initiative of Andrew Cooper and LibertyWorks, the AIP is a sponsor. Brisbane needs more antidotes to events like the state-sponsored Brisbane Writer's Festival, which featured many of the current enemies of the free society, and none of its friends.

Speakers include Gary Johns, and myself, as well as Jacinta Price, Ian Plimer, James Allan, Mark Latham, Corrinne Baraclough, Jennifer Marohasy, Daisy Cousens, and Tony Morris QC. (Check out speakers here).

If you like what we are doing, please think about donating. If you aren't a member yet, then please join as well, and sign-up your friends and colleagues as well. And don't forget to like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter.

Publications during the month

Electricity

Opinion and analysis

Regards,

GRAHAM YOUNG
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR