Essay by Eric Worrall
“… We need to see 25GW of new [generators] between now and 2035 …” – but Victoria is consistently voted the hardest place to do business in Australia.
Victorian government urges more investment in renewables as revived SEC won’t be enough to reach target
Lily D’Ambrosio says less than a quarter of the energy needed will come from the SEC and urges industry to produce remaining 20.5GW
Adeshola Ore Wed 12 Apr 2023 17.37 AEST
Victoria’s energy minister has urged private companies to help do the heavy lifting in the state’s transition to renewable energy, saying the revived public State Electricity Commission (SEC) will not crowd out the market.
Lily D’Ambrosio told an industry event on Wednesday that less than a quarter of the renewable energy required to meet the state’s 2035 emissions reduction target would come from the SEC, and called for investment to produce the remaining 20.5 gigawatts that is needed.
This comes after the revival of the SEC became a flagship election promise of the state government last year, which Daniel Andrews repeatedly highlighted after Labor won a third term of government.
D’Ambrosio assured private companies that the SEC was not designed to be “crowding out the market for private investment”.
“There’s lots of room and we need all of you who’ve got an interest in this space to come and continue to build, knowing that there’s plenty to be done in our state,” she said.
“We need to see 25GW of new [generators] between now and 2035.”
…
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/apr/12/victorian-government-urges-more-investment-in-renewables-as-revived-sec-wont-be-enough-to-reach-target
In 2022 Victoria was voted the hardest place to do business in a business survey. The following was published in Australia’s premier financial paper, the Australian Financial Review. Our equivalent to the Wall Street Journal;
Victoria is the hardest place in Australia to do business, says survey
Patrick Durkin BOSS Deputy editor
Feb 9, 2022 – 5.00amVictoria has been ranked as the highest-taxing state with the largest public sector and most red tape, making it one of the hardest places in the country to do business, a damning new report finds.
More than half the national businesses polled said Victoria was the hardest state to do business in. Four out of five said they had difficulty accessing the labour and skills they needed and only 7per cent said the Andrews government was doing a good job of reducing the cost of doing business.
Victoria ranked well in some areas such as infrastructure (the government released a Deloitte report on Tuesday that put the value of major projects at $174.4 billion) as well as utilities, research and development, and higher education. But the state’s productivity levels have fallen badly over the past decade, and the time and cost of setting up a business has risen to the highest of all the states.
…
Read more: https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/victoria-is-the-hardest-place-in-australia-to-do-business-survey-20220207-p59udj
The 2022 business survey is no outlier, there are stories from 2023, 2021, 2020, 2018 describing the difficulties of doing business in Victoria. Plenty more where they came from.
Why is Victoria such a difficult place to do business?
I believe the problem is decades of worker centric government. Labor union affiliated socialist politicians have dominated Victorian politics for much of the last half century, and have heavily tilted the table in favour of workers rights. Even on those few occasions when “conservatives” have won elections in Victoria, they aren’t what most Americans would recognise as conservative, they tend to be more closely politically aligned with US Democrats than Republicans.
As a result of the long term bias towards workers rights, labor union organisers enjoy strong legal protections, which they have sometimes been accused of abusing.
Large construction projects, even green projects, are frequently marred by accusations of organised labor standover tactics.
The following tale of woe is from Victoria’s desalination project, a high priority green project inspired by Climate Commissioner Tim Flannery’s ridiculous 2006 prediction that Australia faced permanent drought.
Unionists ‘forced desal hirings’
THEAUSTRALIAN
UPDATED 2:11AM NOVEMBER 20, 2010, FIRST PUBLISHED AT 12:00AM NOVEMBER 20, 2010UNIONISTS at Victoria’s desalination plant have been using strong-arm tactics on job recruiters to force the hiring of preferred union members.
This is according to intelligence from operatives who conducted a spying operation code-named Pluto Project.
The extraordinarily generous wages and conditions on offer, the forcefulness of union figures and the pressure on builders to meet tight construction deadlines for the Brumby government’s $5 billion-plus plant had led to numerous unacceptable hirings, sources said yesterday.
“A number of people hired on that site have never even worked in construction or on a site before,” said one senior source.
“Managers have been giving in to compulsory unionism because the union dictates who will work on the site. Supervisors go through the induction office and say ‘to keep sweet with the unions, put these people on’.
…
Read more: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/investigations/unionists-forced-desal-hirings/news-story/40d4b2af70b6c67ee19ef30f6838fb40
John Setka, who is currently the head of the Victorian, South Australian and Tasmanian branches of the CFMEU, Victoria’s premier construction labor union, in 2016 was accused by the Victorian Police of hiring outlaw motorcycle gangs as union enforcers.
This is just my take on the situation. Whatever the real reason, investment in Victorian green infrastructure is not proceeding as fast as Premier Dan would like.
One of the Victorian Government’s responses has been to revive direct public ownership of energy infrastructure, to fund some green projects, and invite private investors to put up cash to fund all the other projects they want completed. They are at pains to assure private investors have nothing to fear from government funded renewable projects competing with private projects.
‘Perilous journey ahead’ under Victoria’s energy overhaul
Patrick Durkin and Angela Macdonald-Smith
Oct 21, 2022 – 4.54pmClean energy investors have warned of an investment drought and large energy users say their survival will be threatened unless the Victorian Labor government gets its radical plan to revive state ownership of electricity supply exactly right.
Big industry fears they will be slugged with higher prices and be forced to take on more risk under the plan by a re-elected Andrews government to revive the State Energy Corporation to invest, own and retail renewable power.
The fears voiced by the group representing companies such as Brickworks and Bluescope Steel came as major renewables investors said they won’t invest the tens of billions of dollars required to meet Victoria’s proposed 95 per cent renewables target for 2035 if they are disadvantaged in any way against the new state player.
…
Private investors could face being squeezed out of new investment in energy under the plan, which the industry super sector – which would co-invest with the SEC – lined up to back. Morgan Stanley labelled the plan “a net negative” for major suppliers AGL Energy and Origin Energy.
…
Read more: https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/perilous-journey-ahead-under-victoria-s-energy-overhaul-20221021-p5brro
Where does Victoria plan to raise the money, for these direct government investments in green energy projects?
One possibility is China. In 2021 Premier Dan tried to sign Victoria up to China’s Belt and Road.
China’s Belt and Road project has been accused of using corruption and sharp practices, of laying debt traps for unwary clients. In 2021, the Australian conservative federal government vetoed the Victorian Belt and Road proposal, but the Aussie federal conservatives lost the federal election held in 2022, were replaced by a far left Labor / Green Party coalition.
A few weeks ago, Victorian Premier Dan Andrews returned from a mystery trip to China with a big smile on his face. Reporters were excluded from the meetings in China. I wonder why Premier Dan felt the need for such secrecy?
If Premier Dan signs up to China’s Belt and Road, and the deal turns out to be a debt trap, anyone who invests in Victorian green energy infrastructure will be on the hook to service that debt.
If all this isn’t enough of an investment deterrent, during the Covid lockdowns of 2020-21, Premier Dan Andrews established a track record of imposing some of the most business unfriendly lockdown laws in Australia. At one point Victorian police opened fire with rubber bullets at a freedom protest, though Premier Dan denies issuing the order to start shooting.
Many businesses went bankrupt during the lockdown period, and many ordinary people suffered substantial financial losses because of actions taken by the Victorian Government during the lockdown. The Victorian Government has vehemently opposed paying compensation for their actions during the lockdown, even when the State Ombudsman recommends compensation is due.
The takeaway from the Victorian Government’s harsh treatment of compensation claimants over their heavy handed lockdown tactics, in my opinion is don’t expect any sympathy or help from the Victorian Government if your green project encounters a few road bumps.
Hands up who wants to sign up to the opportunity to invest in Victoria’s renewable energy push?
Update (EW): Rud Istvan points out Victoria’s state debt is enormous compared to other states. From the AFR in 2022:- “… Victoria’s net debt in absolute dollar terms is forecast to be larger than the total combined of NSW ($115 billion), Queensland ($39 billion) and Tasmania $5.2 billion) in 2025-26. …”
Update 2 (EW): Battleground Melbourne, which gives detailed eyewitness accounts of the brutal police tactics used to break up that freedom protest I mentioned, was played at Australia’s CPAC 2022. The protestors were unarmed, there were women and kids at the protest, they expected to be allowed to stage a peaceful protest.
What has large scale power generation got to to with (small) business regulation ?
The federal government decides the taxes, not the state government which has very minor ones in comparison- mostly taxes on transactions/sales of property and cars.
There isnt a coalition of labour and green, its the Liberals- Nationals who have an actual coalition as they dont have majority in parliament without it. Labour has a majority without the Greens. As for the senate , no government for decades coalition or not has control for many decades now. Smaller parties which there are many are played off against each other for baubles
State governments control property taxes, planning laws, payroll taxes, state law enforcement, some planning regulations and fees, and issuing of permits and associated costs.
It’s not difficult for a bad state government to impose large costs or otherwise mess up a business.
Law enforcement hospitality.
Battleground Melbourne is a stunning review of the horrible events of that day which was played at Australia’s CPAC 2022, including testimony from a serving police officer who refused to obey orders to open fire on unarmed protestors.
Rubber bullets.
Theres a hard left group who are the core of these demonstrations , major riots usually occur for the left causes ..until they found the lockdowns.
This was only the worst violence since 2000, before there were plenty
These were a peaceful demonstrations … and it is fact that there was infiltration by hard-left and state sponsored agitators. The Victorian government does NOTHING to quell violence at the socialist demonstrations … even to the point of arresting silent counter demonstrators.
So what is the states payroll taxes compared- often thats the biggest cost for business?
lets see, they have threshold in most cases
Victoria 4.85% and regional 2.45% and threshold $680k
NSW 5.45% and $950k
Qld 4.75% (1% less regionally) and $1.3 mill
SA 4.95% and $1.7 mill
WA 5.5% $850k
Tas 4% $1.25mill over $2 mill its 6.1%
victoria seems to be in middle area , not the highest nor lowest.
Its not like you can find another jurisdiction thats even 3% level.
Yet businesses still vote Victoria the worst place to do business. What is your theory for this negative perception?
So why not look at the level at which states start paying payroll tax?
See California.
Amongst those fees and charges is a huge ongoing charge to all new construction projects to fill the coffers for the flammable cladding debacle … I know, just had to pay a huge bill!
“ Premier Dan Andrews established a track record of imposing some of the most business unfriendly lockdown laws in Australia. “
Some ?
The Queensland and West Australian governments lockdowns were just as strong
West Australia were nuts. Victoria lockdowns were long and onerous compared to Queensland, schools were out for much longer. That is why people staged a big protest which got shut down with a hail of rubber bullets.
WA and Qld were longer . Are you even in any of those states
So how did it happen that Andrews was re-elected strongly , like they were in WA and Queensland ?
What has this got to do with business perceptions of Victoria? Plenty of socialists get re-elected even when they are completely destroying local businesses, just look at Venezuela.
An additional factor might be the main opposition party in Victoria is not really offering a clearly articulated alternative, they are positioning as socialist lite – a losing proposition, for people who prefer the real thing.
Victorian masochista seem to like bondage!
Queensland lockdowns were not longer than Victoria … I couldn’t attend my development projects in Victoria for a way longer period than in Queensland
Ring of steel around Melbourne to stop people getting out. 5km travel bans. Limits on how far you could travel to exercise in your one hour per day outside. No jab no job. Police crack down on social media posts. I think I recall where the worst was happening.
BTW, It doesn’t matter who rolls them out or even who was the worst, they ended business confidence and the downhill slide continues. As the article notes, who would want to start a business in Vic? I’d love to get out of the place but the business I’m in is tied to the farm it resides on.
I understand, it would be tough to leave a farm you’ve spent years developing.
Nurse trainees in Victoria are still required to be Covid “vaccinated” before they can enter hospitals.
Australia has the highest level of Covid vaccination but it has not shown any indication of preventing infection.
Vaccination isnt a silver bullet, it massively lowers the severity and sickness for those that had it.
Those that died are 80-90% unvaccinated.
What % of the counted deaths were logged before the “vaccinations”
were releasedescaped?Not in Australia. As of middle 2022 there are more vaccinated people in hospital, in ICU and dead than unvaccinated
https://www.covid19data.com.au/vaccination-status
And Australia has had excess mortality through 2022/23 similar to most other developed countries but Australia has a higher level of vaccination.
6 months of deaths doesnt prove anything.
NZ also had a very high vaccination rate and I think they never had an excess death rate at all.
From NZ Doctor graph Jan 2020 to Jan 2023
https://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/article/undoctored/cumulative-pandemic-deaths-graph-more-effective-1000-words
83 year old retiree here, so I could & did tell them where to go with their “jab”.
Tested positive to Covid 2 weeks ago, so I pulled out my Ziverdo kits obtained with some difficulty from India where the 220 million population Indian province of Uttar Pradesh, stopped the pandemic dead using these based on Ivermectin. Took as directed, & supplied them to all close contacts as used in India. All was back to normal in 52 hours.
You keep your jab, I’ll stick to my $20 treatment from India thanks.
Well how come Trump had the jab and when he caught covid had the best medical treatment which didnt include invermectin or blue light anal beads or bleach
You’re as big an idiot as that Simon fool — try to learn the chemical formula for bleach prior to making an @$$ of yourself.
Oh, you mean the ivermectin that was banned under the threat of imprisonment. You need to take out your blue light anal beads, they’re affecting your memory.
Total propaganda, i.e. lies.
BS, it does nothing of the sort. Those that have and continue to die are largely from the vaccinated cohort.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1583356225510331
im selling my 10acres n house as much as I like the rural town im in the state govts useless to rural people, serious health issues mean a need a doctor and care i just cant get here now until im 65 the stste care setup…doesnt care at all, I may well be dead by then at this rate
The construction industry around Australia is on its knees consequent of the lockdowns. Major contractors have been wiped out through no fault of their own and trade labour is almost possible to find.
“Police were pelted with golf balls, batteries, and bottles during what was the third consecutive day of demonstrations against the Covid restrictions.”
From your link.
Under the laws that apply the government or Premier cant issue orders for the police while carrying out their duties. So a claim otherwise is baseless even when doing it as a denial _ remember Australian defamation law is very strict- the court can decided what a person really meant and hiding behind clever words wont work.
The question was asked by the media, I just reported it – and supplied a link.
As for what happened that day, I know people who participated. Police action was very heavy handed, so it’s understandable some people reacted by throwing things. The police could have just cordoned off the area and let them have their protest, but someone decided clearing the protest was more important than letting people enjoy Australia’s traditional privilege of peaceful assembly, so the police went in hard.
It was heavy handed. Earlier protest the demonstrators had gained control- Bridge Rd which is where the pepper spraying happened.
Ask the Murdochs hows their claim that they didnt defame Dominion just reported it going-and thats in the very liberal US defamation laws.
In the Australian jurisdiction repeating a claim is still defamation, media just has bigger pockets
I dont care about that but I recommend you be very careful as imputation of what is said rather that the exact wording is the core of the plaintiffs case.
Apart from that the Victoria ban on fracking is a bigger issue as they cant afford or wont have any gas for a new power station. Will learn that the hard way. I think we agree there
If the State Government of Victoria comes after me for reporting Dan Andrews denied issuing the open fire order, that will make a very entertaining story, and probably push WUWTs ratings through the roof – just like Trump being prosecuted has made him odds on favourite to be the next President. I’m sure Anthony would be happy to host a fundraiser for my legal defence.
Sorry Eric. Trump doing well against DeSantis but not Biden.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/head-polls-show-trump-weakness-biden-underwater-approval
bidens less than 30% in polls Ive seen
Well let’s see these polls. If you read the comments from the “Fox news” article, there are many now ready to give up on Trump because of his loosing streak. They once thought he was an unbeatable winner…. not so much now.
Translation from simon-ese: “please please please please maybe this time Trump will finally go down!”
Your communist pals in NYC are mucking up their alleged “case” against DJT bigtime.
Simon the TDS addict hauls out his clownshow, what a surprise. Maybe you can help duker with the chemical formula for bleach.
Why would I need to ask duker, I can get it straight from Trump. He will be needing something to do in prison. maybe he can bleach his soul at the same time. And even if they muck the first couple of trials up (which I’m picking they wont) they still got three others. One will stick…. I’ll note “ozspeaksup” has not come back with any polls that show Trump beating Biden which was my point before you destracted things.
Poor baby, you are so abused. /sniff/
Have you figured out what the EcoHealth Alliance is yet, batterycarboi?
And you still have no clue what bleach is.
I’ve worked out one thing. You are either an infant in an adults body…. or maybe you are simply an infant playing on WUWT.
Oh and people like you, with your religious belief in Trump make his demise sooo much sweeter. I can’t tell you how much joy I get out of knowing the con man is going inside. And every time a judge denies his pathetic attempts to stall proceedings I do a little dance…. Just so you know.
So no, you still haven’t figured out what bleach is, and you continue to swallow the lies of the Marx-Stream Media hook, line, and sinker.
Time for your next booster, methinks.
Had five. I think I am fine at the moment. But… if the science tells me I need more, I’ll have them. I mean come on, I’m not an ignorant, arrogant moron.
“The science” — hahahahahah
You are caught in the lies from the Marx-Stream Media—if you acknowledge that ClO2 is not “bleach” (as you’ve been clued into previously), then you’d have to admit that DJT didn’t tell people to “drink bleach”. Same way the Fake News is trapped.
But you’ve been programmed by the visage of Rachel Madcow ranting “horse de-wormer!” over and over, just one of the lies propagated by the Communist News Network and MSLSD, like the AlphaBank hoax/lie that was generated by Shrillery & Co.
And like all good communists, the ends justify any means for you.
Trapped in these lies, you have to resort to calling me an “ignorant, arrogant moron”.
I recommend regular doses of Mark Levin.
Brilliant. Now “that” was entertaining.
I know hes not coming after you, but be careful as there is no ‘reporting’ exemption.
May seem a lot of fun but look what Prof Ridd went through in different circumstances . he was right but lost the battle
yeah while they sat back and left the BLM mobs go
“Begging for private renewable investment”. Won’t happen. Here is why.
Even Warren Buffet (who owns a lot of wind) says it makes no sense without major subsidies. His utility company is admittedly just subsidy farming Iowa wind.
Victoria current debt is about 25% of its GDP, 50% higher than any other AUS province—about equal to NSW, Queensland, and Tasmania combined. Already Victoria is too broke to afford the subsidies that might entice private investment. And that is before it’s hostile business climate—which facts might be related.
Thanks Rud, forgot to mention the debt.
So that claim, broadly true, killed any chance of Andrews getting re-elected ?
‘A central theme of the Victorian Opposition’s election campaign has been saying Labor created a “debt disaster” for the state. The release of the Department of Treasury and Finance’s pre-election budget update prompted a fresh attack from the Liberals’ shadow treasurer, David Davis. “The Pre-Election Budget Update (PEBU) has confirmed Labor’s debt disaster for Victoria with net debt set to increase to $165.9 billion by 2025,” Mr Davis said in a statement on November 10. “This is more than the total of New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania combined.”
The election was a repeat of the previous landslide for Andrews !
The major subsidies to wind and solar farms in Australia do not come from government. They are Federal Government decreed theft from poor consumers to those with rooftop PVs and/or grid scale wind and solar farms.
The Federal Government established the system of STCs and LGCs that set the scale of theft from consumers.
Victoria offers a State subsidy for rooftop PVs in addition to the Federal sanctioned theft.
Victoria is a tough place to do business. Ask Engie – the buyer of the now decommissioned power station.
I can relate from direct experience in running businesses in Victoria over 3 decades and still consulting to associates there.
Most projects and services in the broad infrastructure category there are a closed shop as far as chances of winning contracts controlled by VicGov.
If your company has not gained “pre-qualification” to their numerous supplier panels, you’re just making up the numbers by tendering.
The hoops you have to jump through to get on their “pre-qualified supplier panels” are heavily loaded with union-preferred / dominated interests.
I’d love a dollar for every time I’ve had the reply from a bureaucrat about why our admittedly competitive submission was not even considered – “sorry, our hands are tied”.
One of the businesses I consult to is going through this (again) at this very moment.
It’s risky enough investing time in trying to be a supplier to VicGov.
I’d hate to be investing big dollars in actually funding one of their union-run projects.
Thanks for sharing Mr. Sounds worse than I thought, and my opinion was already pretty low.
Victoria appears to be what California wants to be. AB5 was a gift to the unions, and Victoria seems to have such measures already well established.
Yep – long established union thuggery.
Reviving the SEC for the State to build wind and solar farms means any private investment in wind and solar would be competing against an unaccountable bureaucracy for access to land, permitting, union run labour groups and a Government that has a track record of sovereign risk.
You covered the situation in Victoria well.
The sad part is that the Victorian Liberals offer no alternative. I cannot see version 2 of Jeff Kennett in the wings primed to get the state out of its corrupt mess.
Mainstream conservatives in Australia are obsessed with political cross dressing, which is why their support base is so fractured. Sooner or later they’ll get tired of losing.
Its broad church as the founder Menzies intended. Without the most liberal of Liberal Mps elected from inner urban wealthy electorates ( most Australians live in quite large cities) they would never achieve government again. Theres practically no gerrymandering like occurs in US states
Yet Abbott won by a landslide in 2013. Almost like people prefer a politician who values honesty above crowd pleasing.
How things change in a decade
he was a useless PM, broke every promise going so destroyed any pretence of honesty turfed out by his own party and eventually lost his own seat as he was conservative in a wealthy liberal values/green electorate.
Politicians like Mitt Romney get favorable comments from the opposition press, until they look like they have a real chance of winning, then they become Mussolini’s bastard grandson.
Sucking up to one’s enemies was a tactic that should have died with Neville Chamberlain.
When the wind blows and/or the sun comes out, the price that all generators get paid drops to zero, or even goes negative. They have to pay to put electricity into the grid. When the wind stops and the sun goes down, the price skyrockets. This is because there are next to no renewables on the grid and they fall back on coal and gas. With this economics, why would any investor build renewables?
And for all those numpties out there, batteries aren’t generators, they are storage.
Yes. And the large scale batteries dont make their money by supply,[only 10% of capacity for that] but are paid to do nothing by just being standby reserve for when the wind and sun fails to deliver. Means the batteries arent cycled on and off either.
There’s only one thing for Danistan to do-
Victorian government in talks to secure a bailout in upcoming federal budget | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site
After all Albo is the new empathetic Jacinda Adern with a shoulder to cry on-
‘Symbol of hope and inspiration’: Albanese listed in Times’ most influential people (msn.com)
A bailout like Western Australia got a few years back when mining prices hit the floor. WA kept the money when the iron ore prices rocketed up again.
But its OK when the Coalition does it to keep its mates in power sweet and its seats in WA.
Opps , the Liberals have been turfed out by the WA voter both in state and in Canberra
You sound way too widely read, informed and thinking to be a Labor, Greens or Teals voter.
So that leaves you as a jilted Liberal supporter?
Back in the 1980-90 era when we were exploring for new Australian mines (and finding them) we evaluated each year whether we would bother with Victoria, the State with the worst laws. Late in that era we made a small effort, not because the laws and regs had improved, but because the history of decent gold at Bendigo/Ballarat/Castlemaine was attractive.
How can present-day leaders dismiss the reality that Victoria’s history was put on the map and largely funded from this mining? That for decades, Victoria’s cheap, reliable electricity depended on big coal mines, now being closed down by politics? That today, all that is keeping the nation from bankruptcy is.exported mineral wealth? Talk about biting the hand that feeds you!
Our schools even teach pupils that mining is dirty and needs to be cancelled.
When did you ever see a mining personality nominated for Australian of the Year? The most recent winner was into something about female body relaxation, I hear.
Think about the levels of hate that control the minds of many of our present politicians. It is a sickness in need of some good doctors to treat. We still have some, when the TGA lets them do what doctors do.
Geoff S
“Renewable”?
Wind, solar, and battery systems last, at best 20 years, are not recyclable, and consume more energy in their construction and operation than they will ever produce.
You are being lied to each and every time someone calls these systems “renewable”.
Xi Dan Stairman dan anrOOZE..how the hell he got re elected?
but hes asskissed the teals n greentards
if hes done deals with china the crap will hit the blades
people who got suckered into PV and heatpump water heaters arent so happy
125litre water isnt enough for more than 2 person homes, but thats what the unsuspecting got. pv returns are down to 3c
and supply charges by my powerco just leapt from 99c a day to 1.26 for SFA
Yea Greens, put your own money where your mouths are! We all know that is not the way they work though. The watermelons always demand other peoples money to fund their agenda.
“Pretty nice country you got here. It’d be too bad if it burned down.”
Doesn’t matter if it is Red China or Black Rock, or a Bloomin’ Berg, Whoever comes in with the cash is going to want a big payback, right of way, a big chunk of the property, kickbacks, and recurring virgin sacrifice. Expect a visit from Dimon Jimmy, his boys will be around to set it up.
Good luck,most rational investors want a return on their money. Renewables don’t do that,
“95 per cent renewables target for 2035″ — total insanity, might as well hook everything up to a perpetual motion machine.
I can attest to the difficulty of working in Victoria and this goes back to the 1990s. I first moved to the state in about 1990 and eventually got to run a company in the years when John Halfpenny ran Victoria. Even when Kennett came to power the deeply entrenched Labor-Loving “deep state” bureaucrats continued to wield the power. +20 years later it seems little has changed.
Australia is a mess. What a disappointment. I wouldn’t think a state or province or what ever they call them would have the authority to make trade deals independent of the national government. Especially with a country like China. Australia really needs to get its act together and boot all these eco socialist freaks out of office.