The Institute of Public Affairs’ Daniel Wild appeared on Credlin Sky News Australia to contextualise and disseminate the IPA’s research on net zero..
All media posted onto the IPA website are directly related to the promotion and dissemination of IPA research.
Below is a transcript of the interview.
Peta Credlin:
Let’s bring my panel in for comment. Deputy Executive Director at the Institute of Public Affairs, Dan Wild, and One Nation Chief of Staff, James Ashby. Gents, welcome. Well, James, if the polls are accurate, we know a majority Labour government is out of reach. Are we seeing here the first steps exposed by Tanya Plibersek of a secret deal between Labour and the Greens for some sort of power-sharing arrangement?
James Ashby:
Well, it shows that, but it also shows disunity within the Labour Party, and it’s unclear right now who is governing this country. Is it Tanya Plibersek or is it Anthony Albanese? It’s not just going to take the Greens to get this bill across the line. We have to look further afield, particularly in the Senate. Is it going to be Jacqui Lambie? Is it going to be Lidia Thorpe? Is it going to be David Pocock? Just two of those will help get that legislation across the line. It also indicates to me that, unless this legislation is passed in Labor’s eyes, if they do form a minority government in the lower house, there’s no guarantee they’ll get it up in the next term of Parliament.
The only thing that Australians can hope is that this legislation doesn’t get up. Not only does it impact upon those people within the mining sector, but it impacts upon those within commercial fishing, because the intent here is to lock up 30% of the land, 30% of the oceans, and then overlay the Cultural Heritage Act that Western Australia had to put up with for some months when it was passed there. It was later kicked out of Western Australia because they could see the destruction it was doing to everything from mining to agriculture, and here we have a Labour government hell-bent on implementing those things nationally. It is chaotic, it’s destructive, and Labour will really destroy our economy if this bill goes through.
Peta Credlin:
Let’s go to the big promises that the government made at the last election to cut power bills. Figures released today by the Australian Energy Market Operator, AEMO, show the cost of generating electricity in the final months of 2024 jumped some 83% year on year. The Australian Energy Regulators put the figure as high as 134% in some regions, driven by high demand and a shortage of coal-fired power. Dan, they like to demonise coal. When it’s missing from the system, our power bills skyrocket. I’ve been working with you on the IPA, we’ve been on the road, we’ve talked to farmers, we’ve talked to regional communities. When are we going to wake up and change course here before it’s too late?
Daniel Wild:
Well, I don’t know, Peta. I mean, how many times do we have to say this? If you take coal out of the system and if you take baseload power out of the system, prices are going to go up. I mean, we saw that with Hazelwood. When that was decommissioned, prices went up by approximately 70%. We’re seeing it now again. When coal comes out of the system, prices go up. You need baseload power that can operate 24/7/365, rain, hail or shine. You simply cannot power a modern economy and society like Australia’s on weather-dependent, intermittent energy supplies.
As you mentioned, you’ve been out there on the front lines in farming communities, not just talking about the price impact, but the impact on their lives and the impact on our farmland. What’s going to happen when we take all this farmland offline and put wind turbines and solar panels on there? It’s got to jack up prices for agricultural goods. Our exports will go down, not to mention the impact on the way of life in regional communities and the division that that is causing.
This is what Australia will look like if we keep going down the net zero path, high prices, blackouts and farmland being destroyed. We need to do a U-turn and we need to do it very quick, but that ain’t going to happen under this government.
Peta Credlin:
Not yet. We’ve been talking, obviously when I’ve been out in the bush, about the fire risk in regional Australia, but have a look at Melbourne this morning. This is a plume of smoke coming from a factory in Cheltenham. Now, this is a factory that produces solar panels and batteries. A quarter light, 45 trucks in attendance. Over 100 firefighters on just this one factory fire alone. James, an expert recently told us here on Sky News these batteries are causing more than 10,000 fires in Australia per year. This is what the government doesn’t want us to talk about.
James Ashby:
No, and we’re starting to see more and more of these occur in suburban areas where people have put these batteries in small, confined areas, and it can be anything from an electric scooter through to an electric vehicle or one of those power banks on the side of the house, which is supposed to reduce your power costs. The issue here is, the smaller we build these blocks of land … we’re seeing here in Queensland blocks under 300 square metres now, where homes are just crammed into very tiny spaces … it’s very hard to extinguish a battery fire. I think what you’ll find is over time as more of these catch alight, we’re going to see larger extended fires, which take out whole communities as a result of it, and the number one increase will be to your insurance premiums as a result of it.
Peta Credlin:
Help me here, Dan, explain this one. New South Wales Treasury says now if there’s a public sector project … we’re talking about a road, we’re talking about a bridge … there’s now a gender impact assessment that must happen first if it’s over $10 million, that must happen first before it goes to Cabinet, before a decision about whether or not they’re going to build it. Now, this is insanity.
Daniel Wild:
Yeah, it’s just unbelievable, and you wonder when and where this is all going to end. If this came out of Victoria, you’d probably just roll your eyes and shrug your shoulders and say, “Here we go again.” I think from New South Wales, it’s surprising. I think the Minns government has been reasonably sensible in a number of matters, including keeping the coal-fired power station operating there. I wonder whether this is a case of the bureaucracy putting the cart before the horse. I don’t know they want to do that, but I think Australia’s just thoroughly over this, having the diversity, equity and inclusion mandates inserted into every single facet of our lives. We should be hiring based on merit, and projects need to go ahead.
This is at the worst possible time. We’ve got this record surge to our population from this unplanned mass migration programme that doesn’t have the consent of the community, and now here is yet another piece of red tape, another roadblock to building the infrastructure that Australians desperately need. I don’t understand. No one has been able to explain how building a road or building a bridge or building a tunnel could possibly impact men or women differently. Everybody wants to get to work. Everyone wants to pick up their kids from school. Everyone wants to get to the doctor’s on time. What on earth are they talking about, and why hasn’t the treasurer, the New South Wales treasurer, pulled their heads in and said, “We’re not doing this in New South Wales”?
Peta Credlin:
Follow the money train. Right? This is a delay to all these projects, and who’s going to be paid a couple of million dollars to do these gender assessments? I mean, it’s just outrageous. Last night, James, we talked about the Queensland decision to put on pause puberty blockers for those under 19, or I think it might be 18 years of age. This is after a Cairns clinic went rogue. The whistleblower’s reported today to say she raised a lot of concerns with the previous government. Nothing was done. The new minister, Tim Nicholls, has identified a whole lot of problems, inconsistencies in documentation, a lot of legal concerns around the lack of parental consent.
We know now too, released last night, a high-profile letter by politicians, former prime ministers, medical experts to the federal government, demanding a federal inquiry into all of this. We saw in the UK with the Cass review exactly why it’s needed. It’s all been halted over there. Surely we shouldn’t be afraid to hear from the experts.
James Ashby:
No, this is exactly it. Tavistock is an example of one of those centres over in the UK, which has learnt the hard way, and we are learning from … well, we haven’t learnt from their mistakes. That’s the biggest issue. We have tried as One Nation on two occasions in our federal parliament to get this inquiry up that Tony Abbott is now talking about. The one that he signed is exactly the same as what we have tried to get up an inquiry in our Senate on two occasions now.
Both the Labour and a good proportion of Liberal party members in the Senate have voted against this inquiry, so good luck to Tony. If he can twist the arms of his former colleagues to support this, well done, but I just do not see the Liberal party coming on board. It’s the likes of the Jane Humes and the Dean Smiths, both Senators, both one in WA, one in Victoria, both very prominent individuals in our Senate, that for some reason are holding the Liberal party back from supporting One Nation on this inquiry.
It’s about time they shift their mood, because as we’ve seen in America, this has been well received, and not just in the States but also in other Western developed nations that have made some catastrophic decisions to allow kids under the age of 18 to mutilate their bodies and allow adults to permit them to do it. It’s tragic when you talk to the parents that have stood by their kids and thought that this was the only path forward. They are very regretful, not only the kids but the parents as well. There needs to be an inquiry.
Peta Credlin:
Well, and no Liberal should be scared of finding out the facts. No Liberal should be scared of listening to experts. Let’s leave it there. Just to do a quick one, Dan, Stephen Jones, he’s leaving. We’ve got Bill Shorten now, Linda Burney, Brendan O’Connor. I get on the opposition side, people will move. They get into opposition from government and they’re not sure whether they can do another stint, but these guys have waited 10 years to get back into power. They’re in power, and these blokes are all wanting to leave after basically a turn. What does that tell you about the government’s chances at the next election?
Daniel Wild:
Well, it shows that they’re jumping ship. I think it’s a pretty negative assessment, you’d have to say, and actions always speak louder than words. If you’re staring down the barrel of potentially being turfed out after one term, or at best a minority government when you’re going to have one arm tied behind your back like they did from 2010 to 2013, I don’t think it’s surprising, and I actually suspect that we’ll see a number more come out over the next few weeks, Peta.
Peta Credlin:
Yeah, I think you’re right. Other than Linda Burney … and I think I’m right here … other than Linda Burney, every single one of them lived the last hung Parliament. I suspect they want nothing to do with that again. Gents, thank you. All right, let’s return to …
This transcript from Credlin Sky News Australia from 30 January 2025 has been edited for clarity.
