The Reid Candidates’ Forum was held last Wednesday night (April 23), with five of the seven candidates attending. They were Sally Sitou (Labor), Grange Chung (Liberal), David Sarikaya (Trumpet of Patriots), Clinton Mead (Libertarian) and Steven Commerford (Independent).
The candidates were asked a series of prearranged questions, covering five broad areas: Health and Aged Care, Building Development & Housing Affordability, the Environment, Cost of Living, Key Policies & Vision.
Of key interest to CABCB were the issues of climate change, renewable energy and nuclear power. Both Sally Sitou and Grange Chung expressed belief in the reality of climate change, but the solutions they presented could not have been more different.
Sally Sitou reiterated the government’s commitment to rendering the grid 82 percent renewable by 2030. She reminded people that we are now halfway there, with renewable energy sitting at 41 percent. It is expected that this will rise to 50 percent by this time next year, whoever wins the election.
Grange Chung, by contrast, expressed his conviction that nuclear energy is the only way to produce clean energy at an affordable price. In his view, the country needs a “sensible energy mix” – of renewables, nuclear and gas. How such a mix will get the grid to net zero was not explained, given that gas emits both CO2 and methane.
What really surprised many in the audience was Grange’s statement that he did not support the rollout of batteries. In his view they are are damaging to the environment, inefficient and expensive. He does not see any place for them in Australia’s energy mix. Bizarrely, this puts him at odds with his leader, Peter Dutton, who has expressed strong support for batteries.
Grange also expressed strong support for the continued export of coal. His reasoning: our coal is ‘cleaner’ than coal produced overseas; if we stop exporting it, countries will buy it from elsewhere, thereby increasing global pollution.
As for the other candidates, the independent, Steven Commerford, expressed strong support for climate action and renewable energy. The Libertarian candidate expressed strong support for free market capitalism. The Trumpet of Patriots candidate expressed strong support for … Actually, it was hard to determine what exactly he was trying to say.
Nether The Greens’ candidate nor the One Nation candidate attended the forum.
