Donald Trump deserves all the accolades he’s been given for his handling of the Gaza/Israel war, but for the life of me, I can’t understand how stupid he can be with his tariffs.
He is supposedly trying to outdo China and compete with them. China uses state control to manufacture and sell products to the world at artificially reduced rates to destroy their competition. It’s the oldest trick in the book if you’re trying to gain a monopoly on certain goods.
South Korea and Japan are two strong democracies in Asia, vital to standing up to China. So why on earth does Trump slap 50 per cent tariffs on South Korean steel and a slightly lower tariff on Japanese steel? Both countries produce world-class ships that equip many Western navies — including those of Australia, the UK and Poland, to name a few.
Tariffs on these two great Asian democracies only help China. Wake up, Donald.
Speaking of stupid decisions, it seems only Australia, the UK, Germany and Denmark are charging full steam ahead into using renewables exclusively to slash emissions — to the great detriment of their economies.
In Australia’s case, we produce only 1 per cent of the world’s emissions. China is now up to 31.5 per cent, rising from 30 per cent two years ago. The US, Russia, India and Indonesia are all going gangbusters in increasing their use of fossil fuels — especially gas.
We are destroying ourselves for no reason. By doing so, we only help countries hostile to Australia by wrecking our manufacturing and agricultural industries — not to mention the huge environmental impact on vast tracts of land now earmarked for solar panels and wind turbines reaching up to 300 metres high.
I’ve written about this before, and it strikes me that now is our last chance to get it right. I suggest the Federal Government hold a climate summit — along the lines of those Bob Hawke, the ALP’s best Prime Minister and leader since World War II, convened in the 1980s.
The summit should include representatives from all states and territories, government and opposition politicians, farmers, miners, environmentalists, and ordinary members of the public to discuss the best way forward. Everything needs to be on the table — gas, coal, wind, solar, nuclear, and other forms of energy — with the goal of reaching a genuine national consensus.
This issue is too important for all of us — especially for future generations — to be left to partisan politics. Time should be allowed for genuine discussion so that we can reach an approach everyone can live with — and, more importantly, stick with.
For my two bob’s worth, I would suggest that this summit consider installing solar panels — perhaps free of charge — on all buildings that can utilise them, and explore taking those properties off the grid. That way, the grid wouldn’t become overloaded with renewables at certain times of the day, as those solar systems would be self-sufficient.
Large areas of agricultural land would be spared, and the huge subsidies currently being given to renewable energy companies could instead be redirected towards providing free solar panels and storage systems in our cities and towns. After all, the roofs are already there.
How about it Albo?
