The New ALP Federal Government

[pietillidie]

One obvious place to start is China's recent overtures to the Pacific Islands, which potentially rolls party differences on international relations, climate change and tensions with China into a single flashpoint.

Here's the BBC today:

[stui magpie]

Albo and his mob are well and truly still in the honeymoon period. They're largely making the right noises, let's do the old 100 day test and see how they're travelling once they have to start doing more than diplomatic junkets.

[David]

Agreed. Feels a lot like just after Biden took office last year: some reasons to be cautiously optimistic, perhaps even some unexpectedly positive signs, but a nagging feeling that it's all going to get pretty depressing pretty soon. That certainly ended up being the case over there, but I guess a big difference here is that, unlike Biden, Albanese will actually be able to get (at least most of) his agenda through when the new senate terms begin next month.

[eddiesmith]

Although you can already see them making excuses for why they can't deliver on their promises. It's almost like you can say anything you like in opposition but the reality of actually implementing them responsibly is so much tougher.

[David]

Well, Albo won't have that problem considering how little he actually promised.

[pietillidie]

What's your sense of the chance of progress on climate change-related policy? As conservative as Australia is, I got the impression that Morrison and co. hemmed in the Glibs to the point they were behind public opinion on things like green tech investment and the policy to help it scale.

My main interest is socioeconomic stability and the adaptation needed to maintain it, particularly through industrial policy, decent jobs and careers, affordability, and so on, but also through the minimisation of extreme voices. So, as a first step I'm pleased to see some of the uglier and dimmer voices quietened for a bit.

People need something achievable to aim for through decent work, whether be through skilled trades, skills in demand tech industries, on-the-job training, and so on. But the policy and infrastructure has to facilitate it, so I'm curious if the ALP has any handle on this beyond vague mutterings.

[David]

This seems like a decent run-down, PTID:

https://www.carbonbrief.org/qa-what-does-the-new-australian-labor-government-mean-for-climate-change/

[pietillidie]

^Quality info.

[stui magpie]

Without going off topic, and I've probably had this conversation before, but with renewable energy, can someone explain to me why Pumped Hydro is even an option?

To my understanding of how it works is that its a net consumer of energy not a net producer and the benefit is basically an accounting trick,

[pietillidie]

^I think the problems are much more about site suitability than energy efficiency. The infamous examples probably involve putting dams in the wrong place, stealing land, choking off rivers, causing flood risk, etc. Perhaps the cost is where the accounting trick comes into it?

[stui magpie]

Nah, my understanding is pumped hydro is using stored energy that was generated off peak when it's cheap to pump water uphill so it comes back down through turbines generating more energy at peak times.

You cannot create more energy in that process than you consume, that would defy physics, so it's a net consumer of energy. The accouting trick is you're using "cheap" energy to create less but more expensive energy.

[pietillidie]

^Oh, I see. I didn't know there was pumped hydro as a standalone solution. I was imagining it being fed but with load balancing as you describe.

Then again, load balancing alone is still vital, isn't it, given peak usage is one of the main difficulties of managing a grid?

[stui magpie]

Valid point, i hadn't considered that

[stui magpie]

Back on topic, very early days, but Kneesy has surprised the hell out of me. So far he seems to be on track to be the first PM to be actually competent since Howard.

[watt price tully]