Sir Michael Hinze

The Financial Review has run an interesting interview with billionaire hedge fund manager, Sir Michael Hintze, who has made his $1.98 billion fortune making calculations and betting on the fallout from major geopolitical events, and from agribusiness investments.Hintze’s family arrived in Australia as stateless refugees from China after his grandparents fled Russia during the Bolshevik … Continue reading Sir Michael Hinze →

Channel Country-A Fascinating Part of Australia

The Lake Eyre Basin covers almost one sixth of Australia at 1.2 million square kilometres across Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory and NSW, but 60,000 people live in the Basin, which is one of the world's largest internally draining river systems.      A Moderate Flood Warning for Cooper Creek and Minor Flood … Continue reading Channel Country-A Fascinating Part of Australia →

Australian Cricket Captain Steve Smith

Steve Smith made a great error of judgement. The disgrace of being stood down by the CA and sent home, on top of the ICC penalty of one Test and his total last Test Match fee, should be sufficient punishment.This is particularly the case when you consider the precedents of light  punishments handed out to … Continue reading Australian Cricket Captain Steve Smith →

Energy

Page 1of 1Facts on Australia’s Electricity DilemmaIt is unwise for Australia to rely on weather dependent wind, solar and hydro for electricity generation as the continent is noted for having the world’s most variable and unpredictable weather ill matched to electricity demand which is characterised by reliability and predictability.Unlike many countries Australia will never have … Continue reading Energy →

Matt Ridley-I can’t get too much of this guy!

MATT RIDLEYmarch 12 2018, 12:01am, the timesMy cure for Disease X? A bit of positivitymatt ridleyDoom-mongering about a hypothetical threat to humanity is a symptom of people’s tendency towards pessimism ‘Deadly new epidemic called Disease X could kill millions, scientists warn,” read one headline at the weekend. “WHO issues global alert for potential pandemic,” read … Continue reading Matt Ridley-I can’t get too much of this guy! →

Electricity prices fell for forty years in Australia, then renewables came…

Electricity prices fell for forty years in Australia, then renewables came…Electricity prices declined for forty years. Obviously that had to stop.Here’s is the last 65 years of Australian electricity prices — indexed and adjusted for inflation. During the coal boom, Australian electricity prices declined decade after decade.  As renewables and national energy bureaucracies grew, so … Continue reading Electricity prices fell for forty years in Australia, then renewables came… →

The Darling River-Letter to the Australian (unpublished)

Your headline "When the river runs dry, cry for the future" (The Weekend Australian-February 17-18),could have more positively read "When the river runs dry, pray for rain!" If there had been no upstream irrigation extractions when river heights allowed, the lack of subsequent rain in the massive Darling catchment would still result in the absence … Continue reading The Darling River-Letter to the Australian (unpublished) →

Murray Darling Plan-Disallowance Motion-Leyonhjelm Spot-On.

​Hansard​ 13.02.18Senator LEYONHJELM: I'm tempted to vote in favour of this disallowance. What holds me back is that I'm not sure if New South Wales and Victoria would, in fact, stand by their decision to walk away from the plan. But I wouldn't be too upset if they were to walk away from the plan, … Continue reading Murray Darling Plan-Disallowance Motion-Leyonhjelm Spot-On. →

Cheer Up!

Opinion  BRET STEPHENSApocalypse NotImageNorman Borlaug, the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.CreditMicheline Pelletier/Sygma, via Getty ImagesImageBret StephensBy Bret StephensFeb. 8, 2018In 1919, the director of the U.S. Bureau of Mines offered a dire warning for the future. “Within the next two to five years the oil fields of this country will reach their maximum production, and from … Continue reading Cheer Up! →