I was amazed years ago when I found that gas, exported from Australia, could be purchased cheaper in Thailand than it could be in Australia.
As the mafia would say, “it’s not personal, it’s just business”; and the business is, … what will the market bear?
Surely the resources in any country belong to the people of that country and should be made available for their benefit as a birth right for inhabitants who share in the “common wealth” of the nation, but alas, in a corporate world, all resources are to be sold on the world market to secure the highest possible profits to those who claim to own the resources before any inheritor has been born. At the time of writing the closest service station to us is selling diesel at $2.14 per litre even though diesel is pulled out of the ground less than four hours’ drive from where we live at costs more sensibly measured at cents per gallon, not dollars per litre. Whilst researching the Surat oil basin, Google answered its own question of “Where does Australia get its oil?”
“Australia relies on imports – about 90 per cent – for the majority of its petrol supply. We do produce some crude oil domestically – about 350 barrels per day – however, the majority of this is exported. Most of our imported petrol comes from Asia, with around 25 per cent of it coming from Singapore” (Current as at 15 April 2022).
Why do we export only to import? 350 barrels per day, that isn’t much and hardly worth talking about, but the quantity and quality of the diesel that Australia has, is worth looking into, and gas, … well yes, we have plenty of that and we export it to China, … real cheap … thanks to John Howard. “Australia’s gas exports of 3 million tonnes a year from that single agreement (2002) were contracted to stay at basement prices until 2031”. Howard’s assessment of his negotiated contract selling Australia’s gas to China he said “Needless to say, I am absolutely delighted. It is so good for Australia,” and he likened the deal he had negotiated to a “a gold medal performance“. As off 2015, China pays less than 1/3 of the amount that we Australians pay for the same product in our own country. Read all about it from the Sydney Morning Herald
https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/how-australia-blew-its-future-gas-supplies-20170928-gyqg0f.html
China buys billions of dollars’ worth of Australian gas each year, and why wouldn’t they at 60% below market price but that’s only 40% of the amount of Australia’s exported petroleum gas. Japan buys nearly the same amount. Is it any wonder now that retail prices of Australian produced gas at a service station is now as expensive as imported petroleum was just a few years ago.
To be a hairdresser you need to have “approved” qualifications to practice your trade.To be any politician, or even the Prime Minister, who negotiates billions of dollars’ worth of business deals “on behalf” of the millions of Australia citizens, … you don’t. For his “gold medal performance”, and other worthy deals, “Mr Howard will receive a taxpayer-funded pension of $345,000 a year in retirement, about $15,000 a year more than he earned as prime minister”. (Data 2015)
https://www.smh.com.au/national/howards-cloud-will-have-a-silver-lining-20071126-gdromj.html There are only 365 days in a year, so that’s almost a thousand dollars a day, yes even Saturday and Sunday, for the rest of his life for a position not even recognised in our Constitution. Now that is a gold medal negotiation.
But there is also air travel and other perks.
What will the market bear, or in the vernacular, what can we get away with?
He isn’t our only retired PM or public servant, so this is not the only tap that is dripping.
Barry Prismall’s article published in the Canberra Times April 3 2023 says,
“Former Australian prime ministers are on a very good wicket.
Malcolm Turnbull was the biggest claimant, costing taxpayers $459,837; John Howard claimed $434,910; Tony Abbott, $388,490 and then the Labor cheapskates, Kevin Rudd claimed $199,336; Paul Keating $198,048 and Julia Gillard claimed a mere $143,476”. Ref:
So, … why is there a cost increase in energy resources in Australia and why can you buy exported natural products mined here at home and transported to overseas markets cheaper in those countries than you can purchase them at the source?
I’ll answer that with a question. What will the market bear?
Governments worldwide are apparently weaning the masses off consuming coal and oil because if we continue using it, we’re going to destroy the planet. Well, … not every government. Only the western governments. Australia still exports coal to China and Asia, and they produce cheap electrical energy with the product. Whilst we close our reliable coal fired power stations in Australia to “save the planet”, China builds two new ones each week. And they aren’t the only ones. India builds one every second week. Australia has less than 20 operating coal fired power stations. The countries to where our coal is being exported has hundreds of operating coal-fired power stations with China having well over a thousand and they are still building them. We are closing ours down whilst the countries we export coal to are building more. There will be a rational reason for this conundrum and one probably most easily explained from the perspective that government is, and has always been, organised crime. If you think that is a bit harsh, perhaps a re-read of Part 1 is worth the effort.
But why would the government and the mass media push a false narrative such that it is to the detriment of the community.
For some reason that has been the documented track record.
Al Gore ‘s mantra that the sea levels are rising didn’t stop him from buying a seaside mansion that to this day is still high and dry. You can still ski on mount Fujiyama even though that was not going to be possible after 2014. There are roughly the same number of polar bears this year as there were 20 years ago. The list of climate doom and gloom scenarios which never transpired is well documented. Each side of government regurgitates the same WEF supplied news/ public relations/ propaganda so that the average sheep in the paddock can do just what Zbigniew Brezinski said they would do.
The news reels supplied to the theatres before TV was common supplied the narrative the government wanted the masses to believe and was prepared and delivered in a positive manner as propaganda must be with the required subliminal messages delivered as required. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&si=Dhx2vD_euQhEpALY&fbclid=IwAR3OVFVBPlXNtd0r9Fx26xmqHBV4T3hkw9FIAElW5tBpmB1pgrcCgSgPHqM&v=m71fpuLkESA&feature=youtu.be Why would anyone think things are different now?
And THEY know you will only hear what you have been programmed to hear and see and think. https://www.facebook.com/reel/826236189097726?s=yWDuG2&fs=e&mibextid=Nif5oz
What was propaganda, was renamed PR, (Public Relations) by Edward Bernays, (you can still buy his book but crowd/thought control is now much more sophisticated and brutal) and is now called NEWS, more recently publicly referred to as Fake News by Donald Trump. The official narrative as to why anything has happened must be controlled, including the reasons why the price of electricity in Australia continues to rise even when there is an extensive government subsidised incentive to “go green”.
In a nutshell, and as always, one point of view is not suffice.
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Moreton Bay residents can access weekly tips from John on Community Radio 101.5 FM Friday Mornings at 10:10am
John Lynn