Media

Tim Buckley comments for German and Swiss media on the Australian coal quality certificate falsification scandal, noting that while the allegations are valid, the offences are not easy to prove as the coal industry had acted skilfully, with data only slightly changed and direct bribes avoided. Read more

In this op ed one day ahead of the Victorian election, Tim Buckley notes that the Labor government has ambitious new policies that will put Victoria in a world-leading position of 95% RE and 80% emissions reduction by 2035, driving lower electricity prices, gas substitution and decarbonisation. The LNP targets 50% emissions reduction by 2030, but with no policies to deliver on this – and a commitment to turbocharging gas, which will drive the climate crisis and do nothing to address the price crisis. Read more

Tim Buckley notes that Brookfield and MidOcean’s bid for Origin exposes the “lie that governments working in the interests of Australians in an energy crisis will scare off foreign investment.” Read more

A deepening coal crisis in Western Australia, linked to an Indian bank loan to gone bad, is threatening to turn the lights out this summer. Tim Buckley explains in this feature from ABC national energy reporter Daniel Mercer. Read more

Tim Buckley says Australia’s energy crisis predicament could have been avoided by policy certainty around renewable energy. “We really need to see the $20 billion ‘rewiring the nation program’ implemented at speed”. Read more

Tim Buckley says the Petroleum Resources Rent Tax, designed to raise revenue from multinational gas producers making superprofits, is structurally flawed and predicts a Treasury review currently underway will find that it is not operating in the national interest. The Treasurer has undertaken to carefully consider the advice as pressure for a solution to the gas price crisis ramps up. Read more

Tim Buckley’s discussion on Sky News Afternoon Agenda with Kieran Gilbert on gas in this story in The Australian: “We have a gas cartel, according to the ACCC – 90 per cent of the gas reserves in eastern Australia are controlled by three consortia, which have ramped up the price on the east coast tenfold, 1000 per cent, in the last three, four, five years and we are now paying above export price parity”. Read more

In his piece foreshadowing next month’s COP 27 and tracking global progress on decarbonisation, Nine/Fairfax environment editor quotes Tim Buckley on China: while it leads the world in coal use, it also leads in “wind and solar installation and manufacturing, EV production, batteries, hydro, nuclear, ground heat pumps, grid transmission and distribution, green hydrogen, literally every zero-emissions technology today.” Read more

Tim Buckley calls on Australian governments and industry to note the IEA’s forecast for the ongoing structural decline of coal, modelling up to a 45% decline globally by 2030. The agency also highlights the structural demand for key critical minerals and hence the opportunity for Australia as a world leader in critical mineral resources. Read more

As fossil fuels peak before 2030 and then decline, Tim Buckley notes that the IEA’s 2022 World Energy Outlook says a huge increase in energy investment, to above $4 trillion per year, is essential to reduce the risks of future energy price spikes and volatility, and to get on track for net zero emissions by 2050. Read more

Tim Buckley says that while the federal budget assumes a $953m contribution by limiting multinationals’ debt-deductions, there is no further insight on how majors like Exxon, Chevron, BP and Shell, who book Australian revenues in the tens of billion but pay zero corporate tax, will be made to pay their fair share. Read more

In part 2 of an extended interview, Tim Buckley gives a comprehensive breakdown of the positive energy transition initiatives in the 2022 budget, as well as the omissions and missed opportunities. Read more