”, April 22). No SMRs are currently available. We would need more than 20 to replace the 10,000MW of coal power currently used. SMRs will not be commercially available before the 2030s, no costings are available, and the most advanced project, NuScale in the US, has ceased development because even with optimistic figures the energy produced would be over double the price of utility-scale solar. One could add that SMRs will produce more nuclear waste than conventional nuclear power plants.
The prime minister and his ministers have poorly managed the discourse on the cost of living, allowing the opposition to control the agenda and forcing the government onto the back foot. The government has been unable to adequately explain the limits to its ability to control or influence prices and its inability to provide widespread compensation.
For many in the community who had expectations that an ALP government would implement significant changes and would address the years of inaction and neglect of the Coalition, the Albanese government has been a great disappointment. No obvious material improvements in, for example, the key areas of health, education and welfare.
If the ALP is disheartened by the latest poll numbers, it needs to look no further than its own recent performance and its flawed strategic approach.I once attended a very expensive dance matinee performance, where from the moment the orchestra began, a baby started crying . It persisted when the orchestra was quiet and the dancers performed their routine. It was sufficiently distracting that an attendant approached the parent and asked them to move.