Power problem: Trust neither the electricity generators nor the Prime Minister

In the lead-up to the 2010 election Tony Abbott managed to produce a climate change policy that was almost, but not entirely, unrelated to climate change.

An artist's impression of Malcolm Turnbull.

It was to investigate moving high voltage power cables underground.

It was attractive (to people who don't like cables) and it may well have garnered votes, but it had almost nothing to do with climate change.

Now Malcolm Turnbull's doing it. Faced with a report from the energy market operator pointing to the need for more "dispatchable capacity" after the big Liddell power station closes, he has talked instead about the need for "baseload power", sometimes using the terms as if they are interchangeable.

Read Peter Martin’s comment in today’s Melbourne Age - “Power problem: Trust neither the electricity generators nor the Prime Minister.”