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Updated February 13, 2017 10:40:30

South Australia's Liberal Opposition has promised to scrap the state's target to source half its energy from renewable sources.

Leader Steven Marshall joined Liberals in Victoria and Queensland with a pledge to replace local targets with one set by the Federal Government.

Mr Marshall said South Australia's 50 per cent renewable goal had not improved electricity security or kept power bills in check.

"We want to restore affordable, reliable power to our state and we want to do it as soon as possible," he said.

The Liberals would consider more coal or gas generation if it would prevent further blackouts.

"We're not removing any options because of obsessive ideologies, that hasn't worked for us. Labor has put South Australia in a perilous situation," Mr Marshall said.

South Australia's renewable energy target began in 2009 with a goal of 33 per cent by 2020, however that was upgraded to 50 per cent by 2050 when the target was achieved early, in 2014.

Port Augusta's Northern coal-fired power station has since closed, while Victoria's Hazelwood coal-fired station is due to shut in March.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) is forecasting a shortfall in power supply in both South Australia and Victoria in early 2018.

"We're very concerned about AEMO's latest report, which shows more blackouts are on their way to South Australia," Mr Marshall said.

"There is a massive shortfall because Labor has done everything it can to drive out affordable, baseload power from South Australia."

Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis said abolishing the target would not help South Australians.

"All it would do is help the coal cartel, and it kills solar thermal in Port Augusta or any part of this state, forever," Mr Koutsantonis said.

"The dream of renewable energy that is dispatchable, that has storage and can be baseload, has just been pierced through the heart by Mr Marshall."

"Do we really want to put this future in the hands of people like [Prime Minister Malcolm] Turnbull and [Energy Minister Josh] Frydenberg, people who carry lumps of coal around in the Federal Parliament?"

Mr Koutsantonis acknowledged that the state's renewable target had no mechanism, but led to projects that were funded through federal subsidies.

"[This plan] stops people from investing in South Australia," he said.

The Government also said there would be enough power in the state in early 2018, through increased use of the Pelican Point power station and its own measures still to be announced.

Topics: alternative-energy, states-and-territories, coal, government-and-politics, sa

First posted February 13, 2017 09:27:34

Original post:
South Australian Liberals pledge to scrap renewables target - ABC Online

A number of comments in Sound Off have complained about liberal columnists or news stories about the activities of liberals in our community. They correctly note that the majority of residents are conservative.

So, why do we, a conservative newspaper, report on liberals activities in the news or publish their columns?

Because it is the mission of a newspaper to keep its readers informed. Conservatives are the main beneficiaries of news about the activities of liberals. After all, the liberal activists already know.

If we pretended that everyone in the community is a conservative and that there are no liberals at all, that would not only be inaccurate, but it would be punish conservatives who would find themselves surprised and outmaneuvered by their political opponents. As conservatives ourselves, that is not the outcome we want.

Instead, by striving to provide balanced and objective news coverage, we aim to equip readers of all philosophical orientations with the information they need and with a true picture of how diverse our community has become.

Naturally, it can be frustrating to read the statements of people we disagree with. It is much more satisfying to only read articles that affirm our own personal opinions. Thats human nature. But, is it wise to be deluded about the existence of contrary viewpoints?

So a story about John Lewis speaking nearby, local artists joining a protest in Atlanta or Coweta residents traveling to D.C. for a march is valuable intelligence for conservatives. It equips conservatives to counter the arguments and tactics of liberals, just as any smart football coach or military commander would study every available scrap of information about an adversary.

After all, it's not like liberals would disappear if the newspaper did not cover them. The liberals themselves don't need the newspaper to tell them what they are doing. And its not like conservatives could be brainwashed by reading something they disagree with. The only consequence of not reporting on liberals activities is that conservatives would be uninformed.

If you look at the unsigned editorials and the majority of columnists on the opinion page, you'll see how conservative the paper is. Only one liberal has been a regular columnist, selected by the previous publisher mainly because he provided some insights on state politics. The rest are very conservative, as are the majority of Sound Off comments published.

The paper hasn't shed its conservative orientation, just tried to give a truer picture of what is happening in this complex, growing community. It's the community that has changed, and it would be a disservice to our subscribers not to let them know.

See the rest here:
Here's why we report on liberals - Newnan Times-Herald

Posted February 12, 2017 19:51:12

The success of the Liberal Party's preference deal with One Nation in WA could be determined by how many support staff are available to hand out how-to-vote cards on the day, according to a political analyst.

"In order to know what you're supposed to do with your preferences, what you need to do is go to someone handing out a how-to-vote card and find the order for this," said Emeritus Professor David Black.

"In the Legislative Council it's completely different. As soon as you vote any party ticket, the preferences will flow in the pre-arranged order, which that party has lodged."

Professor Black said it was likely the Liberal Party, with its larger base of volunteers, would need to help hand out One Nation how-to-vote cards on election day.

"In a difficult election for the Liberal Party, if they can get some kind of deal which works and an adequate number of people available to hand out how-to-vote cards, then it could be a crucial fact in an election which could be very, very tight," he said.

"The impact of preference distribution in the Lower House will be crucially affected by the extent by which the parties can provide the staff at the polling booths to make this happen."

Professor Black said it appeared One Nation could receive a significant primary vote in WA's March election.

"We know that in the previous election when this happened their preferences went against sitting members in the Liberal Party, which suffered," he said.

"In a very difficult election for the Liberal Party this is one obvious way [the Liberals] can see of trying to boost their chances by having a party that's likely to get a pretty strong primary vote more likely to give preferences towards the Liberal Party than against."

"The Labor Party, to win the election, has to probably win 11 to 12 seats or more. If they [the Liberals] can save two, three or four seats, that can make all the difference."

Professor Black described the National party as an election wildcard.

"In the end, what their votes do, how well they do, what happens in places like the Pilbara because of the mining tax and so on, which party benefits is very much up in the air and that just makes it an even more complicated election than we'd otherwise have," he said.

"In order for the Liberals to lose, the Labor Party has to have absolutely everything going right."

Professor Black said the Labor Party appeared to be a in a slightly stronger position, but at the same time they needed to win a lot of seats.

"It's an election that the Liberals, according to the polls, are facing a very, very real prospect of losing," he said.

"But they are confronted by this situation, where for a variety of reasons, One Nation has re-emerged from the clouds and all the opinion polls suggest they're going to get a very substantial portion of the vote."

Professor Black said there could also be some retaliation from the WA Nationals, who could direct their preferences elsewhere.

Topics: elections, liberals, one-nation, polls, wa

More here:
What the Liberal-One Nation preference deal could mean at the ballot box - ABC Online

Toronto Sun

Voters in TO split between PCs and Liberals: Poll Toronto Sun Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff said the Conservatives in Toronto should really hope for better results against the Liberals than a statistical tie, given Kathleen Wynne's historically low approval, and how many provincial seats are at stake ... and more »

See original here:
Voters in TO split between PCs and Liberals: Poll - Toronto Sun

The WA Liberals will preference One Nation ahead of the Nationals in some of the upper house seats at the forthcoming March state election.

The deal is in return for One Nation to preference the party above Labor in the lower house.

Premier Colin Barnett said the deal was a practical, pragmatic decision, and would benefit his government in winning a third term.

"What we're out to do is retain government and there's no doubt, in the Legislative Assembly, in the lower house, One Nation preferences will flow to the Liberal Party," he told reporters on Sunday.

"That will give us a buffer to some of our seats under challenge, so it's to our benefit to win government and beat the Labor party."

However, earlier in February Mr Barnett cautioned people against voting for One Nation, saying it would be hard to govern if the upper house was controlled by a minor party.

Recent polling showed One Nation would be the third most popular party with 13 per cent of the primary vote.

A new Greens poll found 33 per cent of Liberal voters would be less likely to vote for them if they made a deal with One Nation.

The Nationals WA leader Brendon Grylls said his party had sought a direct preference deal with the Liberals, and Mr Barnett had signified it would happen.

"While some political parties believe they own or influence preferences - we believe this shows great disrespect to voters," he said in a statement on Sunday.

"The people of Western Australia will always vote with their hearts and minds, and won't be told how to vote by a piece of paper resulting from a backroom deal."

Mr Grylls said the Nationals had strong support for their policies across the state, and that elections were not won on preferences, but on primary votes.

Federal Labor leader Bill Shorten labelled the deal as a desperate move by a party that had publicly denounced One Nation in the past, and ruled out Labor giving One Nation preferences.

"I think what's turning people off the mainstream parties is when the people of Australia think Turnbull or I are just interested in ripping each other down and not focusing on them," he said.

WA Labor leader Mark McGowan said he was disappointed with the Liberal party and labelled One Nation hypocrites.

"The Liberal party and One Nation have now done a desperate, sneaky, political deal to try and save Mr Barnett's hide," he said.

"One Nation has done a deal with the devil."

Mr McGowan said One Nation were siding with a party that supported the sale of Western Power and foreign jobs, opposite to their own political direction.

Mr Barnett admitted it would be a complex and unusual election.

"There are some unpredictable results to come," he said.

AAP 2017

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See the original post here:
WA Liberals confirm deal with One Nation - 9news.com.au