Victoria

Hello darkness, my old friend – Australia’s reckless closure of coal-fired power plants

2 May 2025 / 7 Comments

Australia has been actively closing its major coal power plants despite their clear advantages in terms of low operating costs and the ability to provide continuous baseload power, regardless of weather conditions. This reckless policy experiment has led to soaring energy prices and jeopardised reliability.

Despite clear warnings, governments and regulators have doubled down on forcing coal out of the market, despite its ability to provide dependable, dispatchable power in favour of intermittent renewables that cannot.

Guardians of health and security: Point Nepean’s twin roles in history

18 April 2025 / 4 Comments

Point Nepean, located at the tip of Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, is a site of remarkable historical significance. It houses Australia’s second-oldest surviving barracks-style quarantine buildings and fortifications that once protected the colony’s coastline. As the primary quarantine station in Victoria until 1979, Point Nepean played a pivotal role in safeguarding public health.

Australia’s Engineering Marvel

17 January 2025 / 4 Comments

After the Snowy, she was a nation.

Nelson Lemmon

Thank God we had visionary leaders and the world’s best engineers in Australia 75 years ago. Without their efforts, the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric scheme – one of the seven engineering wonders of the world – might never have come to fruition.

This monumental project blended innovative thinking, engineering brilliance, and the dedication of a diverse workforce.

Debunking false claims about bushfire risk and native forest logging in Australia

17 January 2025 / 21 Comments

Recently, a troubling narrative has emerged that native forest logging in Australia contributes significantly to increased bushfire risk. Some academics championed this idea, purporting to follow the scientific method, but often their work lacks scientific rigour. These claims have misled the public, skewing the debate around forest management, fire prevention, and the ecological role of logging.

The unsung timber product during war time

4 October 2024 / 2 Comments

At the start of WWII, Australia was unprepared for a prolonged conflict, processing just enough petrol reserves for three months and limited storage capacity.

Though fuel rationing wasn’t immediately imposed, the government urged citizens to conserve petrol, hoping to avoid drastic measures.

While the motor industry strongly petitioned against any fuel rationing, by 1 October 1940, however, fuel rationing became a necessity.

The joy of being a tour guide

30 August 2024 / 9 Comments

I have spent decades in our wonderful forests, witnessing their cycles of destruction and regeneration, and in all that time, I’ve seen one constant: public perception remains stubbornly fixed on a false image of forestry. Headlines scream of devastation. Activists show photos of freshly logged areas, convincing the public that this is a permanent state.

Is too much pounding the table the problem with science today?

2 August 2024 / 12 Comments

“Science requires open debate. It does not advance by consensus or political pressure”.

What is science

“The scientific method requires scientists to test all theories. Science progresses not by claiming a theory is true but by proving a theory is false”.

I will start this essay by clarifying what science is not.

Can rangeland pastoralists survive by riding on the goat’s back?

5 July 2024 / 5 Comments

During our trip through western New South Wales in March 2022, we saw significant numbers of feral goats. These goats were everywhere, spanning from Broken Hill east through Wilcannia and Cobar onto Nyngan, covering over 600 kilometres in mulga country.

We had an overnight stop on the Barrier Highway at the Meadow Glen Rest Area, about 60 kilometres west of Cobar.

Timber’s role in the rise of Australian butter

31 May 2024 / 3 Comments

While researching for my three-part series on the truth behind the rainforest wars in New South Wales (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), there was a constant theme in the historical account of utilising one species of rainforest timber. While the cutting of hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) was undoubtedly very extensive in New South Wales, the scale of utilisation in Queensland was even more significant, and one of its primary uses was for butter boxes.

The 6th Mass Extinction Crisis – speculation without substance?

3 May 2024 / 2 Comments

Unfortunately, conjecture based on limited facts has produced “research” trumpeting catastrophic fears of extinction. Jim Steele

Introduction

Our planet now faces a global extinction crisis never witnessed by humankind. Scientists predict that more than 1 million species are on track for extinction in the coming decades.

As the world commemorates another Endangered Species Day, you will undoubtedly read or hear claims like the above.