John Scutt

Just in case you don’t know: If you want to see a global crisis, let Australia run out of fuel… Did you know that Australia is the 22nd largest exporter on earth. 15th largest country by measure of GDP. As far as minerals go, we are the 3rd largest exporter of minerals on earth but per capita, we are by far the largest. We are the 3rd largest overall energy exporter on the planet, largest of the OECD countries. We are the Largest exporter of iron ore #1 $87,700,000,000 87.7 billion dollars or 55.9% of the global total. Largest lithium producer #1 61,000 tons 46.9% of global supply. Largest exporter of zinc #1 $2,2100,000,000 2.21 billion dollars Largest exporter for barley #1 $2,370,000,000 2.37 billion dollars Largest exporter for Bauxite #1 110 million tonnes Largest exporters of Liquid Natural Gas #1 in volume #3 in revenue. $27,400,000,000 27.4 billion dollars Largest wheat exporter #1 $10,200,000,000 Largest exporter of sheep #1 49% of global supply $1,500,000,000 Largest exporter of opals #1 90% of global supply. Largest exporter of manganese #1 $1,390,000,000 2nd Largest beef exporter after Brazil. 12 billion dollars. $12,200,000,000 2nd Largest gold exporter #2 310 tons annually 34.2 billion dollars 3rd Largest grain exporter #3 14% of global supply. Large exporter of copper #3 $64,200,000,000 - 7.1% 2nd largest exporter of uranium. #2 4.1 billion tonnes We have 30% of the known global uranium reserves. 5th Largest exporter of silver #5 Number 8 exporter of aluminium #8 $4.1 billion dollars 4.5% of global supply 26th Largest exporter of oil #26 $7,540,000,000 $7.54 billion dollars Australia is the 4th Largest coal producer of coal on earth. We are the Largest coal exporter on earth. 50% of worlds sea born coal comes from Australia. 150 million coming from the mighty Hunter which is the largest single coal export port on earth. It is completely irresponsible to allow a country that feeds and powers the world to get into a situation where we may need to pull up trucks because we have a fuel shortage… And you still have to work and get only 50% of your earnings? You kidding me! Where’s the money?

An Open Letter to Chairman Xi Dear Chairman Xi, Congratulations on another masterclass in “strategic defeat.” After years of advertising Venezuela as an ironclad friend, Beijing has now demonstrated the full meaning of that phrase: ironclad until the moment it matters. With Nicolás Maduro removed from the board, China has gracefully exited a position that just happened to include 303 billion barrels of proven oil reserves—the largest on Earth—worth roughly $17 trillion at current prices (Sourced from @glennbeck). A remarkable show of discipline. Few leaders have the courage to walk away from assets of that scale while simultaneously lecturing the world about “energy security.” But oil, of course, is overrated. China only purchases 60–90% of Venezuela’s crude exports, 85–90% of Iran’s oil, and nearly half of Russia’s output. Minor details. Trivial dependencies. Easily replaced by speeches about multipolarity. Unfortunately, timing can be cruel. With Venezuela destabilized and Iran wobbling at the same moment, China now stands to lose roughly 70% of its non–U.S.-regulated oil supply. Seventy percent. A rounding error, surely. After all, what’s a modern industrial economy without energy? This development has several exciting side benefits: No Taiwan war, because wars require fuel. No AI dominance, because data centers don’t run on slogans. No BRICS reserve currency, because confidence backed by energy scarcity is… innovative. Game theory, simplified. The West, inconveniently, does not share this problem. Gas prices continue to fall. Refining capacity hums along. The issue was never about needing Venezuelan oil. As Secretary Rubio put it with refreshing bluntness: the United States simply will not allow the oil industry in this hemisphere to be controlled by adversaries. In other words, the oil stays in the ground—or flows west—but it does not flow to Beijing. By stepping away from Maduro at the critical moment, China didn’t just lose a partner. It forfeited leverage over energy, timing, and escalation. The long game was played—by someone else—and the board was quietly reset. But there is good news. There will still be press releases. There will still be summits. There will still be ironclad friendships—just lighter, more symbolic ones. And somewhere in North Korea, Kim Jong Un is watching all of this very carefully. Pyongyang now understands the rule: China is happy to pose for photos, issue statements, and talk about shared destiny—right up until the day destiny sends the bill. Ironclad friendships, it seems, rust fastest when tested. With warm regards and cooler pipelines, Ken Cao