Stephen Gentle

The Australien Government has made an ad about our next federal election, and it's surprisingly honest and informative! #auspol #2025Election #PreferentialVoting #ProjectGina

@jamesmassola What do you expect when the modelling was from Ergas? He was part of the group that recommended building a sub-standard NBN that cost more than just doing it with fibre (the standard international best practice) would have...

Remember when the Pharmacy Guild’s Trent Twomey cried over 60 days scripts? 665 pharmacies would close. 20,000 job losses. The end of civilisation as we know it (ok, I made that last one up). So I checked with the Health Dept. Here’s what REALLY happened: smh.com.au/politics/feder…

@DrCameronMurray Wow, the modelling was from Henry Ergas - the same guy who pushed for years to build a sub-standard copper NBN, claiming it would be cheaper. It was even more expensive than if we'd just build best-practice FTTP that would last decades with cheap upgrades every now and then...

Pharmacy lobby claimed 60-day dispensing would kill the industry leading to 665 pharmacies closing and 20,000 job losses Yet in the first 3-months since the policy began, 87 new pharmacies have been approved and only 22 closed. apple.news/A_4aBgljFSUKbu…

"Australians think gas & oil companies pay huge amounts of tax and employ huge numbers of people. This could not be further from the truth." - @ebony_bennett #auspol #climate

In an era of rampant misinformation, propaganda and falsehood, Australia’s national interest would be best served by a much stronger, better funded @ABCaustralia. Shame on successive govts that have gutted our independent national broadcaster. #auspol abc.net.au/news/2024-11-2…

@Paul_Reinhardt @MarcusHouse All the experts say the Government’s regulation is wrong and more harmful, but the Government is rushing it through in less than a week with no real consultation (box ticking exercise only) and zero evidentiary basis to any of it…

@Paul_Reinhardt @MarcusHouse I’m not arguing, just trying to provide some context for just how ridiculous the situation is!

You might think this is a parody account. 🤯🤯🤯 IT IS NOT! 🤯🤯🤯 This is our prime minister taking the lead in the most nonsensical bill that will force ALL Australians (and presumably any tourist that enters the country) to use Digital ID's for public websites they target as social media. All so they can remove freedoms from parents and children, of course under the disguise of "protecting the kids". 🔥 YOU SHALL NOT PASS! 🔥

@senatorpennyqld I expected some of the less tech-savvy organisations might agree in principle, but they were almost all (rightly) against the idea both in principle and as drafted in the bill.

@senatorpennyqld Basically every single expert that responded to the Senate Committee with a submission said that a under-16s social media ban was the wrong thing to do and that it would create more harm! The rejection of the bill by experts was even more universal than I expected!

The PM says "When it comes to the wellbeing of young people...I want Australia to be one of the leading nations in the world." Spare me. 1 in 6 kids live in poverty but instead of raising the rate or building public housing Labor's ramming through a social media ban. We see you.

@Paul_Reinhardt @MarcusHouse (To clarify, many of the submissions are group submissions by 2-5 experts, which is how I get to ‘hundreds’ and not just ‘one hundred’. Also there were open letters urging the Government not to do a blanket ban also signed by hundreds of researchers and experts)

@Paul_Reinhardt @MarcusHouse They had a Senate Committee, hundreds of experts whose responses have been published so far universally condemned it as the wrong way to try and solve the problem, and that it will cause more harms. 107 responses have been published of reportedly about 15000 received.

@anguscoventry @MarcusHouse My hunch is that it will all collapse in a heap because it can’t be implemented without invasive digital ID. But some millions of dollars will be spent on “age assurance” snake-oil like webcam age-estimation that can’t possibly reliably work and win eventually be abandoned…

@MarcusHouse Amendment added to the legislation which states the following, “nothing in the bill allows a social media company to compel the provision of a digital ID or government issued identity documents such as passports or drivers licences”

@Paul_Reinhardt @MarcusHouse Of the 107 public submissions published so far, only about four or five are in support of the idea principle. This is only giving the public 24 hours to respond too. aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_…

@AlboMP You are not on my side. I oppose this legislation 100%.

I’ve got a message for mums and dads: we are on your side. We’ve got your back.

@cameronwilson Their bill is so rushed and poorly thought through… not a chance they actually thought of anything like this… Amazing how universal the condemnation is from basically every expert who submitted to the committee, even some orgs I thought might support in principle, don’t!

@matt_barrie @Matt_Camenzuli Apparently banning under-16 access to social media (changing the status-quo for 20 years) is so important that it has to be rushed through with no scrutiny or debate. Despite basically every expert saying it's the wrong way to deal with the problems and will create more harm...

@Matt_Camenzuli Only one week left right for the year?

Looks like they deleted about 15,000 submissions including mine

@lesstenny Labor have more than proven their uselessness. What a waste of a term of Government... Honestly starting to feel that they're hardly much worse than even Dutton anymore. I was thinking minority Government might be the best outcome last election, I'm desperate for it now.

@lesstenny That's not how preferential voting works. I will not vote for Labor, but I will not vote for LNP more.

Everyone saying they won't vote ALP ever again enjoy Dutton as PM ..it's like giving yourselves an uppercut ..Why would you freaking do that ? #auspol

@NeilBoltonRSPL @BelindaJones68 Who cares about ChatGPTs input? Likely a bunch of those are plausible-sounding but wrong numbers it made up itself...

ChatGPT’s input: To estimate the cost of producing Australia’s electricity from two nuclear sites based on Gencost 2022-2023 estimates, we need to account for the following: 1.Annual electricity demand: •Australia’s annual electricity consumption is approximately 200 TWh (Terawatt-hours). 2.Nuclear generation capacity needed: •A typical nuclear plant has a capacity factor of 90% (operates at near full capacity most of the year). •To produce 200 TWh annually: •Assuming two nuclear sites, each would need to host ~12.7 GW of capacity. 3.Capital costs (from Gencost): •Gencost estimates nuclear SMRs (small modular reactors) at around AUD 10,800/kW (2023 figures). This is an optimistic projection, and real-world costs could be higher. •Total capital cost for 25.4 GW: $274.3B 4.Transmission costs: •Australia’s current grid is not designed for centralized nuclear; significant upgrades would be required. •Assume ~AUD 10 billion/site for transmission upgrades (Gencost estimates ~AUD 1,200/kW for high-capacity transmission infrastructure). •Total transmission costs: $20B 5.Operating costs: •Gencost estimates fixed + variable O&M for nuclear at AUD 130/MWh. •For 200 TWh annual AUD 26 billion/year}. 6.Levelized cost of electricity (LCOE): •Gencost projects an LCOE for nuclear at AUD 131-172/MWh, including capital and O&M but excluding transmission. •For 200 TWh/year, this equates to AUD 26.2-34.4 billion/year for electricity generation. Summary of Costs ComponentCost (AUD) Capital cost (plants)AUD 274.3 billion Transmission upgradesAUD 20 billion O&M cost (annual)AUD 26 billion/year LCOE (annual)AUD 26.2-34.4 billion/year

For a bit of context on Dutton's nuclear policy 1 reactor will cost approx $90 billion There's approx. 11 million dwellings in Australia A stand-alone solar panel &battery kit is abt $10K 11 million x $10K = $110 billion 1 nuke or every house self-sufficient? 🐝 #auspol #qt

@cameronwilson I mentioned this in my submission - the bill does seriously seem to be written to allow the minister to decide basically any online service is or isn’t ‘age-restricted social media’. Anyone runing any service couldn’t get legal advice that would give you a reasonably sure answer