Aidan Morrison and Derek Bush join John for a frank conversation about Australia's cumbersome renewable energy transition, and the real costs being borne by the communities expected to host it. They make the case that rural Australians are being overrun by a policy conceived in cities and imposed on regional areas, exposing the considerable gap between the government's 2030 targets and what the national grid can realistically deliver. This is a timely warning that Australia's energy policy is being driven by political ambition rather than engineering reality, and that the consequences will be felt by every Australian as power bills continue to rise. Aidan Morrison is a leading researcher into Energy Systems and currently the Director of Energy Research at the Centre for Independent Studies. In 2023 he exposed how the famous CSIRO report “GenCost” excluded vast costs required to integrate and firm renewables by treating them as “sunk” costs. In 2024 he was amongst the strongest voices calling for nuclear energy in Australia and was a leading critic of the ‘Integrated System Plan’ (or ISP): Australia’s blue-print for a transition to an energy system dominated by wind and solar. Derek Bush is a farmer from Bookham in southwest New South Wales, where his family has worked the land for many years, growing flowers and other produce. He has become an outspoken advocate for rural communities navigating the impacts of wind farm development and Australia's energy transition. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conversations feature John Anderson, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, interviewing the world's foremost thought leaders about today's pressing social, cultural and political issues. John believes proper, robust dialogue is necessary if we are to maintain our social strength and cohesion. As he puts it; "You cannot get good public policy out of a bad public debate." If you value this discussion and want to see more like it, make sure you subscribe to the channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtnYSEGViOnb7k8ezUaWUww?sub_confirmation=1 And stay right up to date with all the conversations by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://johnanderson.net.au/contact/ Follow John on X: https://x.com/JohnAndersonAC Follow John on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnandersonac Follow John on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnandersonac/ Support the channel: https://johnanderson.net.au/support/ Website: https://johnanderson.net.au/ Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6Qh2fEsC7nEVxXxQzwTv54 2QH0QLLWRVNX5LFA -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow Aidan on X: https://x.com/FootnotesGuy Follow Aidan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aidan-morrison-23340128/ Follow the Centre for Independent Studies on X: https://x.com/CISOZ