4 ms·

Its a great sound byte for the politicains. Politicians aren't known for the economic and business acumen. Sound bytes and promise of jobs get them elected.

Its a great sound byte for the politicains. Politicians aren't known for the economic and business acumen. Sound bytes and promise of jobs get them elected. Don't know the details of this project but if the cable is subsidized by the government it doesn't matter if it scales super or sublinearly, taxpayers are on the hook.

threeseed 2y ago
None of this really applies to Australia. a) Politicians are typically more educated than say in the US. b) They rely heavily on the public service who are experienced to do the heavy lifting. c) The jobs aren't in the areas that matter for Federal elections.
- aatharuv 2y ago
  Your politicans, like Malcolm Turnbull in 2017, believe that the laws of Australia trump the laws of Mathematics, in the context of trying to weaken strong encryption. In at least some areas, they need a better education.
  - Gustomaximus 2y ago
    Not the best example for a tech savvy person. He had that image as he made a heap of $$ investing in some early internet company, but yeah he didn't seem to actually know what he was doing tech wise. His real crime was playing a part in destroying the fibre to the premise internet rollout across Australia. He thought he could do it cheaper with mixed copper/coaxial technology. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/10/malcolm-turnbull-directs-nbn-to-mixed-technology https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/10/malcolm-turnbu... I can't imagine how many billions this has cost the country and generally lowered our internet standards.
  - denismi 2y ago
    The laws of Australia do trump the laws of mathematics in that context though? If the government forces Google to push out a version of FacebookMessenger.apk to the Play Store account belonging to janetlovescats93@gmail.com, which uploads hourly plaintext chat logs to a Google Drive folder that authorities can read, then I'm really not sure what the mathematics of Facebook Messenger's encryption can do?
- femto 2y ago
  > a) Politicians are typically more educated than say in the US. As exhibit 'A' for the counterargument, I offer Kate Worden: NT's Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water Security. Did you see her interview in Monday's "Water Grab" report by 4 Corners [1]? One example of her logic: Farmers are planting circular fields, which is what you do for a central pivot water irrigation system, and Woden is saying with a straight face that irrigation is not being used and the cotton crop is only relying on rainfall with no dams or groundwater extraction involved. Some choice words from the interview are that she is "sick of the science". There are lots of other goodies. Her interview is a masterclass in ignorance. [1] https://iview.abc.net.au/show/four-corners https://iview.abc.net.au/show/four-corners
  - mikrotikker 2y ago
    I think you may have missed the qualifier "typically"
7952 2y ago
These kind of projects are getting proposed because the business case is painfully simple. Buy electricity cheap and sell it high. Its arbitrage. The price difference needs to be just enough to pay for the debt that funded construction.
- mikrotikker 2y ago
  Just wait for one of Aussies famous dust storms to blow thru and scratch all the PV to shit....
  - cqqxo4zV46cp 2y ago
    Yes. If there’s one thing we Aussies can’t do well, it’s solar. /s

threeseed 2y ago

None of this really applies to Australia. a) Politicians are typically more educated than say in the US. b) They rely heavily on the public service who are experienced to do the heavy lifting. c) The jobs aren't in the areas that matter for Federal elections.

aatharuv 2y ago
Your politicans, like Malcolm Turnbull in 2017, believe that the laws of Australia trump the laws of Mathematics, in the context of trying to weaken strong encryption. In at least some areas, they need a better education.
- Gustomaximus 2y ago
  Not the best example for a tech savvy person. He had that image as he made a heap of $$ investing in some early internet company, but yeah he didn't seem to actually know what he was doing tech wise. His real crime was playing a part in destroying the fibre to the premise internet rollout across Australia. He thought he could do it cheaper with mixed copper/coaxial technology. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/10/malcolm-turnbull-directs-nbn-to-mixed-technology https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/10/malcolm-turnbu... I can't imagine how many billions this has cost the country and generally lowered our internet standards.
- denismi 2y ago
  The laws of Australia do trump the laws of mathematics in that context though? If the government forces Google to push out a version of FacebookMessenger.apk to the Play Store account belonging to janetlovescats93@gmail.com, which uploads hourly plaintext chat logs to a Google Drive folder that authorities can read, then I'm really not sure what the mathematics of Facebook Messenger's encryption can do?
femto 2y ago
> a) Politicians are typically more educated than say in the US. As exhibit 'A' for the counterargument, I offer Kate Worden: NT's Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water Security. Did you see her interview in Monday's "Water Grab" report by 4 Corners [1]? One example of her logic: Farmers are planting circular fields, which is what you do for a central pivot water irrigation system, and Woden is saying with a straight face that irrigation is not being used and the cotton crop is only relying on rainfall with no dams or groundwater extraction involved. Some choice words from the interview are that she is "sick of the science". There are lots of other goodies. Her interview is a masterclass in ignorance. [1] https://iview.abc.net.au/show/four-corners https://iview.abc.net.au/show/four-corners
- mikrotikker 2y ago
  I think you may have missed the qualifier "typically"

7952 2y ago

These kind of projects are getting proposed because the business case is painfully simple. Buy electricity cheap and sell it high. Its arbitrage. The price difference needs to be just enough to pay for the debt that funded construction.

mikrotikker 2y ago
Just wait for one of Aussies famous dust storms to blow thru and scratch all the PV to shit....
- cqqxo4zV46cp 2y ago
  Yes. If there’s one thing we Aussies can’t do well, it’s solar. /s