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If you have solar, smart meters are essential as standard meters are unable to deal with feed in tariffs. I am a VPP (virtual power plant) & buy sell electricity on the wholesale market. My monthly average buy price at the moment is 18.3 cents/kWh & my average FIT is 20.3c/kWh. I have a 18.64kWh battery & sell power to the grid usually from 5pm to 7pm when the price is high. This is all managed by my system provider as the spot price is checked every 5 minutes and my system is told what to do. It even curtails my solar production when the battery is full and the spot FIT goes negative so I do not pay for exporting to the grid.

She was/is exceptionally good at her job of defending the indefensible and attacking the press. You have to admire her talent and confidence. She's only 28.

That is her problem. She is a Trump Yes woman, though everyone who works for him has to be that or they are fired. Getting out before that happens is pretty rare. Anyone with a conscience wouldn't work for the orange man but her salary would have been better than she would ever get anywhere else I imagine, plus of course being in the limelight is something very attractive to some people.

Takes a grubby type to destroy the only worldly possessions of people with nothing.

Trump goes to his doctor and takes off his hat to reveal a huge toad on the top of his head. “When did you notice that?” asked the doctor. And the toad answers: “It began as a boil on my ass.”

Nowadays I am forced to use the only tool that reduces that pain. It's called a debit card.

Do you mean a out standing Comedian? I know, No prize for second place....... I'll get my hat.

Is he a Stand up Comedian? Nev

Creating a questionnaire in order to get the correct sort of information it aims to get is a very difficult thing. Questions have to be carefully worded so that they cannot be misinterpreted. That is one of the problems of the written word. How many time here amongst ourselves has someone posted what appears to be a very clear comment or statment and it has been taken the wrong way by someone? That is the cause of most of the arguments here, or the missing of jokes.

A guy hears a noise outside at his shed. He looks out the window and sees a burglar trying to break into the shed. He quickly calls 000 and explains the situation. The operator says "Sorry sir, we have no resources to send." The guy looks out again, and says, "You have to come. He's stealing my mower." The operator again says," I told you sir, we have no resources to send." Then the guy says, "Oh, don't worry about it, I just shot the twat. He's dead on the lawn.' Within five minutes, there were two helicopters, six police cars and fourteen police swarming around his house. There was no body on the lawn. The police said, "Sir, you lied to us. You didn't shoot anyone." The guy said, "You started it by saying you had no resources."

I know the feeling. Arthritis in the knees means normal knee propulsion to get up off the ground is long gone. I end up like a beetle on my back, then have to roll over on all fours and get up that way.

The Farage party are claiming it as a victory. But, the parliamentary investigation into his £5m undeclared gift has resumed and if found he violated the rules of parliament, a recall petition is put to the electorate and if a certain percentage agree, it will trigger yet another by-election. The reality is that Clacton is one of, if not the most deprived electorate in the UK and immigration, of which Farage is a one trick pony politically, is being blamed by Clactonians for all their problems will mean that the recall petition is unlikely to get the numbers. Reforms winning electorates are all in deprived areas, and is more a protest about them being relied upon for votes be Labour and the Tories more than anything else.. and I would say the apathy of the electorate is partially the result of decades, if not over a century now of being promised the earth and still being sucked dry compared to those who live in marginal electorates. Pork barelling is alive where it will buy a seat. But, Reform's claims to a mandate by the people of Clacton are as hollow as the promises made to the people of Clacton. with a 44% voter turnout against an average turnout of around 65%, it represents 27& of the voting public of Clacton who have voted for him. Of course, we can't predict which way the other 66% pg voters in Clacton would have voted if casting a ballot was mandatory - I would imagine the spoiled ballot count would be high despite the onerous requirement of putting a tick against one person only; but I have a sneaking suspicion Farage would have found the numbers far tighter than the headline suggests.

It seems to be the elephant in the room when it comes to politics. It's only my opinion, but in our three tiered system of government I consider local government the weak link in the chain. There are good local governments (unfortunately mine has never been in that category), but there are are lot of bad ones. They can be either corrupt, wasteful, inefficient, incompetent, arrogant, bullying or a combination of any or all of those things. My state over time has handed local government too much autonomy in my opinion, and I'd like to see more oversight by the state local government department. I don't have statistics on hand, but I've read in the past that other states have retained more control over local government than ours has. There was always a problem with some councils, but the amalgation several years ago led to super councils and made the whole issue a lot worse. Inconsistencies between councils is another issue. As an example, on the news today the Moreton Bay council announced they are dedicating a local park to rough sleepers and homeless people and letting them use the council toilet and shower facilities there. Their idea is to have the homeless in a more manageable situation regarding facilities and support services. On the other hand, the Gold Coast council is issuing heavy fines to rough sleepers, and confiscating and destroying their gear.

David Clayton-Thomas, the unmistakable voice behind some of the biggest hits from Blood, Sweat & Tears, has died at age 84, marking the end of an era for one of classic rock’s most distinctive frontmen. According to his publicist, the singer died peacefully in a Toronto hospital. No cause of death has been publicly disclosed.

Former Young Talent Time host Johnny Young has died aged 79, his family announced on Friday morning, following a brief battle with pancreatic cancer.

Cannot work . There is no perpetual motion machine possible let alone one with spare power. Nev

A lot of truth in that. Smaller rural councils generally are a lot more in touch with the community and there's only a few bad eggs among those councils. A lot of the bigger councils have totally lost the concept of being there to serve the community and a lot think they are our masters rather than our servants. I've never been one for party politics in councils like they have in the city councils, but taking into account the inept rabble we have posing as our local council, it makes me wonder whether party alligned councilors would make it easier to turf the lot out at an election. As it stands, some councillors lose their jobs at election time and some major offenders remain, so things don't get any better. If it was party based, would it make them perform any better. Maybe it would if they thought the whole bunch was at risk or at least a majority of them. Another factor is that it's not only the elected councillors that are the problem. The council bureaucrats have a lot to answer for as well. My advice to anyone who has a good, well performing and honest council is to appreciate what you have because a lot of people don't have that.

Today I rang Red Energy and arranged swapping to them after my next Origin bill due in a couple of weeks. It was very refreshing to talk to Australian based customer support. Everything worked well and went great just like it used to with Origin before they outsourced their customer support overseas. Sub standard customer support is the number one reason I'm leaving Origin; the data breach incident is just another contributing factor. At the end of this month it's good riddance Origin. Price wise, they're fairly close. Based on my useage, Red Energy is about $100 per year cheaper than Origin. When I get settled in to Red Energy, the next step is to get a smart meter installed and that will remove the problem of the contract meter readers who don't like going off the bitumen on to rural properties. I could deal with estimated bills if the meter readers were honest about their reasons given for not accessing the property but they're not. It's another case of good service going to the pack when things get contracted out. When Energex (the primary supplier/wholesaler) employed their own people to read the meters they quite happily accessed the property for 30+ years without a problem. I think the roll out date here for smart meters ends in 2030, so sometime in the next couple of years I would be compelled to swap to a smart meter anyway.

What's the diffeence between in-laws and outlaws? Outlaws are wanted.

I worked on that project in the 1990s. It takes a while to get mines going.

You might have heard about USA's critical shortage of Air Traffic Controllers. Fret not, the problem is solved. (Air traffic controllers who are easily bored and seek instant gratification, and have a game over - restart button, yeah that'll work.)

Yes they are. That would provide perhaps 10% of what they need, same as Australia.

You would have thought these countries would be perfect fits for solar + batteries?

"roads were made for horse and cart, but now you want to ditch them for these newfangled automobiles... It'll never work..."

Logic dictates that we should move with the times. A long time ago, burning coal was a great step forward. Times change and new less toxic methods of making energy are developed. No need to stay locked into the old era of the industrial revolution, powered by burning fossil fuels. Every system has its drawbacks, and its solutions. Let go of the old. Move on.

IF Nuclear is so good More of it would be being ordered. It NEEDS lots of Water and with the Climate changing that water cannot be guaranteed. Things that Need cooling are adding heat to the equation. The heat energy that solar uses comes here anyhow reliably,safely and free.. OF all Places on earth, Australia Has to be one of the best Places for it. Nev

We used to have empires, run by emporers. Then we had kingdoms, run by kings. Now we just have countries, .........

He can have the Largest most Gaudy Cript and Buildings and airports etc named after him. He's doing that Now. He wants to be remembered " More than any person in History". See HE has this Superiority Complex and Giant EGO problem. He WILL be remembered but not the way HE wishes. Nev

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa! I didn't record the various sources that I found when I was researching the question, so I can't post them here. Needless to say that I did find the references in order to satisfy my curiosity. The following is an extract from this Wikipedia entry summarises what I found. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Valley_cannabis_infestation Cannabis sativa seeds first arrived in Australia in 1788 on the First Fleet at the request of Sir Joseph Banks. The blueprint for the New South Wales colony, approved by the British Cabinet in 1786, envisaged Australia as a commercial colony producing hemp. The blueprint for the New South Wales colony was created for the British parliament in 1786. Banks provided a supply of seed. However, the British were too optomistic about the rate of establishment ot teh colony which would have failed due to starvation had Governor Phillip not done all he could to keep everyone alive, but on meagre rations until replenishment occured. Settle yourself down and watch this video which will enlighten you as to the first ten years of the colony. The video is an Australian prodcution aand one of a series dealing with early British colonisation of Australia.

I helped a friend pull the engine out of his car yesterday. The problem for both of us was getting up again after we got down underneath to undo bolts.

Annoying, isn't it!

Here's an example of how the wording of a question can give rise to implications. 1. 'Do you beat your wife?' 2. 'Do you still beat your wife?' The inclusion of the word, 'still', completely changes the implication of the answer.

My response was on two items, I should have been more specific. One was energy density, which Siso has addressed. The other is the UK powering itself by wind. That is like the old saying that ten litres of a toxin was enough to kill everyone in the world. Maybe, but it ain’t going to happen.

Sorry - couldn't resist A leader resigns and decides to not contest the next election. Hardly news, is it?

You prove my point, which was that the written word is frequently misinterpreted. The response is a comment on the example given to illustrate the point, not a comment on the point I was making. The comment in response, while not incorrect of itself, illustrates that the author of a text should take care that what is written is free from misinterpretation. However, an author cannot know how the mind of the reader will interpret the text.

OME was being diplomatic.

Very often they are hamstrung by regulations generated by the two higher levels of government. For example, our housing industry at the moment has to comply with a Standards document of 200 pages in order to have ahouse approved for habitation. The council staff can't ignore all those reulations without placing the Council into a legal liability trap. As for Councils being composed of people with Party alignments, that just gets you into the same stalemates as the upper levels of government. In many cases geting onto the local coucil is a first step in a political career in the higher levels of government. Self interest overrides the idea of helping the community.

I call BS on that. There's no such thing as a free lunch.

I dunno. I was happy enough to tick "no religion", I didn't care that they didn't break that down into "agnostic", "never thought about it", "atheist", or "cult survivor atheist".

She definitely has a quick mind, being able to jump from topic to topic instantly. I'll not get into a discussion about her beliefs. I'm hoping that my comment will be accepted as being a polite congratulation about a skill she has but I do not. Could she reenter politics after her children have grown a little? I don't think so because her reputation has been blackened by her association with Trump.

Clutching at straws? The issue is with Nuclear,in Europe needing water to cool. So does Coal but not as much.The Failure of Fukashima set japan back years in Lost Production and model updates. Nev.

Now that's commitment. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-11/eltham-pilot-turned-baker-quit-flying-for-climate-change-vic/106945332

The middle east runs on oil they pump from the ground. However, they are looking to nuclear for the future. Iran has the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant: this plant has one operational reactor and provides around 2% of the country's electricity. It was completed in 2011 and is part of Iran's extensive nuclear program (!) Barakah Nuclear Power Plant: Situated in the UAE, this plant consists of four reactors and is expected to add two more. It generates about 25% of the UAE's domestic energy needs. Egypt's El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant: This facility is nearing completion and will have a total installed capacity of 4,800 megawatts. It is part of Egypt's comprehensive energy strategy and aims to provide clean electricity for sale abroad.

To Increase the Uptake I would suggest, as it's in everyone's interest.. Nev

What good does it do a man to be the richest person to be buried in the cemetery?

I saw an interview with Penny Wong a few months ago on insiders. The first 5 mins was just having pot shots at the opposition. As well as being kept on subject by the interviewer the opposition gets the "I don't believe you" lines chucked in during the interviews. Murdoch has nothing to do with this. Everyone knows they are biased. The ABC is paid for by the taxpayer and should treat all sides of government the same. No Brainer really. The left leaning think they are the best things out. I have people in my direct family that think the same. They don't appreciate it being bought to their attention. Just so you know, the last time I can remember voting for a major party at the top of the voting slip was when Howard bought in the gst and I did not support that. None have earnt my vote towards the top of the voting slip since.

Needs explaining to me.edit OK just took a while.

It's mountain out of molehill stuff.. Australia has, for as long as I can remember had this requirement. For the automatic UK citizenship issue, there is virtually no chance of coming a cropper because of it. They have no idea if your grandparents are British, and if you have no idea you become a citizen as a result, and don't declare it on your ETA application, you will enter as an Aussie citizen.