The restructuring of electricity sectors has resulted in households paying significantly higher prices. Some European prices rose by more than 100 per cent between 2000 and 2010. NSW households experienced an 80 per cent increase during the period 2007 to 2012. Growing numbers of low-income and vulnerable households are spending higher proportions of disposable income on energy bills and, we contend, suffer deprivation and social exclusion as a result. This phenomenon, we posit, is a new form of energy poverty driven by rapidly rising electricity prices which are directly related to electricity sector restructuring. The energy-impoverished population is estimated at 150 million in Europe, and growing. Policy responses are ineffective and poorly targeted, while Australian policy makers rely on measures which significantly understate electricity price changes. This article explores the prevalence and consequences of the problem of energy poverty and outlines the extent of its occurrence in Australia, the country hailed as an exemplar of electricity sector liberalisation.A new form of energy poverty is the hallmark of liberalised electricity sectors
The intensity and duration of the 2019-2020 Australian bushfires were unprecedented, as were the global impacts. The area burnt was greater than the size of South Korea or Scotland and Wales combined. These bushfires took 7 months to contain or extinguish. The smoke plume, which spread around the world, was the equivalent size of the 11 largest states of the US. Carbon dioxide emissions approached Australia's annual total emissions. Over 90% of the adult population was impacted in some way. Thirty-three people died, and nearly 450 people died from smoke affects. More than a billion animals perished. This article contends that the story of these bushfires is much more complex than one of climate change, as posited by some. It is argued that the scale and catastrophic impact of these bushfires were caused-and exacerbated-by a conjunction of cumulative events, (in)actions, and institutions. This story is a potent mix of the problematisation of bushfires and governing, a federation of nation and local states fractured by constitutional responsibilities, the impact of neoliberal austerity policies on land management, discordant local-state policies, a long-term disregard of indigenous fire practices, the role of community (volunteerism), the transmission of (mis)information by social and traditional media, record temperatures, national rainfall the lowest for over a century, at least a third of the continent experiencing a severe 3year drought, and more.
Australia has one of the most 'liberalised' electricity sectors in the world. The sale of government-owned electricity companies has contributed to that liberalisation and a quarter of the proceeds of one of the world's largest privatisation programmes. In 2014, the state governments of New South Wales and Queensland announced further electricity privatisations if re-elected. Advocates claim private ownership will mean more productive investment, lower costs leading to more efficient operations, lower prices for all consumers and better market functioning without government interference. Opponents contend that the true value of government businesses is not being realised at sale, retention can achieve returns greater than those from a sale, and that follow sale, prices will rise and jobs will be lost. This article demonstrates that the claims of either lower or higher prices, of job losses and of more efficient operations are tantamount to being myths of privatisation not borne out by reality.
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