THE growing ruckus surrounding Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon and his ouster from the federal Labor shadow cabinet has exposed more than the ALP version of the climate change fault line that also exists on the conservative side of politics.
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It is also an expression of Labor frustration at losing an election that many in the Coalition feared it would win. Now, despite a very shaky start, Mr Morrison is all but lording it over the opposition, which has failed to strike a decent blow despite the leadership switch from Bill Shorten to Anthony Albanese.
Mr Albanese's supporters accused Mr Fitzgibbon of torpedoing Labor's parliamentary plan for this week, which was to try to wedge the Morrison government by portraying Democrat Joe Biden's victory in the US as being won on climate change.
In fact, Mr Fitzgibbon may have done his side a favour: it would not have taken much for the government to point out the widespread disappointment at the Democrat result in the House and the Senate.
President Trump may have lost the White House, but his Republican candidates proved much more popular than their divisive leader.
In a similar vein, outspoken members on Labor's left, including Shortland MP Pat Conroy, might want to describe Mr Fitzgibbon as part of a "small minority" in the ALP caucus with similar views, but the veteran MP is doing nothing more than he should, by standing up for the interests of his electorate, and voicing the concerns that many others with otherwise pro-renewables sentiments will still have, given the technical complexity of turning the grid green.
The problem is not generating power through solar or wind farms. It is maintaining enough power each night, and in times of still or wet weather.
Pumped hydro - along with giant batteries - are routinely touted as answers to the storage problem, but as the NSW Coalition government's Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap, released this week, makes clear, the technological difficulties are substantial.
It's the real-world challenges posed by a renewable conversion, more than any ideological fondness for coal, that worry many of those with doubts about the mission.
Until those doubts are removed - and a "just transition" guaranteed for affected communities - the divide will remain.
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Ian Kirkwood
Reporting journalist at the Newcastle Herald since 1987. Editorial writer, general reporter, industrial relations, industry and coal.
Reporting journalist at the Newcastle Herald since 1987. Editorial writer, general reporter, industrial relations, industry and coal.
