'Very impressed': Elon Musk speaks to SA premier Jay Weatherill

[Matilda]

South Australia is Australia's most advanced state in terms of use of renewable energy, something the Turnbull government takes great pains to try to deny.

It has just recently been planning even further action, and Tesla's Elon Musk is now getting involved.

"The race to build a battery farm in South Australia heated up Saturday when Tesla founder Elon Musk called SA Premier Jay Weatherill and Atlassian founder Mike Cannon-Brookes revealed he had enough interest to fund 10 times what he'd originally suggested."

(snip)

" 'Today I had a positive discussion with Elon Musk regarding his battery proposal,' Mr Weatherill said. 'Many local, national and international businesses have come to us with proposals in the weeks since we announced our plans to intervene in the broken national energy market.

'We will be releasing our energy plan very soon.'

"On Friday Mr Cannon-Brookes told the Financial Review he had been flooded with offers to help raise about $200 million to take up Mr Musk's offer.

"The reaction has been overwhelming. My phone hasn't stopped buzzing. The support is flooding in, both from individuals in terms of "hell yes!" and from corporates who are asking: "Can we buy power? Can we contribute dollars?" Mr Cannon-Brookes, the co-founder of Atlassian, said. "I need seven days to try and sort out politics and funding – I'm excited to get this off the ground."

http://www.afr.com/technology/very-impressed-elon-musk-speaks-to-sa-premier-jay-weatherill-20170311-guw0de


All Australians who have been urging federal politicians to take meaningful action on climate change are feeling very hopeful right now. Especially with parts of the Great Barrier Reef now damaged beyond repair, we are fed up with politicians whose first duty is to the big industrialists and miners who are ruining our country.

And S.A. Premier Jay Weatherill is the hero of the hour.

[Matilda]

1. S.A. takes on Federal Government on Energy

Following hard on the heels of his earlier announcements regarding building up S.A.'s renewable energy capacity, Premier Jay Weatherill followed up by going toe-to-toe with Federal Energy & Environment Minister Josh Frydenburg yesterday:

The MSM hate it, of course, but generally, the public is on Mr Weatherill's side - we're not all stupid and can see the effects of environmental changes around us every day. And both the Abbott and Turnbull governments have cut funding to every scientific and environmental body they've ever heard of.

And it's worth mentioning that Mr Weatherill faces an election next year, one which he was expected to lose to the Libs. Labor has been in power in S.A. for 14 years, and maybe, just maybe, that could be extended.

(And I love the looks on the faces of the two men at the back.)