Conversation 1 Q&A: Are we still sure about net zero?

Conversation 1 Q&A: Are we still sure about net zero?

This year, Australian voters have given the newly elected Labor government a mandate to continue pursuing its chosen path to net zero. But with rising power bills and ever-increasing taxpayer subsidies for renewables, doubts are growing about the promise of a low-cost transition. Can Australia afford to continue down its current path or will a renewables-dominated electricity system imperil our nation’s security and way of life? Is it feasible to decarbonise industry, agriculture and transport? This session will explore the trade-offs in our energy system between decarbonisation, cost, reliability and national security, and discuss whether or not Australia should keep pursuing its net zero targets. 

Director and Founder of the Centre for Independent Studies

Cancer researcher and clinical oncologist, with Genesis Care Newcastle

Director of China and Free Societies program, CIS

Australia’s Ambassador to China from 2007 to 2011, Chairman & CEO of Geoff Raby and Associates Ltd based in Beijing

Liberal Party Member for Berowra

Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure

Diplomat, American Board of Pathology

UQ-CSIRO Chair in Personalised Nanodiagnostics, Professorial Research Fellow, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland

Professor of Economics at Stanford University; Senior Fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution and Chair of the Working Group on Economic Policy, (US)

Executive Director, CIS

Head of Economic Research, Reserve Bank of Australia

Internationally acclaimed novelist and journalist, (US)

Senior Research Fellow and Director, Culture, Prosperity & Civil Society Program, CIS

Professor of Economics, University of Melbourne

Founder and President, Middle East Forum, publisher Middle East Quarterly Journal, (US)

Pro Vice-Chancellor Arts and Academic Culture, and Professor of History, Australian Catholic University

Professor of Public Policy and Director, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis in the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University

 

Former Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives and Cabinet Minister

CEO and Founding Director, China Matters

Senior Research Fellow, Culture, Prosperity & Civil Society Program, CIS

Chinese Canadian human rights advocate

Programme Co-ordinator of the Masters of Urban and Regional Planning, The University of Western Australia

Research Director, CIS

Australian writer and columnist for the News Limited Press

Executive Director, The New Zealand Initiative (NZ)

Founder and CEO, Cognoscenti Group

Director and Founder, Academy of Ideas, London, (UK)

Health Director, Health and BioSecurity, CSIRO

Director, Free Market Foundation, (Hungary)

Sociologist, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Sydney.
Author of The New Authoritarianism

Senior Research Scholar, Marron Institute of Urban Management, New York University, (US)