The national electricity market is a failed 1990s experiment

The jolt to the national electricity grid in recent weeks — culminating in supply shocks and a forced suspension of the wholesale market — has prompted deep reflection on where policymakers went so badly awry.

University of Queensland economist John Quiggin can pinpoint the exact moment: 1998, when the national electricity market burst into being. That radical restructure connected the electricity assets of the eastern states into a single mega-grid, and created a wholesale market that was supposed to provide consumers with cheaper and more reliable power.

The changes coincided with a micro-economic trend towards privatising public assets. Today, energy bills are skyrocketing and the system often struggles when electricity demand is very high. And dilapidated old coal plants and other fossil fuels still dominate the energy mix.

As Quiggin writes today, now’s the time to create a national grid that serves the public and meets the challenges of a warming world. He calls for a new government-owned and operated body — with decarbonisation as a core goal — to take control of Australia’s electricity system.

Meanwhile, this week marks five years since we launched The Conversation in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Our NZ editors and authors have changed lives by putting evidence in front of policymakers. For instance, leading epidemiologist Michael Baker said writing a story for The Conversation helped him develop the elimination strategy later adopted by the Ardern government.

You can read more from our NZ team here.

Nicole Hasham

Section Editor: Energy + Environment

Today's newsletter supported by The Conversation

Politics + Society

Word from The Hill: On the economy, people smugglers, parliamentary sitting, and Julian Assange

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

Michelle Grattan discusses politics with politics + society editor, Amanda Dunn
Not a ‘relationship’: why the legal language of child abuse needs to change

Elizabeth Dallaston, Queensland University of Technology

Some states have changed the wording of their laws in line with recommendations from the royal commission – but more needs to be done.
A flurry of attention, then collective forgetfulness – 100 years of the ‘ndrangheta Calabrian mafia in Australia

Anna Sergi, University of Essex

A flurry of recent reporting on the ‘ndrangheta may give the impression their activity in Australia is relatively new. In truth, the ‘ndrangheta has been in Australian society for a century.
Final Senate results: Labor, the Greens and David Pocock will have a majority of senators

Adrian Beaumont, The Conversation

This is an important win for the Albanese government, as it means it can pass legislation with the agreement of the Greens and one other.

Health + Medicine
Where do all the mosquitoes go in the winter? Cameron Webb, University of Sydney Mosquitoes are commonplace in summer but where do they go once the weather cools? They don’t completely disappear but find fascinating ways to survive the winter.

Science + Technology
Levelling up: why Netflix and TikTok are turning to gaming to secure their future James Birt, Bond University; Darren Paul Fisher, Bond University Netflix and TikTok were both first-movers, but unlike larger businesses they haven’t diversified their services very much. It seems they’re starting with gaming.

Environment + Energy

After decades of loss, the world’s largest mangrove forests are set for a comeback

Benjamin Brown, Charles Darwin University; Satyawan Pudyatmoko, Universitas Gadjah Mada

For decades, Indonesia’s mangroves have been degraded or turned into aquaculture. But there are signs of progress, with a new focus on restoration and income-generating alternatives.
The world’s affluent must start eating local food to tackle the climate crisis, new research shows

Arunima Malik, University of Sydney; Mengyu Li, University of Sydney

Since 1995, worldwide agricultural and food trade has more than doubled. It’s never been clearer that eating local produce is a powerful way to take action on climate change.

Education

To give schools real choice about secular school chaplains, latest change needs to go further

Luke Beck, Monash University

Schools currently rely on third-party providers that require all those who apply to do student counselling and community work as school chaplains to have a committed Christian faith.
How the early childhood learning and care system works (and doesn’t work) – it will take some fixing

Peter Hurley, Victoria University

The system has several elements and many problems. Making it fit for purpose will take a lot of work and even more resources than those that have just been announced.

Arts + Culture

The 5 best films from the 2022 Sydney Film Festival

Ari Mattes, University of Notre Dame Australia

Our expert saw around 40 films at this year’s Sydney Film Festival, and presents their top picks.
At Ngununggula, the Southern Highlands new regional gallery, audiences come face-to-face with uneasy contemporary art

Joanna Mendelssohn, The University of Melbourne

Land Abounds, created for Ngununggula in the heart of NSW’s Southern Highlands questions the comfort of the Australian landscape tradition

Books + Ideas
The book that changed me: how Priya Satia’s Time’s Monster landed like a bomb in my historian’s brain Yves Rees, La Trobe University From the 18th century, historians taught us to understand the world as a story of linear progress. But this viewpoint made them architects of empire. History, writes Yves Rees, has blood on its hands.

Business + Economy
Matariki falls during a quiet retail season – but businesses should be wary of cashing in Mike Lee, University of Auckland Matariki is New Zealand’s newest public holiday but businesses are being warned to tread carefully before using the celebration to lure customers.