He came, he saw, he lambasted.
American author Robert Bryce tore into Australia’s energy policy during a speaking tour hosted by the conservative think tank The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA).
In a resurfaced interview with Peta Credlin on Sky News, Mr Bryce made clear what he thought of Australia’s apparent refusal to harness its own natural resources.
“Truly, what is wrong with you Australians? You have natural resources that are the envy of the rest of the world,” he fumed.
“You’re the Saudi Arabia of the Southern Hemisphere. You export seven times more coal than you consume and yet you don’t want to burn coal. You have nearly 30 per cent of the world’s uranium and you won’t build nuclear reactors.
“You export three times more natural gas in the form of LNG than you consume and you won’t drill for gas. I mean, I just don’t get it.”
Mr Bryce, who writes about the energy sector, said that he loved Australia and thought it was an “amazing country,” but added, “your policy is just baffling”.
Mr Bryce, who writes about politics and energy, added that he loved Australia and thought it was an “amazing country”. Picture: Supplied
Mr Bryce singled out the Albanese government during his interview with Peta Credlin. Picture: NewsWire/Martin Ollman
The interview struck a nerve among Aussies, and circulated widely when IPA shared it again in January,
“Robert Bryce should read CSIRO’s work which shows that year in year out, coal, gas and nuclear are all orders of magnitude more expensive than wind and solar,” Greens acting leader Senator Sarah Hanson-Young told news.com.au.
“His ideas would force Australian households into bankruptcy to pay for their energy bills. “Failure to transition off dirty and expensive fossil fuels will condemn Australians to bear the costs of more intense fires and storms, all for the profits of coal and gas.”
But some experts and politicians agreed with Mr Bryce’s grim appraisal.
“We live in an alternate universe to logic,” One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce told news.com.au in response to the American’s comments.
Mr Joyce was deputy prime minister when Scott Morrison’s Coalition government introduced a target of net-zero emissions by 2050, but he has since turned against it, branding the policy a “lunatic crusade”.
The Albanese Labor government enshrined the target into law in 2022, along with a 43 per cent emissions cut by 2030. In November, the opposition controversially abandoned its commitment to the policy.
Mr Joyce, who recently defected to One Nation from the Nationals, has also vowed to repeal the law.
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce said he agreed with Mr Bryce’s comments. Picture: NewsWire/Monique Harmer
“If we just got back into the helicopter of common sense and flew about 10 feet off the ground, we’d look down and see how ridiculous we are,” he said.
Mr Joyce said coal-fired power was the cheapest form of electricity but Australia had been led astray by “some perverse cult for which the tidings go to domestic billionaires”.
“There’s this perversion of intelligence that says somehow economics and physics work differently in Australia than in any other country in the world.
“The net-zero policy’s got to go because it’s unattainable, and in trying to attain it you’ll destroy the nation.”
MST Financial Head of Energy Research Saul Kavonic also agreed with Mr Bryce’s points, telling news.com.au, “unfortunately those statements are sound”.
“Australia has all the natural endowments to be an energy superpower with abundant low cost energy,” Mr Kavonic said.
“Australia has amongst the best renewables, coal, gas, uranium, battery minerals and rare earth resources in the world that are the envy of our global trade partners.”
The country had all the resources it needed to underpin “rapid growth” in its manufacturing and technology sectors, he said.
“Only our policy settings can explain why we are at an energy disadvantage, with rising bills, manufacturing closing down and energy shortages holding back our data centre growth – and national security and technology priorities along with it.”
Mr Kavonic said “unrealistic climate positions,” such as the government’s legislated 2050 target of net-zero carbon emissions, were “partly to blame”.
“But the main issue is a government that fundamentally doesn’t understand that they need to be proactive to facilitate investment, and has allowed inertia and hostility towards investment that is embedded within various government departments to prevail.”
Mr Kavonic agreed that Australia’s energy resources were the envy of the world and said the government had failed to facilitate enough investment in the sector. Picture: Britta Campion/The Australian
In his interview with Peta Credlin, Mr Bryce singled out “the Albanese government’s insistence on these ideas about net-zero”.
He had specifically come to Australia to criticise the policy on the IPA-funded tour.
The author’s work argues that net-zero policies drive up electricity prices for consumers and risk industrial decline.
He advocates for countries to use all available energy resources, including nuclear power, to meet their needs and improve living standards.
Renewables ‘becoming much cheaper’
Supporters of net-zero argue renewables will deliver cheaper electricity over time once the infrastructure is built and drive economic growth through new industries.
The policy also reduces the risk of more extreme heat, fires, floods, and droughts brought on by climate change, and proponents say Australia, as a high per-capita emitter and major fossil-fuel exporter, should contribute to global efforts.
If the nation fails to meet its targets under the Paris Agreement, it could face diplomatic and economic impacts from other countries.
“Zero emissions energy is certainly the best path forward, especially for electricity,” said Anna Malos from Monash University’s Climateworks Centre.
“Key parts of Australia’s energy system are ageing – particularly coal-fired generation. Investment is needed to replace the increasingly unreliable generators to ensure that Australian’s have access to reliable electricity.
“The question is, what is the best and cheapest replacement?”
CSIRO’s draft 2025-26 GenCost Report had found that solar PV and onshore wind – along with storage – was the least costly way of providing electricity, Ms Malos said.
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