Latest news with #Amber-JadeSanderson
West Australian
2 days ago
- Politics
- West Australian
Steve Martin: Green hydrogen can't solve WA's impending energy woes
When the Premier announced a new Energy Minister in March, we were optimistic Amber-Jade Sanderson would bring a fresh and practical approach and a practical and responsible view to the energy debate. For far too long the State Government has been talking big about the upcoming energy transition but delivering mighty small. In an opinion piece in The West this month, Ms Sanderson said her 'job is supporting our heavy industry to decarbonise to meet national emissions targets'.That is only one part of her job and not her first and most important responsibility. Her first job is to keep the lights on and power running to all the houses, businesses and heavy industries that need it, and to do it at a cost that householders, businesses, and industries can afford. The Government's lack of a clear and coherent energy plan means they are on their way to failing their first responsibility. Fortunately for all West Australians, the Energy Minister admitted that gas was needed as a transition fuel. It was good to see Premier Roger Cook also support gas as an export commodity that can reduce emissions overseas and in turn resist a 2030 State target. The bad part was the reinforcement of the Government position that they are relying on green hydrogen to save their bacon. As reported by The West in May, a competitive target price for green hydrogen would be $2 per kilogram, but a trial running in WA, partially funded by taxpayers, is producing the hydrogen at $24.50 a kilo. With a price 10 times the competitive rate, it is no wonder green hydrogen projects are being abandoned at a rapid rate. In the State Government's other trial of green hydrogen in Denham last year, it turned out it took 379,503 kWh of wind energy to be converted into 1,422kg of hydrogen, which was then converted back into a tiny 16,044 kWh of electricity being returned to the grid. In other words, a paltry 4 per cent of the energy used to make green hydrogen made it into the grid as electricity. They would have been 96 per cent better off just transmitting the power straight from wind turbines into the grid. If the Labor Party is relying on green hydrogen to save the day, I suggest we all start cutting and storing firewood and buying matches. The State Government's current energy plan simply won't work. It is underfunded, and about to run out of time. There is not enough generation, distribution, or storage in the current Government plan to fulfil its first and primary obligation of providing enough affordable energy for homes and businesses. The real danger is energy prices are about to rise and rise dramatically. WA has been somewhat insulated from power price rises compared to the eastern States, but we are about to start catching up. Businesses are the Government's first targets, with new contracts in Synergy's contestable markets seeing price increases of 25 to 45 per cent on total power bills. This is the first sign that the system is broken and not being fixed. Households have been protected from this pain, so far, but you shouldn't expect that will last. The mismanagement of the power system in this State means taxpayers are subsidising it to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars every year. While being hit with regular ongoing price increases, households have been hidden from the real pain of major price increases. But that cannot last, especially if green hydrogen is the proposed solution to the problem. The State Government needs to find real, practical energy solutions, otherwise families will start to feel the pain that businesses have been suffering the last few years. Steve Martin is the shadow energy minister
Sydney Morning Herald
28-05-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
The ‘toughest anti-nang laws in the country' only work if you enforce them
On the day then-health minister Amber-Jade Sanderson proclaimed a ban on 'nangs' last October, I walked into a convenience store and bought the illegal nitrous oxide gas canisters — no questions, no ID, no proof of purchase, no problem. Day one of the new regulations, fair enough, give them time, despite a promise to 'enforce compliance from today', having long sounded a warning the ban was coming. That was seven months ago. But this week, I walked into that same convenience store and tested their compliance as part of a 9News Perth investigation. Once again, no questions, no problems. Ten nangs for $10. Tobacconists and retailers in the Perth CBD and Northbridge are flagrantly flouting the law. And why wouldn't they, when the state government is not policing what it touted as the 'toughest laws in the country'. 9News Perth and WAtoday revealed this week that not a single fine has been issued by the Department of Health for the sale of nangs. It is difficult to believe, when any teenager — or at least anyone with a working debit card — can buy the popular and potentially deadly party gas in the ubiquitous corner stores or even online, delivered to your door in under 30 minutes, just like Uber Eats. Nangs give users a high when they inhale the gas. And they are popular; an ED doctor even told me during my investigation that he had used nangs. They can also cause seizures, heart attacks, psychosis, or irreversible neurological damage — like the case of Perth teenager Molly Day, who paid the price for the cheap thrill.
The Age
28-05-2025
- Health
- The Age
The ‘toughest anti-nang laws in the country' only work if you enforce them
On the day then-health minister Amber-Jade Sanderson proclaimed a ban on 'nangs' last October, I walked into a convenience store and bought the illegal nitrous oxide gas canisters — no questions, no ID, no proof of purchase, no problem. Day one of the new regulations, fair enough, give them time, despite a promise to 'enforce compliance from today', having long sounded a warning the ban was coming. That was seven months ago. But this week, I walked into that same convenience store and tested their compliance as part of a 9News Perth investigation. Once again, no questions, no problems. Ten nangs for $10. Tobacconists and retailers in the Perth CBD and Northbridge are flagrantly flouting the law. And why wouldn't they, when the state government is not policing what it touted as the 'toughest laws in the country'. 9News Perth and WAtoday revealed this week that not a single fine has been issued by the Department of Health for the sale of nangs. It is difficult to believe, when any teenager — or at least anyone with a working debit card — can buy the popular and potentially deadly party gas in the ubiquitous corner stores or even online, delivered to your door in under 30 minutes, just like Uber Eats. Nangs give users a high when they inhale the gas. And they are popular; an ED doctor even told me during my investigation that he had used nangs. They can also cause seizures, heart attacks, psychosis, or irreversible neurological damage — like the case of Perth teenager Molly Day, who paid the price for the cheap thrill.
The Age
26-05-2025
- Health
- The Age
Buying nangs in Perth is as easy as ordering UberEats despite tough new laws
Despite touting them as the toughest laws in the country, Western Australia's Department of Health has not issued a single fine to retailers selling potentially fatal nitrous oxide gas – also known as 'nangs' – more than six months after the new regulations were introduced. A 9News Perth investigation found the popular party gas remains readily available from corner stores in Perth's central business district, and from online distributors who deliver them door-to-door within 30 minutes. Nangs are a behind-the-counter drug that give a cheap high but starve the brain of oxygen, with users risking serious health issues such as permanent brain and spinal damage, seizures, psychosis and memory loss – including Perth teenager Molly Day. The state government restricted their sale in October, preluded by months of warnings, to food and beverage businesses to use them for baking. Giant 'jumbo' canisters with one or more litres of gas were outlawed entirely. Anyone caught unlawfully selling nitrous oxide faced fines of up to $30,000, including on-the-spot penalties of up to $6000. Amber-Jade Sanderson, the health minister at the time of the ban's introduction, declared there would be 'no grace period'. 'We will be enforcing compliance from today,' Sanderson said in October. 'We will do everything we can to protect children and young people from the dangers of nitrous oxide gas.' However, seven months later, 9News Perth was able to buy nangs from stores and order them through Uber Eats-style delivery drivers without needing to provide evidence they were for a registered food business, or even provide age identification.
Sydney Morning Herald
26-05-2025
- Health
- Sydney Morning Herald
Buying nangs in Perth is as easy as ordering UberEats despite tough new laws
Despite touting them as the toughest laws in the country, Western Australia's Department of Health has not issued a single fine to retailers selling potentially fatal nitrous oxide gas – also known as 'nangs' – more than six months after the new regulations were introduced. A 9News Perth investigation found the popular party gas remains readily available from corner stores in Perth's central business district, and from online distributors who deliver them door-to-door within 30 minutes. Nangs are a behind-the-counter drug that give a cheap high but starve the brain of oxygen, with users risking serious health issues such as permanent brain and spinal damage, seizures, psychosis and memory loss – including Perth teenager Molly Day. The state government restricted their sale in October, preluded by months of warnings, to food and beverage businesses to use them for baking. Giant 'jumbo' canisters with one or more litres of gas were outlawed entirely. Anyone caught unlawfully selling nitrous oxide faced fines of up to $30,000, including on-the-spot penalties of up to $6000. Amber-Jade Sanderson, the health minister at the time of the ban's introduction, declared there would be 'no grace period'. 'We will be enforcing compliance from today,' Sanderson said in October. 'We will do everything we can to protect children and young people from the dangers of nitrous oxide gas.' However, seven months later, 9News Perth was able to buy nangs from stores and order them through Uber Eats-style delivery drivers without needing to provide evidence they were for a registered food business, or even provide age identification.
