⏱️This edition of the National Account’s newsletter is a five-minute read.
👋 G’day everyone, Archie here.
Back from the break with plenty of news for you, so let’s dive straight in.
It's a little bit like having an old car: it just tends to break down at unexpected and inconvenient points and it gets to the point where you're having to spend more to keep it going than it's actually worth. And so that's kind of what's happening with our coal generators at the moment.
🗣️ Why did they say that?
Australia is building power lines across farmland, but do we actually have a choice?
Due to the country's coal-fired power stations coming to the end of their lives, we're replacing them with cheaper wind and solar.
The catch? They need to be connected with new power lines. But what's that actually like for the farmers living with them?
I spoke with Alison Reeve, from the Grattan Institute, who told me why new power lines are unavoidable.
I also talked to sixth-generation cattle farmer Michael Greenham, from southwest Victoria, who's had power lines on his property since the 1980s. He explained what it's actually like to have them on the farm.
For my full breakdown check out today’s video:
Who profits from pokies? 🎰
Today I had a look at the top five hotels where people lose the most to pokie machines in both New South Wales and Victoria.
Essentially, while Australians are losing an estimated $13 billion to pokies every year, there are some pub owners who are making an absolute killing off of auntie’s piano.
Watch my full rundown below.
Thanks for catching up with me. I hope you enjoyed this issue, and I’d love to hear your thoughts. Just reply to this email and I’ll be on the other side 👋
I’ll be back on Friday.
Cheers, Archie