In which, in these troubled times, the pond calls on the bromancer, Dame Groan and Mein Gott, to sort out the situation ...

 

The thing that impressed everyone yesterday, and perhaps terrified some, was the sight of a well-oiled machine speaking in unison, working as one, everyone on the same page, the messaging as powerful as any bunker buster doing the rounds ...

Best of all, there were no tweets to be dug up, Xhumed as it were, that might add to the fun ...

And so to the lizard Oz early in the morning this day, and no sign that the frenzy had abated ...

How splendid that Greg carried on amongst the chaos by picking out red tape rules in a reptile EXCLUSIVE, and how shocking that for some reason the reptiles had elevated Rodger the dodger to the top of the page to spout heresy ...

This isn’t the way to conduct regime change
The problem with changing ­regimes is ensuring that what follows is better than what has been replaced.
By Rodger Shanahan

It was so shocking that the pond could only bear to taste a sample ... 

...To begin with, there is no indication that the core Iranian military and intelligence assets, on which the government relies for domestic stability, are failing. And where it has been weakened, it has come courtesy of Israeli airpower. ­Nationalists would lose some of their lustre were they to take ­advantage of this.
The unique theocratic governance model that has developed in Iran includes a range of sub-­national actors; individuals, sectors and organisations that all rely on the status quo being maintained. Hence reforms to its ­nature are rare.
But these are desperate times and they will realise that if they don’t control change it may be imposed on them.
Internally driven reforms could be an option, but they would have to be significant enough to satisfy the Iranian population. Smaller voter turnouts at parliamentary and presidential elections show just how little faith the average Iranian is showing in their political system.
Regime changes are most ­likely to endure if they are indigenously driven, and where the fighting between pro- and anti-government forces is limited in duration and scope.
The more an external actor promotes one side over the other, however, or calls for the overthrow of a government without providing the means to do it, the more they can be painted as a pawn of another state actor.
Years ago a presidential ­address may have given succour to an oppressed people and encouraged them to rise up. Today, a presidential social media post asking a people whose country is under attack to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN is unlikely to ­inspire much other than mockery.
Dr Rodger Shanahan is a Middle East analyst, former army officer and author

Come off it dodger, the team is fully united and completely coherent, as reported in the Beast ...

Vance Hints Uranium Was Moved After Trump Tipped Off Tehran

BOMBS AWAY!

The vice president’s remarks appeared to suggest the Iranians took precautions before the U.S. strikes. (* archive link)

Vice President JD Vance raised major questions about the success of the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities after suggesting that Tehran’s near-bomb-grade uranium was moved before the attacks.

Israeli sources were quoted as saying that Iran moved as much as 880 pounds of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity from a secure nuclear storage plant in the ancient city of Isfahan.

“Iran has made no secret that they have protected this material,” Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told CNN. Grossi added that his inspectors had not been able to visit the Iranian sites since the U.S. bombings.

Announcing the raids, the president said the nuclear sites at Fordo, Isfahan, and Natanz were “completely and fully obliterated.”

While Trump’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also maintained on Monday that the administration had a “high degree of confidence” that Saturday night’s bombings took out Iran’s uranium stockpile, Vance seemed to suggest the opposite.

“We are going to work in the coming weeks to ensure that we do something with that fuel, and that’s one of the things that we’re going to have conversations with the Iranians about,” he told ABC News’ This Week.

There has been widespread speculation since the bombings that Trump’s threats on social media, including one post calling for Tehran to be evacuated, telegraphed the strikes to the Iranians and allowed them to take precautions to protect uranium stocks.

According to The New York Times, the batch of uranium is enough to make nine or 10 atomic bombs and could be transferred in casks in about ten cars.

Satellite images taken of the mountain nuclear sites outside Tehran showed 16 trucks parked near an entrance in the days before the U.S. attacks, although there was no confirmation that any uranium was moved.

Vance insisted that Tehran had been prevented from creating weapons-grade uranium. “And that was really the goal here,” he added.

Exactly, no one's talking regime change, except when they are.

Meanwhile, the reptiles were completely angry at the way that Australia seemed a little disinterested in joining in the big adventure ...

BELATED SUPPORT
Blast from the past: Albanese finally backs US strikes on Iran
Anthony Albanese has belatedly expressed support for Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear program while distancing his government from the ‘unilateral action’ by the nation’s closest ally.
By Ben Packham and Sarah Ison

The might bromancer, Australia's very own Reichsmarschall des Großaustralisch Reiches, was inconsolable, and came packing penguins:

The strident header: PM’s confusion, passivity and weakness has made us irrelevant, We live on the capital of the goodwill of our past and the continued relevance of our geography. But Australia would be just as relevant strategically if it were a colony of penguins.
The caption noted the dismal, downcast, eyes averted duo at the head of this pack of penguins: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister, Penny Wong hold a press conference at Parliament House. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman
The usual caveat for penguins needing a little advice on how to herd in the hive mind: This article contains features which are only available in the web version, Take me there

The bromancer was on full throttle and let off a full blast ...

It is difficult to think of a time when Australia has been so inconsequential, so powerless, so much without influence, so incapable of affecting its own destiny or anyone else’s, as we have become under the Albanese government.
The truly astonishing performance on the question of the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities is a classic case.
It seems at one level eccentric, even for an Australian, to focus on the performance of the government in Canberra when the world is gripped by crisis in the Middle East and has so many other crises to be going on with.
Critical events will unfold over the next few weeks. Exactly how will Iran frame its response to the US actions? Does it really want more kinetic conflict with the US or will its actions be more gesture and performance?

Questions, questions, and yet it seemed a day for heresy with the bromancer letting off steam at MAGA idiots, ranting away to the Bolter, shouting into the void of Sky Noise ratings, The Australian’s Foreign Editor Greg Sheridan says US President Donald Trump is now facing a rebellion in the “lunatic MAGA ranks” over the issue of Israel. Donald Trump vetoed an Israeli plan to assassinate the Supreme Leader of Iran despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claiming the Islamic Republic plotted to kill the US President. “That idiot Tucker Carlson has turned against Israel and thinks Trump has betrayed America by supporting Israel,” Mr Sheridan told Sky News host Andrew Bolt. “They are as bad as the far left; they are just as deranged.”

Exactly, just look at King Donald himself to see someone fully ranged and in love with the Boss ...

Ah, those subs, and soon enough in 2050, when we have the kit, we'll be able to play a big role with the war on China.

But until that glorious day, the questions continued to pour out helter skelter from the bro ...

Donald Trump’s position is fascinating. A stubborn minority of his MAGA base – particularly Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon – bitterly opposes the strikes. This is unlikely to trouble Trump in the short term. Congressional Republicans will back Trump overwhelmingly.
But does the internal division within MAGA constrain the President in the future?
What next for Israel? When will it exhaust meaningful targets in Iran? Can Israel replenish its missile interceptor stocks quickly enough to continue to provide general safety to its citizens?
What will be the approach of Iran’s nuclear weapons possessing strategic partners, namely Russia, North Korea and China? Dimitry Medvedev, a former president of Russia and still influential in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, said several nations would willingly supply nuclear weapons to Iran. He also seemed to cast off all pretence that Iran’s nuclear program was exclusively for peaceful purposes, saying the future production of nuclear weapons would be unaffected by US strikes.
It’s unlikely Russia would give nuclear warheads to Iran. Moscow has always had great concern about Islamic nukes too close to its borders. But these are strange words from Medvedev. Iran has received help on its nuclear program from both Russia and China in the past.
So as all these giant issues roil the international environment it may seem strange to focus on the follies of Canberra.

It might seem strange, but after an obligatory snap, George W Bush and Dimitry Medvedev, the bro yet again showed that he was deeply, weirdly strange.

Australia's very own Reichsmarschall des Großaustralisch Reiches wanted to dominate, to parade, to be a part of the performative theatre, to be an apprentice in the reality TV show, to be part of the jihad, and strut an hour or so upon the great stage ...

But we are Australians after all and we have to worry deeply about our government.
There was a marvellous 1959 comedy with Peter Sellers called The Mouse That Roared, about a tiny nation that became unexpectedly powerful and didn’t have a clue what to do. Under the Albanese government, Australia has become The Mouse That Doesn’t Even Squeak, has no power at all and also doesn’t have a clue what to do.
Consider the absolute weird lameness of the government’s response to the US actions. They happened on Sunday morning our time and every sentient being on the planet knew about them and had a view. Not the Albanese government. It put out one of its characteristic non-statements.
In diplomacy there is a thing called a non-paper. Our government specialises in non-statements, designed to show that it’s roughly aware something is going on but doesn’t have the faintest idea what its view of it is.
Albanese has no relationship to speak of with Trump. Australia in modern times has seldom been less influential on, or less inside the thinking of, Washington. Britain was informed of the US actions in advance. Naturally, Australia was not.

None of this 'light fuse and stand well clear' nonsense for the bro, as the reptiles again interrupted ... Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Richard Marles delivers his keynote address to Defending Australia 2025. Picture: Martin Ollman

Never mind the snow globes, feel the bromancer's wrath ...

We live on the capital of the goodwill of our past and the continued relevance of our geography. But Australia would be just as relevant strategically if it were a colony of penguins.
Then on Monday, through gritted teeth, came government statements saying Australia supported the US actions in Iran because it was important to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The Albanese government got to the right position but, characteristically, only after exhausting all other alternatives.
The statement and the unbearably stilted, constipated, almost pre-AI robotic performance at the press conference were frankly a national embarrassment.
This column has noted before that Albanese has the greatest difficulty in any national security conversation moving beyond his approved talking points and sticks mechanically to whatever form of words he has been given.
Thus a questioner said: Why did it take until Monday to form the view that we supported the American action? Albanese replied: “We put out a statement yesterday.” But the statement on Sunday didn’t offer support. So, as with virtually all the other questions, Albanese simply refused to answer.
The ridiculous rule at PM press conferences now is that journalists can’t ask follow-up questions, so the PM just refuses to answer and then moves on to the next questioner. It’s utterly embarrassing and of course an insult to the normal workings of liberal democracy.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who remains the only member of the national security team who can normally mount any kind of argument at all, was asked in that same press conference whether she regarded the US actions as legal within international law. She didn’t answer. She was asked the same question on the ABC and again didn’t answer, referring to Australia’s opposition to Iran’s nuclear program but not answering the question on the legality of US actions.

It seems the bromancer has been out and about, in his warrior element, with the reptiles offering another AV distraction, The Australian Foreign Editor Greg Sheridan discusses Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's “complete humiliation” after being “snubbed” by US President Donald Trump at the G7 meeting. “There’s no getting around it, this is a complete humiliation for Albanese, so Trump has had multiple, multiple meetings with Starmer and Carney, but he’d rather another meeting with them than have his first ever meeting with Albanese," Mr Sheridan told Sky News Australia. “It is a complete snub.”

For the sake of the long absent lord, speak up, and never mind that you might be contradicted in a nanosecond ...

I put the same inquiry to the Foreign Minister’s office and was referred to the non-answer on the ABC. This is frankly pathetic. No one is asking the Australian government to be the final arbiter on all questions of international law. It has an absolutely unavoidable responsibility, however, to judge whether its own actions and positions comply with international law.
Presumably, the Albanese government wouldn’t support actions it regards as illegal. It supports the US action. Therefore it must regard the US action as legal.
So why on earth will it not say that? The government constantly behaves like a rabbit startled in a spotlight, unable to move forwards or backwards.
Its structural contradiction is that it wants to preserve the US alliance and all the benefits that come to Australia from that, but it is a government dominated by the Labor Left, perpetually scared of internal rebellion and terrified of losing votes to the Greens domestically. It’s a government without any apparent moral or strategic compass.
Here’s another question. If the government supports the US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, why did it not support similar Israeli strikes? Under international law, Israel has a stronger case that it has been repeatedly attacked by Iran and faces imminent danger from Iran. Principle anyone? Consistency?
Albanese was very lucky he didn’t go to NATO. Imagine trying to get an appointment with Trump so you can whine about tariffs while all this is happening. And what about the embarrassment that NATO now wants member states to spend 3.5 per cent of GDP on defence while we spend a pitiful 2 per cent?
Nobody sane could argue that the Albanese government is responding effectively to the strategic challenges we face.
Dumb luck may not guarantee our future.

Speaking of the future, the reptiles were extremely keen to reassure the hive mind that everything was under control ...

EXCLUSIVE
Minister cools fears over Hormuz hit to gas
Resources Minister Madeleine King has reassured domestic gas users that they will be protected from any supply and pricing fallout in the wake of Iran’s threat to block the Strait of Hormuz.
By Brad Thompson

The pond turned to the extreme far right to see if there were any echoes, and lo and behold, there was Dame Groan, briefly top of the world ma ...

There was Mattie, reassuring everyone in it was all under control ...

Iran hasn’t got us over a barrel this time
Central banks might be worried that US strikes on Iran will lead to skyrocketing oil prices akin to the 1970s, but the numbers show it’s nothing like that.
By Matthew Cranston
Economics Correspondent

But while Bryce valiantly assuaged fears of Germany on the march and Paddy worried about trans people, could Mattie be trusted?

As always, the pond turned to the groaner for her Tuesday groan, and she saw trouble ... perhaps at least a barrel or two ...

The header: Mid-East economic fallout likely to hurt us through China, Treasurer Jim Chalmers is best advised to change his tune from triumphal achiever to cautious manager of a difficult economic situation.
The reptiles, trotting out the very best anodyne image to find, found an alarming caption: The economic fallout from the US strike on Iran is likely to hurt Australia through China.
There was also the reassuring incantation: This article contains features which are only available in the web version, Take me there

Dame Groan is always best when she's sounding the alarm ...

Recent events in the Middle East, including the US intervention last weekend, will have implications for the Australian economy. Bear in mind, economic conditions here are already weak. While the direction of the impact is clear, we can’t be sure of the magnitude.
According to the most recent national accounts, the Australian economy grew by only 1.3 per cent in the year to the March quarter; it was a mere 0.2 per cent in the quarter. Were it not for the growth of working hours, output would have gone backwards.
GDP per capita – a reasonable proxy of living standards – fell by 0.4 per cent in the March quarter, making this the eighth fall in the past nine quarters. GDP per capita is a reasonable proxy of living standards.
It is against this backdrop that events in the Middle East are playing out. Unsurprisingly, Jim Chalmers, in his speech last week to the National Press Club, recognised the potential importance of global turbulence and uncertainty to our economy: “The international environment and the global economy will be the main influences which shape and constrain our choices this term. This month the World Bank warned global growth is on track to be close to its weakest in nearly two decades.”

The reptiles interrupted with an attack of the 'oils ain't oils', CBA Mining and Energy Director Vivek Dhar discusses the recent surge in oil prices driven by the escalating tensions between Israel and Iran, warning the conflict could push oil prices to even higher levels.

Verily, Dame Groan says unto all, the way forward is troubled, be humble, lest the wrath of the groaning strike you dead ...

Notwithstanding this note of caution, the Treasurer bragged about the Labor government’s economic record. “In our first term we stabilised and strengthened our economy, got inflation down, got real wages up, kept unemployment low and improved the budget position. In important ways we outperformed our peers.”

The trouble with this analysis is, in the most important way, we didn’t outperform our peers. Among OECD countries, Australia recorded the largest fall in real per capita household disposable income between 2019 and 2024.

This record is something Chalmers doesn’t talk about. Incidentally, inflation has been brought under control in most advanced countries and more quickly than us; unemployment remains low in many countries; and our budget position is rapidly deteriorating, having enjoyed the windfalls of high commodity prices and revenue surge from bracket creep. Unemployment here also is being kept low because of the tsunami of government-funded jobs in the so-called care economy.

Getting back to the economic impact of global conditions, there are several angles to consider. The direct effects on the Australian economy are not large as we are not major trading partners with Middle Eastern countries directly affected. Indirectly, the issue to consider is the impact on the Chinese economy; China is our largest trading partner by a country mile.

The Chinese economy has already been slowing because of the wall of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. The effect has been less substantial than may have been anticipated but the impact is still apparent. Redirecting trade to other countries has helped to dampen down the effect.

As the groaning hit its keening and wailing stride, the reptiles compounded the problem with another compelling snap, The Chinese economy has already been slowing because of the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.

Et tu King Donald? Look what you've done to Dame Groan ...

China does have economic links with several Middle East countries, with shipments of oil from Iran reported in violation of the sanctions imposed by Western countries. Because China is dependent on other countries for oil and gas, any disruption to the flow of these commodities would have implications for the strength of the Chinese economy.

The bigger issue here is the price of oil and how this affects the world economy. The oil shocks of the 1970s caused havoc and initiated a long inflationary cycle that caused direct economic damage as well as the requirement for punishing policies. These days, the world economy is much less oil dependent. As Ambrose Evans-Pritchard has noted in Britain’s Daily Telegraph, “The ‘oil intensity’ of global GDP has fallen by 60 per cent since the energy crisis of the 1970s.” The dominance of the oil cartel, OPEC, also has weakened, in part because of the close to self-reliance of the US.

Until recently global oil prices had been relatively subdued, hovering at less than $US60 a barrel. In the past few weeks prices have fluctuated higher, with the recent price above $US80 a barrel. There is some talk of prices rising above $US100 but the Middle East accounts for less than 20 per cent of global oil and gas supplies. There may be, however, a substantial impact on global equity markets.

At this stage Iran’s oil export facilities are intact, although closure of the Strait of Hormuz by the Iranian government would have an impact on the global oil market.

We are likely to see an uptick in the price of petrol at our bowsers and this will feed through to the consumer price index. Apart from squeezing household budgets, the way the Reserve Bank interprets any impact on the CPI will have an important bearing on decisions it will make in coming months about lowering the cash rate.

For some strange reason, the climate science-denying reptiles suddenly saw a renewables bright spot, The world economy is much less oil dependent these days.

Another astonishing image, but Dame Groan was inconsolable, and resumed her role as Delphic Oracle ...

It still looks reasonably certain that the bank will lower interest rates at least twice this year, in part because of soft economic conditions. (The Fed in the US is likely to do the same.) Having said this, the bank will watching updated inflation figures.

A broader point relates to incentives for business investment in the context of heightened global uncertainty. The weakest link in the Australia economy has been sluggish business investment, with rates of spending at decades low. Recent events will not assist decision-makers considering large investments, particularly those that ultimately service global markets.

It’s a case of hang on to your hat when it comes to the Australian economy. There are always headwinds and tailwinds, but the balance now is clearly on the net negative side. It will be important to watch what happens in the Chinese economy given the importance of that country as our major trading partner.

Inflation may tick up slightly, but soft economic conditions are likely to persuade the RBA to cut the cash rate in coming months, possibly several times. It’s close to impossible to see any improvement to productivity in the near term as business investment remains in the doldrums. Our Treasurer is best advised to change his tune from triumphal achiever to cautious manager of a difficult economic situation.

Surely we should just trust our intelligence?

And in these difficult times, what with oil a non-essential essential, so to a special pond bonus, because Mein Gott is a truly unique part of the war effort, and sadly some of his work is inclined to get lost in the fog of war.

The pond however pays attention to this plucky warrior whenever it can, and yesterday's outing was a ripper, timeless in its prophetic insight, and scribbled with a venom which should have the mad mullahs trembling in their turbans ...

The header: How the lucky country is becoming the stupid country, Soon after the US bombing of Iran, my teenage grandson asked me: ‘Grandpa, does this mean a third world war?’ After some deliberation, here’s what I told him.

The caption for the opening AV distraction, immediately taking members of the reptile cult hive mind away from Mein Gott's astonishing insights: CommSec’s Tom Piotrowski believes oil stocks will be “well in the negative” on Monday following the United States’ military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities over the weekend. The US has attacked three nuclear sites in Iran in what President Donald Trump has described as a spectacular military success. “Oil prices, as you very much pointed out, are very much in focus,” Mr Piotrowski told Sky News Australia. “The chokepoints in the Strait of Hormuz is really the area that many energy analysts will be playing very close attention to over the course of the coming days.

The lure of the command designed to bring the readership back to Mein Gott: This article contains features which are only available in the web version, Take me there

It was a four minute read, or so the reptiles said, but full of generational wisdom:

Soon after the American bombing of Iran was announced, my teenage grandson asked me: “Grandpa, does this mean a third world war?”

After a short deliberation I answered: “Highly unlikely, but it does open the way for a new era in energy, but not the energy era you are probably being taught at school.”

US President Donald Trump’s decision to destroy Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity gives the Middle East a chance to take advantage of a potential wave of prosperity available for the region created by the new energy era.

It does not always happen, but when a community has the clear choice between increased prosperity and a war, they usually take the prosperity route. And the Middle Eastern community includes countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq, let alone the Gaza region, that desperately need prosperity in the Middle East to generate the funds required to increase living standards.

The reptiles quickly interrupted with a situation snap, Donald Trump and Marco Rubio in the situation room at the White House in Washington. Picture: The White House via X

Amazingly, Mein Gott saw hope in a new world of energy, but for those deluded souls who looked to renewables?

Fergeddit, as if those infernal wind machines hadn't killed enough whales already ...

The US energy strategies plus the explosion in the cost of many (not all) major renewables projects has fundamentally changed the energy game, and the smarter people in the Middle East seek to win globally from that change. Those countries that do not recognise the change – such as Australia – will suffer.

To underline the new era, by pure coincidence, in the days leading up to the bombing decision, the uranium price skyrocketed while Middle Eastern capital mobilised a bid for Australia’s international gas energy giant Santos to take advantage of a low share price caused by our local big institutions which ignored the stock as they played energy politics rather than member benefit.

Oil giants BP and Shell have suffered similar institutional treatment, but their vulnerability has been increased because they plunged billions into uneconomic renewables investment.

Meanwhile the reptiles tried to keep the hive mind focussed on the main game with a timeline, which now seems quaintly dated, but which the pond includes for the record ...

Moving right along, as prophesied in the reptile book of energy, it turned out that renewables weren't the answer, they were the problem ...

By slashing their current renewables investment, BP and Shell are in repair mode, but the damage is done and a low price acquisition of Santos will provide a beachhead for a potential Middle Eastern bid for BP, or even Shell. In past decades the Middle East controlled oil and gas prices, but their reserves have run down, and with demand set to rise, they seek to take advantage of international opportunities.

The world has discovered that renewable projects often cost far more than was originally estimated, particularly if they are remote from markets and require big investment in transmission lines. Australia is a perfect example. Four transmission lines were originally estimated to cost $5bn, but that estimate has blown out to $27bn, and the cost explosion is not finished. Australians will pay via higher power prices.

The reptiles kept on insisting that the hive mind stay focussed ...

But Mein Gott, nuking the country to save the planet seemingly completely forgotten, written off, consigned to oblivion, was now intent on gassing the country to save the planet ...

Most big renewables projects require a second source of power to provide continuity when the sun and wind don’t generate power. This can double the cost. Renewables work brilliantly close to power markets where there is an existing backup.

The world was anticipating a renewables-dominated power structure, but gas is now back in favour, not only as a standalone energy source, but to provide reliability to renewable power projects and reduce dependence on coal.

Santos is wonderfully placed for the new era, and giants such as BP and Shell have changed direction by slashing investment in renewables.

Have we forgotten carbon emissions? Of course not.

Damn you whale killers, damn you to hell, or at least damn you to a snap, The Hampton Wind Park near Hampton, close to the Blue Mountains, about 150km from Sydney. Picture: Saeed Khan / AFP

Mein Gott was on a futurist high, and how silly of the pond to think that the time for nuking the country had gone, what with King Donald nuking the nukes because nukes ruined everything.

Nuke the bloody whale killers ...

We are set for a boom in electricity demand driven by artificial intelligence, data storage and enhanced computer power. In those nations where power costs are contained, there will also be a big demand for electric cars.

While gas will be important in satisfying energy demand and reducing the use of coal, the world is turning to nuclear as the most reliable and lowest-cost source of non-carbon energy.

In nuclear, the current technology is akin to the early days of computer power, and we have a lot further to go. Smaller nuclear power stations and molten-salt cooled thorium will be part of the nuclear revolution. If a path can be found through the mining industrial relations jungle, Australia will be a major global uranium supplier via BHP’s South Australian uranium and copper deposits.

As tech companies race to build additional data centres, global demand for uranium is projected to triple by 2040.

According to World Nuclear Association data, uranium demand already outstrips production.

The uranium price jumped recently when asset manager Sprott announced plans to buy about $US200m ($300m) worth of physical uranium for its dedicated fund. Almost certainly, the uranium price will fluctuate because of the time required to build new nuclear power stations. The Middle East can see the potential, and so, as well as oil and gas expansion, the region will be an important source of nuclear power for data centres rather than bombs.

Naturally there was a snap to help out Mein Gott's vision, The Ranger uranium mine in Kakadu National Park.

What an excellent and moving desecration of country.

And yet the entire county didn't understand, had failed the Mein Gott test ...

What about Australia? The world will look in wonderment at our head-in-the-sand attitude. The second-largest state by population effectively stops onshore gas development, preferring to use higher-cost LNG to satisfy shortages.

Australia will earn large sums by exporting uranium and perhaps salt, but ban the use of uranium in Australia apart from nuclear submarines and medicine.

Instead, we will have some of the highest-cost renewable power in the world.

The lucky country becomes the stupid country.

We have to hope the next generation wakes up to the fact that unreliable and high power prices send jobs abroad.

Wake up, wake up, follow the tangerine tyrant down the rabbit hole and all will be well as we nuke the country to save the planet, hoping no one nukes us for having gone fully nuke ...

And so to end proceedings with an immortal Rowe ...

It's always in the details, and the immortal Rowe always does great portraits ...