Thread by @latikambourke

Totally bizarre that neither PM sought to make more mileage out of this but the British company Octopus Group just announced a $50 billion partnership with Indigenous communities in northern Australia to create a massive renewable energy greenfield.

Desert Springs Group's eventual goal is to export green hydrogen to landlocked Asia (hello reducing energy reliance on hostile/unfriendly partners).

But first it will transform the NT's energy grid (by building a clean-powered one).

latika.me/DesertSpringsG…

gov.uk/government/new…

Don't believe the FTA spin btw. I interviewed the MD of Octopus Australia and asked him this directly.

The whole deal had more to do with a chance meeting at a wedding by the company's top energy guy and the former US Senator Donald Betts.

latika.me/DesertSpringsO…

But is a testament to a couple of things:

1. Bipartisan support for netzero (+ in NT's) provides investment certainty

2. Australia is shaping up to to the world's leading market for green hydrogen production - craploads of solar and stable governance

3. NOT China/Russia et al.

Anyway. It's a great, positive story that shows the real direction and potential of the Aus-UK relationship.

Forget about the Welsh lamb farmers moaning about the evils of Aussie meat flooding their shores.

This kind of stuff is where it's really at.

Sorry Correction Desert Springs Octopus.*

Just baffling that both govts squandered the opportunity to make this their thing, ... you can lead them to water I guess...

Sometimes the bigger picture is the hardest one to see. It's a shame. Its what the public need to see and hear about more than ever.