If Australia taxed windfall gas profits we could invest billions in renewables and get off fossil fuels for good | Richard Denniss

The sooner we shift away from ageing coal and expensive gas, the quicker electricity prices and emissions will fallGet our free news app; get our morning email briefingA massive expansion in Australia's gas production did nothing to make gas cheap for Australian homes and businesses. A decade of propping up ageing coal-fired power stations did nothing to ensure the reliability of our electricity supply. And the Coalition's so-called "gas trigger" and "big stick" electricity reforms have done nothing to control Australian energy prices. It's as if everything Scott Morrison and Angus Taylor did was announce things instead of fixing them.There's no shortage of coal or gas in Australia, there's a shortage of generation capacity and the infrastructure to move energy to where it's needed. Just as the sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow, Australians have now learned the hard way that the coal trains don't always run and the coal-fired power stations often break down.Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning Continue reading...