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Lindsay Tanner is now Finance Minister under Kevin Rudd!

James.

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Hi All, 
 
Last week I gave an oil depletion briefing session to Lindsay Tanner 
(Federal Member for Melbourne) and an advisor to Martin Ferguson (Federal 
Member for Batman). Phil thought it might be worth giving you a quick 
overview: 
 
1. Lindsay Tanner 
 
I went through my PPT on my laptop in his office. There wasn't anyone else 
in the room and it went for about 45min. Key points: 
 
* He is very familiar with peak oil and accepts it as likely in the next 5 
or 10 years. 
* He agrees with most of what ASPO says 
* He is angry that Aust auto manufactures have done such a bad job in terms 
of fuel efficiency improvements 
* He can see some benefits from peak oil - less cars in the street, more 
people participating in active transport..... 
* He is very much against the proposed east west tunnel in Melbourne 
(although this is probably for political as well as oil depletion reasons) 
* He is not against all major road projects though 
* He has asked a question to the Industry Minister in Parliament on peak 
oil (and was basically laughed at) 
* He thinks ABARE are a bunch of idiots 
* He thinks bio fuels are ridiculous 

If he becomes Finance Minister in the coming months then I think we would 
get a pretty good reception in Canberra. We could get traction for 
developing some sort of national oil vulnerability accessment. 
It was a very positive meeting. He is smart and I think we could do a lot 
worse as far as potential Ministers of Finance go.