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With the release of the Coalitions nuclear policy and the pile on from the conga line of anti nuclear activists, it’s timely to revisit Mark DeStefano’s AFR article. I guess if you are a trust fund baby you have a built in sense of entitlement. “Seeking talent last Wednesday to discuss Peter Dutton’s forthcoming nuclear policy announcement, the ABC’s flagship Radio National Breakfast program got the Smart Energy Council’s Wayne Smith on the phone. “This is not just a nuclear policy,” mused Smith, a former climate adviser to Anthony Albanese. “This is a coal policy. What’s being announced is an expensive ‘coal-keeper’ policy.” Setting aside that this attack line is hardly fresh – the SEC has used it under various guises since 2021 – listeners, and later, the ABC’s online readers, weren’t given any context about Smith’s organisation. This is a pity because the SEC is a charity trading under a legal entity, the Australian Solar Society, which is backed by deep-pocketed environmental campaigners, while Simon Holmes à Court sits on its board. The charity’s donors number into the hundreds, but include local and overseas solar companies. That’s no crime. Naturally, the renewable energy sector deserves its own representation. But you have to respect the plainness of the Australian Banking Association, or the Australian Coal Association. They say what they do on the tin. The Smart Energy Council – with its aggressive anti-nuclear stance – has sumptuous top-spin. Smart energy? Duh, who would want dumb energy?! Heat and Light Before the 2022 federal election, the SEC got into hot water. The charity had printed tens of thousands of wheelie bin stickers calling on voters to “Chuck Them Out” or “Put Him in the Bin” alongside images of Scott Morrison and Barnaby Joyce. As was reported at the time, the SEC drew the ire of senator Andrew Bragg, who seemed convinced its events breached the rules on charities dabbling in politics. A complaint was made to the regulator. It sought legal advice. In February 2022, a group of individuals (all connected to the SEC) registered a private company called Smart Voting Pty Ltd. Listed on corporate records were officeholders, including then-SEC president Steve Blume, CEO John Grimes, CFO Sharon Oliver, and aforementioned RN talking head Smith, who was at the time the charity’s policy adviser. Blume – a solar veteran who formerly worked for Kim Beazley – holds all the shares in Smart Voting. It then went a step further. The charity made a $45,000 donation to Smart Voting, according to Australian Electoral Commission records, which would not become public until after the May election. Smart Voting’s only other donor was Holmes à Court’s Climate 200, which tipped in $1.1 million. Affiliation denial In the weeks leading into the poll, Smart Voting’s campaign distributed posters and how-to-vote cards targeting Liberals such as treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Tim Wilson. The material included pictures of generic children, with messages like: “Put our kids first, put Tim Wilson last.” When The Australian published a story putting together the links between the material, volunteers and the SEC, the charity blasted back. The SEC posted a statement online claiming the how-to-vote campaign was organised by Smart Voting, and it had “no affiliation with Smart Energy Council”, and that “Simon Holmes à Court is not connected to Smart Voting Pty Ltd”. After the release of Smart Voting’s AEC returns – those showing its only donations from the SEC and Holmes a Court – that statement was clearly nonsense. Contacted on Monday, Grimes (CEO of the SEC) insists his charity is “not partisan and absolutely all about policy”. He said he “wound up” his involvement in Smart Voting, and the $45,000 donation was “working capital” that had been transferred to the outside group for work related to the bin sticker campaign. He insisted SEC donations had not been part of its start-up capital for Smart Voting.” #NuclearEnergy