WINDAR LIGHTS - NIXON WIND / SOLAR STREET LIGHTING PROPOSAL

Australia should lead the world by committing to a policy that all streets lights in the entire country must be replaced by combination wind and solar street lighting within three years, powered by energy captured at its point of use.

Features:

Best use of SOLAR CELL technology.
Best use of WIND TURBINE technology, utilising a cylindrical turbine around the top half of the power pole. 
Best use of LED globe technology.
Best use of LENS and REFLECTOR design, drawn from lighthouse experience.
Best possible BATTERY solution.
Built in CAMERA to dissuade thieves and assist in traffic management.

Lights to operate on built-in timers, light meters with manual override. 

Brightest from official darkness then stepping down in intensity until midnight, after which only low-level lighting is required.

Wireless network for self-testing, self-maintenance diagnosis, manual-override, software-upgrading, tamper and car crash alert.

Economies of scale; similar to birth and development by the US Military of transistor technology in the 1950s; will spearhead battery, solar and wind turbine design.

Australia will become the lead country for this technology, developing a stand alone product for sale to existing markets and developing nations.

Involve all levels of government in a ‘wartime effort’ which will have spin-offs including a morale boost, massive employment and depression-proofing the economy.

Bringing the cost of solar, wind and battery technology down to a level which will see the adoption of these spinoff products in many areas of daily life.

EXPAT BRAIN UTILISATION SCHEME

With now over one million Australians living overseas, the Australian Government should draw on the brain power of some of the world’s best and brightest people to assist in making Australia successful.

Many Australian expats would love to move home, but cannot due to financial constraints or because Australia does not have the high-powered positions to entice them back.

The introduction of GST has meant that expats’ income source is of little relevance, as long they spend much of their disposable income back in Australia.

The Australian Government should formalise a scheme with two goals:

1. To include these people in major projects for the benefit of Australia, getting them to donate their spare time working on major projects from their bases overseas; and 

2. Devising a way of helping Australia’s Expats to spend their overseas-earned money in Australia.


POINT ONE: Most expat professionals have a great deal of spare time which, with the aid of the internet age, could be harnessed to work on Australian projects, swelling the country’s R&D output.

In return for the sense of pride, and some sort of official notoriety, they would be happy to donate their time for no cost.

POINT TWO: Expat workers from countries such as India and The Philippines send so much of their money home that, in The Philippines case, it is said to be their largest source of income.

THE AUSTRALIAN FILM INDUSTRY

The French and Italian film industries thrive because they are protected species.

Australia used to have a strong television commercial production industry by demanding that all ads shown on Australian television be shot by Australian crews. 

This led to a thriving business, with many American ads being shot by Australian crews just so that they could show their ads Australia, (Palmolive Soap among others).

Since we stopped demanding this the industry has died. 

Australia could strengthen its film industry by demanding that 35% of all theatre screening slots be filled by Australian-made films.

Whilst such a socialist directive would cause the large distributors to complain, it would only be short term.

A revitalised industry, with a guaranteed stage, would soon grow to produce product worthy of export. The complaining distributors would make export profits.

In the past, great Australian films have flopped at the box office because the American-owned distributors gave wide release to mass-marketed Block Busters on the same day.

The playing field was never level. As the French and Italians say, “Why should it be anyway?”

This was a submission to The Rudd Gvt's Australia Summit