‘Embarrassing’: Caleb Bond on ABC fact-checking of Dick Smith energy comments

Sky News host Caleb Bond weighs into this week’s RMIT ABC Fact Check debacle after the ABC was forced to issue an apology to entrepreneur Dick Smith over a fact-check on nuclear energy.
Mr Smith previously stated no country had been able to run entirely on renewable energy, but the RMIT ABC Fat-Check unit claimed that multiple countries including Nepal run solely on renewable energy.
“Except, of course, that they don't run entirely on renewable energy. Their energy grids, the stuff that keeps the lights on, may well be powered by solar and wind but their entire energy systems are not entirely renewable,” Mr Bond said.
“And this is where Mr Smith and the ABC diverged. Mr Smith never referred only to the energy grid - he was talking about the energy mix.
“And he noted in his complaint to the ABC, the countries such as Nepal mentioned by the ABC were ‘very poor countries where the people mainly rely on firewood for heating and cooking, and all use large amounts of fossil fuels for transport’.”
In response, Mr Smith told Sky News host Chris Kenny he would sue unless the ABC corrected the record and the ABC later corrected the record.
“It’s a bit embarrassing when the public broadcaster sets itself up as the arbiter of truth and turns out to be unable to arbitrate said truth,” Mr Bond said.

[@bertlango-zt9fh]

Dishonesty is the new fact..

[@colonelklink9911]

Embarrassing is when you need to pay $750 million for telling lies.

[@simonharris4873]

That wasn't this channel, though lord only knows why.

[@Ulrich_von_Jungingen]

Why dont you bring up Heston Russel? Probably because you are a smug Aussie hater like the ABC journos that cost the Australian taxpayer 2 million.

[@user-gy4gf5cx9b]

Dick Smith is a great Australian and I completely agree with his ideas regarding our Country all this immigration is bad look 👀 how it is lowering our Standards of Living So Terrible seeing our fellow citizens living in cars 🚙 and Tents ⛺️ but this government shows no empathy at all instead wasting taxpayers on themselves so Disgusting when he tried to help by making Australia made food I always supported it as he did for businesses and Charity 🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺

[@tenacious1963]

The ABC is an embarrassment to journalism. Good on Dick Smith, a truly great Australian.

[@petermoses5095]

And the ABC is losing its long term viewers .fed up with their behaviour .

[@Ulrich_von_Jungingen]

Do an internet search on ABC viewer demographics. The average viewer is 55 or something (from memory). They represent nobody, shut them down, save the money and save us the divisive, activist garbage.

[@jenniferharrison8915]

Thank God Dick Smith is still relevant, he is certainly an intelligent man and always up to date! These so-called intellectuals should stay in their own lanes - classrooms! 🧐

[@CatsandJP]

Do you think a barge covered in plastic sheeting and covered in fire fighting foam…can honestly be passed of as an iceberg from Antartica being towed into Sydney Harbour is the idea of an intelligent man…do some homework on DS…he even sold some of his business to Woolworths..but he couldn’t even keep his retail stores afloat and sold them to Kogan.

[@ironmaidens6663]

The rest of the ABC fact-checking needs to be looked at.

[@paulgraham5790]

You know if Blackout Bowen and Labor want to convert the entire fleet of Australia's transport to electric and supply it with solar they will need about 1.5 trillion 300W solar panels. Without even considering storage that is impossible.

[@snappytom2404]

Some people still use and quote SNOPES for crying out loud, they have been busted so many times it's not funny

[@alistairgrant9705]

ABC fact checking is adding in ways to adapt findings to fit the Labor policy ABC has lost it’s way

[@paulchilds9053]

Defund the ABC yesterday 😡

[@danieltynan5301]

More there needs to be a department of disproving bullshit

[@cakesaregood5176]

Kinda like the BBC fact checking fiasco.

[@petermoses5095]

I fail to see how a country that wants to have heavy industry and steel smelting plus aluminium refining can run on renewables .1 storm can affect electricity production at critical times .I think it's just not feasible nor possible .and either coal powered generationust be retained or use nuclear with its reduced emissions .I can't imagine any alternatives really

[@robharris6874]

You are correct, renewables will never be 100% it's impossible

[@evil17]

This is correct, but gas is another alternative. Gas, coal & nuclear are all acceptable, renewables are a good way to destroy an economy and its energy generation & reliability.

[@runestone1337]

Has anyone ever seen inside this ABC "Fact-Check" unit? With its "diverse" hiring, "equal" opportunity policy and radical far-left university student infiltration, I reckon it'd put the Star Wars pub scene to shame.

[@MrVvulf]

"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious"

[@markcassidy1428]

Infiltration.... don't think so, it's more an open policy. My parents watched abc news 730 report etc when I was young (way way back in the 80's and 90's), even as a child back then I could see the political bias towards the left.

[@pwrplay8709]

ABC -- Another Biased Concept. Seriously, after the last 3 odd New Years Eve productions, as a tax payer, I want them cancelled. I have had enough.

[@samanthablackmore3437]

Is the RMIT, Government Funded? If so why are they the fact checkers

[@davo-ju6er]

The Australians that think the ABC is the highbrow media outlet are hilarious.

[@michaelconnolly4382]

Well done Dick Smith!

[@garyjones4001]

It's a properganda Chanel and needs to go or split up

[@dontbeasheeple5883]

* propaganda *channel

[@teddekker3383]

June 2024 is done now, is ABC's relationship with RMIT Fact Check terminated ?

[@craigrs61]

Comparing the energy mix of Australia to Nepal is very sad for the ABC. I suppose I couldn't expect more when their "best" is the drama queen show called 7.30 report.

[@grahammewburn]

The discovery of oil peaked in 1964. Since then discoveries have declined while demand has increased. Demand now exceeds discoveries. Unsustainable.

[@YTGhostCensorshipCanSuckMe]

Oil doesn't come from "Dinosaurs and Plants over Millions of Years", that is the original lie, and the notion of "peak-oil" by extension is a total lie which is pushed for the purposes of creating artificial scarcity.

[@guymoschella4066]

ABC has to be defunded Australia will save one billion dollars , they can fix a lot of roads with that .

[@glendavis3214]

God help us

[@Nabraska49]

Everything the abc says has to be taken with half a tone of salt .. it’s the new normal..

[@jmik5057]

I would back Dick Smith any day of the week.😎

[@fknows1]

who fact checks the fact checkers, because fast book is out of control with false fact checking

[@Prognosis__]

I don’t agree with D Smith with everything but with limiting Australian population and energy, I’m 💯 with him

[@runnyhunny786]

And Australia should become more self reliant and independent with our own food bowl and not let foreign interests try to overtake or interfere with it. Also try to keep cash a lot longer if possible too

[@KenDyer-wl4lf]

Smith also claimed that France is 70% nuclear, but France is cancelling its nuclear program. This is not the full story.

[@aliendroneservices6621]

"France derives about 70% of its electricity from nuclear energy, due to a long-standing policy based on energy security. "Government policy, set under a former administration in 2014, aimed to reduce nuclear's share of electricity generation to 50% by 2025. *_This target was delayed in 2019 to 2035, before being abandoned in 2023._* "In February 2022 France announced plans to build six new reactors and to consider building a further eight."

[@KenDyer-wl4lf]

@@aliendroneservices6621 France has not built a nuclear reactor since 1999. Just last week, it cancelled plans for small nuclear reactors due to exorbitant costs.

[@lukehonnor9611]

​@@KenDyer-wl4lfwrong they are building another 8 on top of the 6 February 2022 France announced plans to build six new reactors and to consider building a further eight. France is the world's largest net exporter of electricity due to its very low cost of generation, and gains over €3 billion per year from this. The country has been very active in developing nuclear technology.21 May 2024

[@KenDyer-wl4lf]

@@lukehonnor9611 Yes, but due to design and cost concerns, the French are re-designing their nuclear reactors (Source: Reuters 26/6/24). Good luck to them, as they have not built a new nuclear reactor since 1999, 25 years ago.

[@landcruiser11rum]

@@KenDyer-wl4lfDue to advancements in technology & safety designs would be changing anyhow.

[@lukeclifton4392]

In what world do we need fact checking when Dick Smith said he “rejects the idea of a majority renewable energy system”???? That would be an opinion on Mr Smiths behalf to begin (albeit correct), which in itself does not require so called “fact checking”!!! Opinions don’t require fact checking either way…and he didn’t voice that opinion to begin with.

[@frednerk3477]

ABC, which acts as if it was the propaganda unit of the left, wants more money from our present Labor (leftist) government so happy to run stories in their favour - even if they are wrong. No morals, no ethics, just the usual act from a complete left organisation.

[@simonharris4873]

Sounds like a lot of semantics to me.

[@After_Pasta]

Their energy grid however is 100% renewable

[@gibbonsdp]

Whilst talking about nuclear electricity, Smith said no country runs on 100% renewables. The RMIT said correctly that there are countries with 100% renewable electricity. Smith then improbably tried to claim he was referring to all forms of energy. Let's call it a misunderstanding.

[@batmanlives6456]

No misunderstanding at all RMIT caught with its pants down yet again… This organisation is a sad joke !

[@jonathonwallen6427]

If you go back to the beginning of the video Smith said "This claim by the CSIRO that you can run a whole country on *solar* and *wind* is simply a lie...", his next sentence stated "... no country has ever been able to run entirely on renewables.." but I think it's rather disingenuous to claim he wasn't talking about wind and solar given his previous sentence. Nepal's grid is sourced primarily from hydro. Every time I hear someone say "we should invest more in wind and solar because xyz country/state/province are 100% renewable!" I go and look and sure enough, they're 99% hydro.

[@gibbonsdp]

@@jonathonwallen6427 There are no insurmountable technological, engineering or economic barriers to reaching close to 100% renewables in the grid. Wind, solar and firming technologies are commercially proven and well understood. AEMO's ISP spells out in detail how it can be done here. The fact that no country has done it yet is no reflection on its feasibility.

[@buildmotosykletist1987]

@@gibbonsdp : Intergalactic travel is "feasible" but not likely to happen for millennium.

[@gibbonsdp]

@@buildmotosykletist1987 Surely you can find a more plausible analogy than that.

[@roberth1148]

Murdock propaganda Australia !

[@robharris6874]

If you had a brain you would be dangerous 😂😂😂 It's actually a fact, it is impossible to have 100% renewable! Its the profoundly stupid imbeciles like yourself that are screwing this country up

[@jimbo9]

You should talk as you put out misleading information daily. I'm very disappointed with Dick Smith didn't know he was such right wing. I used to respect his word but not any more.

[@rob6543]

Where’s Uluṟu is that near Ayer’s Rock