http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/andrew-blyth/ Andrew Blyth was appointed as ENA Chief Executive in April 2006. Andrew comes to the Energy Networks Association following a successful and high level career with the Federal Government, particularly working on Staff with a number of senior Cabinet Ministers in Federal Parliament. Andrew was the Senior Adviser on Resources, Energy and the Environment for Hon Ian Macfarlane MP, Federal Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources from March 2002 to November 2004, coinciding with a crucial time in the development and progression of the current energy market reform agenda. Andrew also worked on the Energy White Paper, Securing Australia’s Energy Future. He is consequently well known in the energy industry and with both State and Federal Governments and agencies. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-much-are-you-prepared-to-pay-for-civilisation/ We are all too familiar with the satellite picture of North Korea in darkness at night and the horror stories of millions of people living in impoverishment. More recently I have read Barbara Demick’s, Nothing To Envy: Love, Life and Death in North Korea. This book is both depressing yet insightful. The journey you take while reading is one of disbelief of a state starving its people yet demanding hero worship of its leaders. The book shows too that no matter how hard a state seeks to control its people, individual spirit cannot be crushed. North Koreans inventiveness and street smarts have been tested to the limit, just in order to survive in such a dysfunctional regime. The book does, however, drive home that a functioning electricity sector is indeed the backbone of every economy. At the weekend, Federal Minister for Energy, Hon Martin Ferguson MP, in plain speaking, said that we need to come to terms with the true cost of electricity. I couldn’t agree more and full credit to him for raising the issue. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Andrew Blyth) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-much-are-you-prepared-to-pay-for-civilisation/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-much-are-you-prepared-to-pay-for-civilisation/#item2713 Fri, 26 Mar 2010 00:59:08 +0000 Andrew Blyth | Author bios | The Punch