08/10/2026
On Wednesday 7th October 2026, Redlands Probus Club held their monthly Conversation (Chat) Group Meeting. The meeting was well attended and the conversation was lively. The agenda items for this meeting were as follows:
1. The Thucydides Trap refers to the idea that when a rising power threatens to displace an established one, the result is often war. Thucydides (An Athenian General) in his History of the Peloponnesian War observes that "it was the rise of Athens and the fear that this instilled in Sparta that made war inevitable (Wikipedia). Are Trump and Xi currently trying prevent this from happening? Is there a chance of war in the near future?
2. Why are we trying to Electrify our nation: The federal government is flat out trying to ‘electrify’ our economy yet so called ‘Net Zero’ is now finally on the nose.
EV’s (Electric Vehicles that record everything and could be spying on us), Solar Panels, home batteries all being subsidised and all being purchased from China after the raw materials were mostly mined here. ‘Alternative power’ sources are also subsidized including Solar farms, Wind farms, Snowy 2 tunnels and much more, while we are turning our backs of our traditional sources such as coal and gas and ignoring nuclear power, all of which we don’t have to import as they are already here.
3. Has Trump’s war against Iran has caused oil prices to rise? What are the results to our economy if as predicted, the price of Diesel goes over $4 a litre? What about availability? We used to have 7 refineries and now two that are trying to cope with demand. Fuel is bought directly from overseas, yet what happens if there is a war or national emergency? Our reserve fuel stocks are reportedly only in days.
4. Artificial Intelligence: Will we be able to control this process or will it control us?
5. Voluntary Assisted Dying: Should we offer this as an alternative to convicted criminals with ‘all of life’ court sentences?
6. Redlands City Mayor: What’s the latest advice? Does anyone really know or care?
7. Owing to popular demand, here is another last-minute topic
What could be the result in Queensland if One Nation might control or influence the next Government?
