‘Clarke and Dawe’: Keith Pitt refuses to say a battery can back up a wind farm – video

Keith Pitt, the minister for resources, water and northern Australia, has refused to say a battery, no matter the size, is able to back up a wind farm. Sky News reporter Tom Connell was pressing the minister on the reasons for his rejection of funding for a green energy hub in north Queensland, with Pitt claiming one of the reasons was that it would not provide dispatchable power.  Pitt said: ‘What I can tell you is that intermittent wind and solar is not dispatchable.’ After several rounds of questioning, a perplexed Connell asked, ’I just don’t understand why you won’t agree that a battery can back up a wind farm?’ The exchange prompted some commentators to compare it to a Clarke and Dawe skit.