London07:10 Washington02:10 Sydney17:10
Get The Brief
Vol. 1 · No. 92
Friday 23 October 2026
SOX NEWS

Reporting, analysis and ideas for a freer, richer West.

AU EditionEnergy & Public MoneyAnalysis

Snowy 2.0 Will Cost $25 Billion to Save $7 Billion. Canberra Says Stopping Would Cost More

The government-owned Snowy Hydro now puts the cost of its pumped hydro expansion at $22.2 billion with a $25 billion scenario, twelve times the 2017 price and double the 2023 reset, with full commissioning pushed to late 2029. Its own case for the project is a $7 billion reduction in wholesale prices over the next 50 years.

The short version

  1. Snowy Hydro's reassessment, released 22 October, puts Snowy 2.0's target cost at $22.2 billion with a $25 billion cost scenario and full commissioning in late 2029, against $2 billion and 2021 when announced in 2017 and $12 billion and 2028 at the 2023 reset.
  2. The company attributes the increase to design immaturity at the 2018 final investment decision, contractor underperformance and global cost escalation; only 44 per cent of the construction design was complete at the 2023 reset.
  3. Snowy Hydro's own stated consumer benefit is a reduction in wholesale electricity costs of more than $7 billion to 2075; the Commonwealth has yet to decide how the new cost will be funded.
Sox News Australia Desk · · 4 min read
Photograph: Sox News

Today’s reads

The newsroom
AU EditionAustralian Economy

The RBA's Deputy Has Named the Only Good Reason for a Fifth Rate Rise. It Has Nothing to Do With Oil

Andrew Hauser told a Sydney conference that the inflation outlook is "materially worse" than the Reserve Bank forecast in August and that a growing share of businesses now treat 3 to 3.5 per cent inflation as the new normal. Markets moved the odds of a Melbourne Cup Day rise from about a quarter to better than even. The 28 October CPI will decide it.

Analysis · Sox News Economics Desk ·
GlobalAlberta Referendum

Alberta Said No to Leaving by Three to One. The Other Nine Answers Are the Ones Ottawa Has to Live With

With four fifths of ballots counted, 75.3 per cent of Albertans voted to remain in Canada and 24.7 per cent to begin the legal process towards a binding separation vote. The five immigration questions passed by double digits. Three of the four constitutional questions passed narrowly, one failed, and the premier who asked them speaks to the province tonight.

Analysis · Sox News Canada Desk ·
GlobalMoney & Prosperity

Canada's Core Inflation Is 1.8 Per Cent. Markets Are Pricing a Rate Rise Anyway

Headline CPI rose to 3.1 per cent in September on a 27.8 per cent jump in gasoline, while the Bank of Canada's preferred core measures fell to 1.8 and 1.9 per cent. The Bank's own surveys show consumers' five-year inflation expectations at a four-year high, and traders now put two-thirds odds on a hike on 28 October.

Analysis · Sox News Canada Desk ·

Finishing is probably cheaper than stopping, which is the trap sunk-cost megaprojects set. The failure lies in a 2018 investment decision on 44 per cent design and a 2023 reset accepted without a line-by-line review, and it argues against governments owning megaprojects rather than contracting for the storage they need.

Power, with rules

Power
US EditionDefence & PowerNews

Canada's GlobalEye Deal Is a Negotiation, Not a Purchase

Ottawa and Saab have signed a non-binding term sheet for six GlobalEye aircraft. That is a serious defence commitment, but it is not yet an order, and the distinction matters.

Sox News North America Desk · · 2 min read

Money, energy and the right to build

Build
GlobalEnergy Diplomacy

Ukraine's Drones Lost Their Signal at 100 Miles an Hour. Musk Says Ask the President

A speed cap on the Pentagon-controlled Starshield network knocked out Ukrainian drone missions on Tuesday night, three days into Donald Trump's energy truce. By Thursday Zelensky had called the truce off, Ukraine had hit a refinery in Ryazan, and Elon Musk had pointed at the White House.

Analysis · Sox News Editorial Desk ·
GlobalEnergy Diplomacy

Ukraine Wants Reciprocity Before Trump’s Energy Truce Can Hold

Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine is ready to stop striking Russian energy infrastructure if Moscow does the same. Kyiv reported fresh attacks after Donald Trump claimed the two countries had agreed to an immediate truce.

Analysis · Sox News Editorial Desk ·
US EditionMedia & Markets

Skydance Closes Warner Deal, Combining CBS and CNN

The company now brings CBS, CNN, HBO, Warner Bros. and Paramount under one corporate roof. Its $6 billion savings target and promised newsroom safeguards make the next phase as consequential as the closing.

Analysis · Sox News US Desk ·
Sox Life

Live well

Health, performance and the art of living well.

Freedom is worth more when you have the energy, strength and confidence to use it. Sox Life reports what the evidence supports, and leaves the wellness slogans to others.

Open Sox Life →
A cedar sauna interior at dawn with a small glowing window, a folded linen towel and a wooden ladle.
Health and longevitySox Life desk
A saltwater ocean pool carved into sandstone rocks on the Sydney coast at sunrise.
Performance
A simple breakfast of blueberries, a soft boiled egg and black coffee on a linen tablecloth.
Food
Concept visualisation of a warm interview studio with two tan leather armchairs, brass lamps and walnut shelving.Studio concept · AI-assisted visualisation
Coming soon

The Sox Interview

Five focused questions. Ten useful minutes. Positive, practical conversations with the people building stronger lives, businesses and countries across the Anglosphere.

  1. 01Personal storyWhere they started
  2. 02Core insightThe one idea
  3. 03Practical relevanceWhy it matters
  4. 04Action people can takeWhat to do this week
  5. 05Optimistic closing visionWhat better looks like
The newsletter

The Brief

The day’s argument in five minutes, by email. The lead, the shorts and one line of view, from the same desks as the site.

5 minto read
Freealways
0ads

More from the desks

Every story
  1. US Sanctions the ICC, Putting Its Rule of Law Claims to the Test

    Global
  2. Maduro Torture Indictment Puts U.S. Justice to the Test

    US
  3. ICE Voter Probe Put Registration Groups Under Scrutiny

    US
  4. Quebec's New Government Faces a Long Road to Independence

    Global
  5. Two Killed, 35 Injured in Georgia Homecoming Shooting

    US
  6. The Supreme Court's Climate Case Tests the Reach of State Law

    US
  7. Britain Drops Judge-Only Trial Plan as Court Backlog Hits Record

    UK
  8. G7 Agrees to 100 Million Barrel Oil Release

    Global
  9. US Employers Added Just 29,000 Jobs in September

    US
  10. Tennessee's Failed Execution Is a Test of State Accountability

    US
  11. South Korea’s U.S. Energy Plans Start With a Texas Power Plant

    US
  12. Canada Opens Fast Track Review of Pacific Link Pipeline

    Global
  13. August PCE Inflation Holds at 3.4%, Real Spending Rises 0.6%

    US
  14. The U.S.-Led Iraq Mission Ends. Baghdad Faces the Security Test

    US
  15. Australia's 4% Inflation Print Puts Supply Policy in Focus

    AU
  16. LNG Canada’s Partners Commit to Double Export Capacity

    Global
  17. New Zealand's OBEGALx Deficit Forecast Falls to NZ$6.8bn

    Global
  18. RBA Raises Cash Rate to 4.60%, Highest in 15 Years

    AU
  19. US Fuel Rule Lowers the 2031 Target to 34.9 MPG

    US
  20. Britain's Shipbuilding Pledge Is a Test of Sovereign Capacity

    UK
  21. Australia's AI Summons Turns Rogue Agents Into an Accountability Test

    AU
  22. TikTok Settlement Makes Teen Safety a Product Requirement

    US
  23. OpenAI's Rogue Agents Have Made Safety a Governance Problem

    Global
  24. Australia and New Zealand Sign Defence Science Pact

    AU
  25. Third Country Deportations Have Reached the Supreme Court

    US
  26. The U.S.-China Trade Truce Has Bought Time, Not Trust

    US
  27. Australia's Ukraine Pact Turns Aid Into a Long-Term Capability Bet

    AU
  28. Canada Puts C$100 Million Behind a Two-State Opening

    US
  29. Trump's UN Speech Turns Coercion Into a Diplomacy Test

    US
  30. Canada Extends Fuel Tax Relief Into 2027

    US
  31. Greenland's Security Deal Puts NATO Back on the Map

    US
  32. The White House Press Ban Now Has a Court File

    US
  33. Australia's Population Problem Is Now a Productivity Problem

    AU
  34. The Russia Sanctions Law Has Changed the Question From Reach to Rules

    US
  35. Britain's Inflation Problem Is Now an Energy Problem

    UK
  36. Australia Wants Fewer Migrants and More Builders

    AU
  37. Australia's Inflation Warning Has Put the RBA Back on the Trigger

    AU
  38. Canada Finally Makes the Tax Code Care About Capital

    Global
  39. America’s Housing Pipeline Is Still Too Thin

    US
  40. The Russia Sanctions Bill Needs Rules Before Reach

    US
  41. Britain's Local-Power Launch Is a Test of Energy Ownership

    UK
  42. The Fed Has Turned the Rate Cycle Back Up

    US
  43. Australia's Fuel Plan Is a Reserve Strategy, Not a Pump-Price Promise

    AU
  44. The Canada Tariff Reset Is Becoming a Permanent Trade System

    US
  45. Hormuz Diplomacy Needs a Shipping Deal, Not Another Summit

    Global
  46. Canada's 3% Inflation Is a Warning, Not a Victory

    Global
  47. The Post Office Is Not the Nation's Election Office

    US
  48. The Oil Market's Emergency Bypass Is Out of Service

    Global
  49. The Court Draws a Line Under FEMA's Political Staffing Plan

    US
  50. The August CPI Leaves the Fed No Clean Escape

    US
  51. Banks Need Clearer Rules for the Cloud They Already Depend On

    US
  52. America's Secret Deportation Court Has Now Been Used

    US
  53. California Makes Child Safety a Product Requirement

    US
  54. The Fed Is Watching the Fuel Bill, Not Just the Headline

    US
  55. A $5,000 Promise Needs a Balance Sheet

    US
  56. Australia's Rising Seas Are an Infrastructure Bill, Not a Future Abstraction

    AU
  57. Follow the Settlement Layer in the Scam Economy

    US
  58. Britain’s Settlement Trade Ban Tests Whether Sanctions Can Stay Targeted

    UK
  59. Trump's Bombardier Threat Turns Trade War Into Industrial Policy

    US
  60. Record Labor Day Fuel Prices Make the War's Bill Personal

    US
  61. America's Tanker War Turns Commerce Into a Target

    Global
  62. Trump's Trade Ultimatum Treats Imports as a National Loss

    US
  63. North America's Jobs Numbers Tell Two Stories About Growth

    Global
  64. Australia's Growth Headline Is Hiding a Productivity Problem

    AU
  65. Australia's Housing Downturn Is Spreading Across the Map

    AU
  66. Britain's Prison Fix Starts With the Cells It Failed to Build

    UK
  67. Canada's Tariff Retaliation Puts Consumers in the Crossfire

    CA
  68. Australia's RBA Pause Leaves a Live Rate Rise Risk

    AU
  69. Britain Gives Mayors a Route Through the Housing Veto

    UK
  70. Treasury's Buybacks Cannot Substitute for Fiscal Credibility

    Global
  71. Three Days of Tariff Relief Cannot Replace a Trade Deal

    Global
  72. Britain's Housing Market Is Pricing In the Cost of Money

    UK
  73. Australia's Tariff Exemption Test Is Really a Test of Sovereignty

    AU
  74. Australia's Rate Pause Is Not Mortgage Relief

    AU
  75. Australia's Housing Tax Experiment Is Hitting the Mortgage Pipeline

    AU
  76. America's Solar Tariff Is a Bet Against Cheap Energy

    US
  77. Australia's Solar Rebate Finally Reaches the Missing Middle

    AU
  78. Australia's Petrol Tax Holiday Ends at the Worst Possible Moment

    AU
  79. Burnham’s VAT cut on electricity: relief now, distortion later

    UK
  80. Europe tries to electrify its way out of imported energy dependency

    Global
  81. Europe tries to electrify its way out of imported energy dependency

    Global
  82. Australian Yellowcake Heads to India as the Uranium Trade Comes of Age

    AU
  83. Australia's Jobs Machine Keeps the RBA's Finger Near the Trigger

    AU
  84. The NHS Weighs Weight-Loss Drugs for Children as the Private Market Races Ahead

    UK
  85. Burnham's Cost-of-Living Blitz Meets Britain's 1948 Tax Ceiling

    UK
  86. Trump Widens the 'Pay Your Own Way' Pledge as Nuclear Deregulation Accelerates

    US
  87. Wall Street Circles Its Record as the Fed Stares Down a Rate-Hike Faction

    US
  88. America's Permit State Goes on Trial

    US
  89. The Nuclear Renaissance Is the Free World Growth Story

    Global