Social media is a press gallery that never shuts up. This is particularly true of X, formally Twitter, under the ownership of Elon Musk who has made pestering political leaders with damaging home truths somewhat of a sport.

The creatures that dwell on this platform operate outside the normal rules of political haggling.

Where previously an unpopular ruling party could toss a few long lunches the way of the press office – or maybe auction off touchy-feely personal interviews in the lucrative election cycle – there is nothing a modern politician can do about criticism online (except pass legislation to shut the platform down using the ‘think of the children’ excuse).

Federal Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen is in big trouble when it comes to his political future. His contradictory portfolios are two of incoming US President Donald Trump’s favourite chew toys.

Between ‘drill, baby, drill!’ and Europe’s panicked reflex into nuclear energy, Bowen is about to be sitting alone at global energy forums or stuck at home, feeding his three-eyed fish meme.

Readers may not be surprised to discover that the thin-skinned minister has fled X to the safety of rival Bluesky.

‘Rival’ is much too generous. Bluesky has a reputation for absorbing the most obnoxious of Democrat voices and made itself famous (thanks to screenshots on X) for a bickering userbase so painfully offended that they immediately clogged up the report function.

Apparently, Bowen feels that X is no longer a place for respectful debate, although long-time users, of which I am one (having joined in 2009), would argue that it is no longer a place for the Left to push political viewpoints without criticism. We could even say that prior to Musk purchasing X, ‘debate’ on the platform was kept ‘respectful’ because the conversation was entirely one-sided and anyone who challenged ‘the science’ or the assumptions of ‘experts’ were promptly banned regardless of how polite they were.

Even Aussie jokes were once deemed a no-go. My last suspension, prior to Musk, was for telling the Lord Mayor of Sydney to ‘go jump in the lake’. No more, no less. The censorial Wokerati interpreted that as ‘encouraging suicide’. Which gives you an idea of how easy it is to re-brand debate as hate speech or dangerous speech when the jokes start to bite.

By jumping to Bluesky, Bowen has effectively erased his social media presence. He may as well have chucked his phone in the drink.

We cannot presume to unpick the mind of a man who believes his energy views to be superior to those of Europe, the US, UK, Asia, Africa, and South America. Some have speculated that his departure from mainstream social media might have something to do with an awkward interview on Sky News Australia in which he was being grilled about the global nuclear energy market. When confronted with China’s proposed 150 nuclear plants and the Labor Party’s abandonment of their election-winning lower power prices pledge (fabrication?), he had this to say…

‘China’s nuclear investment is a tiny, tiny fraction of their renewable investment. And then I’ve just come from meetings with the Chinese government, they are investing more in renewable energy than the rest of the world combined. And nuclear is a tiny fraction. But a tiny, tiny… It’s a tiny fraction, as it is everywhere in the world. As it would be in Australia under the Liberal Party’s plans.’

You can watch the cringe-inducing interview here. As he was firmly pressed on how doing more of the same would magically have the opposite effect on prices, he kept repeating the word ‘commitment’ like a phone flashing a power warning moments before battery death.

‘We are taking those policies and we’re keepin’ going with a policy which increases reliability, increases our chances of reducing prices, and reduces emissions.’

I am more cranky than the host, Laura Jays, and would have challenged Bowen to prove his claims with empirical data including the total emission cost of replacing every turbine, solar panel, and battery no less than four times within the century.

Instead, she asked, ‘You’re telling me that people have to pay more to have a reliable system in the short term…’

‘Where did I say that?’

And to be fair, Bowen did not say this, but his assertions implied it while the nation’s power bills confirmed it. Whatever Bowen and Labor are up to, it is costing the public a fortune. Shortly after this exchange, Bowen began his regurgitation of mindless policy lines devoid of fact. He became particularly wriggly about making ‘commitments’ to dollar-value savings on energy bills, preferring to lean on modelling (which is like looking for structural integrity in a cloud).

‘Why is it so hard to say, Minister?’ The host fussed with her notes, defeated by Bowen’s talent for evasion. ‘Seriously. I mean, like, I hate playing these games with you. We are talking about cheaper power bills. People can’t see it coming down. We’re about to go into an election … you promised $275 off their bills by now in 2021 and that hasn’t happened.’

‘They are seeing a $75 per quarter rebate on their bills-’

‘That’s artificial… And they are still paying for it. That’s their taxes.’

Bowen must have been having flashbacks to X at this point, the only difference being that he can’t delete Sky News Australia with the same ease as he did the X app.

‘I don’t think people who see it [the $75 rebate] coming off their energy bills regard it as artificial. Maybe the Liberal Party who voted against it regard it as artificial, but we don’t.’

That is a deeply concerning thing for a Minister to say about the use of public money to mask the failure of his party’s election promises.

Yes, it was an embarrassing, atrocious interview – but not enough people witnessed it to make a difference in the election. However, there are 6.1 million active Australian users on X, and every time Bowen and his team pimped energy policy it was ripped apart and strung up on the digital forum like the heads that were once displayed on London Bridge.

If there are any Labor strategists worth their salt, they know it is safer to given Bowen and his portfolio the ‘Biden Bunker’ treatment rather than keep feeding the angry crowds.

Senator Malcolm Roberts of One Nation belled the cat when musing if Bowen was an election liability.

Other users pointed out that the Community Notes feature on X, which posts directly onto tweets, routinely ‘fact-checked’ and contradicted the Minister’s claims which must have been embarrassing and tiring to defend especially for a government that has hitched itself to rooting out so-called misinformation and disinformation. It’s bad optics, if nothing else, to be accused of perpetrating that which they claim to oppose.

Bowen is now free to post his pitches to a handful of people who already vote Labor.

As for reaching the working class, the middle class, and the ‘we’re sick of being lied to class’ – Bowen has run out of energy. He is the broken bulb plunging Albanese’s bread and circuses into darkness.