What's In a Bulb?

Hello Mr Turnbull and fellow Australians.

I'm a conservationist. I believe in saving water and rainwater tanks (even back when my local council deemed them to be illegal - Whitehorse Council!); recycling - especially composting; growing your own veggies and alternative energy sources. So... why do I have a problem with the proposed laws against the incandescent light bulb?

There are some reasonably under-reported (in the commercial media) but well known problems with the mercury content of energy saving light bulbs (see http://www.newswithviews.com/Peterson/rosalind1.htm for details) and links.

My concerns are two fold:

1. The government again appears to be making laws to restrict my freedom to chose a type of product. They are proposing to do this for the good of the environment but frankly I trust my own ability to make a decision on this above that of a beurocrat or another environmentalist.It's interfering with my freedoms.
2. This appears to be another example of poor homework leading to less than adequate decision making. I'd like to know a few things about the new compact fluorescent bulbs:

Do they really save energy?

Sure, at the user end they have the deal reasonably well proven. a) they last longer and b) they consume less electricity. However how much energy does it take to make one? It's the build end of the equation that I can't seem to find some facts upon. I believe this is because of where they are made.In China power costs (especially coal costs) and labour costs are not the same as they are in Australia. So to find out how much energy is required to build 10,000 incandescentlight bulbs, as compared with 10,000 compact fluorescent bulbs is hard to tell in ideal conditions however economies of energy are different (and changing) in China as compared to most capitalist countries, so problems arise in calculating the costs applied to:

• electricty to shape and make the product,
• man hours, and
• materials to build the bulbs.

Are they energy (or environmentally) efficient at the disposal end? Or to put it in simple terms
Are they safe, or more safe than incandescentlight bulbs?
As I mentioned at the start, it is known that there is some mercury content in the new compact fluorescent bulbs.

In sum, before shooting from the hip and applying laws to a populace: know the facts, check the fine print, let the public know and then let us decide. If it's in our best interests (saves the environment, saves energy and money) we'll switch of our own accord. After all isn't that what a market economy is all about?