I wasn't commenting specifically on Origin, but I have no doubt...

I wasn't commenting specifically on Origin, but I have no doubt they are delaying and deferring expenditure. I am not sure whether or not they could afford to pay the dividend, but there is an expectation on dividends. You will find a long discussion on the QBE posts between me and Pear about the relative merits of retained earnings verses paying out dividends. I personally would prefer they didn't (I need capital gains to offset losses) where others need the income.

I have done a lot of work for one of the big miners and was talking to one of my contacts who was doing some shutdown planning. Board wanted to maintain dividend, but didn't have the cash. Operations had to come up with the cash so a shutdown that had already been planned for two years got delayed so they could make their contribution to the dividend. What happens if it breaks down or performs inefficiently between now and when the shutdown actually happens?

I also remember reading some posts on Fortesque where they were stretching our their planned shutdowns to put more tonnes through when cash flow was a problem. Was all well and dandy until a belt split and the whole wash plant had an unplanned shutdown. That would have worked out well for them.

Short term thinking driving decisions to appease the market an/or to survive. Butcher NPV to get keep the sharemarket (or financiers) t happy.

Origin is in a much better position than STO, so hopefully they wake up sooner rather than later. I think it is too late for STO as these things take years to really bear fruit.