Abbott's War on the Environment and Turnbull's Hot Air

Abstract

Tony Abbott's Coalition government gained notoriety for taking a wrecking ball to Australia's policies on climate change. In a world first, Australia dismantled a fledgling carbon pricing scheme and downgraded an effective renewable energy target. The Department of Climate Change and the Climate Commission were axed while key agencies researching climate science such as CSIRO had funds and staffing decimated. Environmental non-government organisations came under siege in terms of reputation, legal rights and funding status. The renewable energy industry was further undermined as federal funding bodies were threatened with extinction. Conversely, the fossil fuel industry was rewarded with removal of the carbon price and resource super profit tax as well as continuation of generous subsidies. Another mega coal mine was approved. These policies ran counter to the clarion call for action on climate change by national and international experts in science, economics and security. They forecast Australia would pay a heavy price even with two degrees of warming; a level the world is set to surpass with minimalist emission reduction targets akin to those of the Abbott Government. The Coalition's conduct in this domain was motivated by climate scepticism, cynical wedge politics, a traditional 'quarry' view of prosperity, and narrow conceptions of national interest privileging a powerful section of corporate Australia, namely the fossil fuel industry. Despite a promising change in tone, climate policy settings barely changed after Malcolm Turnbull took power in 2015. Australia trails the pack of comparable countries in climate action and pledges.