Australians came back from the polls without a firm federal government late last week, and the two major parties continue to vie for the support of a handful of Independents and Greens to form what will be Australia’s first coalition government since the Second World War. Julia Gillard, the Labour leader who recently ousted former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in a party coup just before heading to the polls, needs only to woo four other members to achieve a 76-seat majority. The Liberal-National party coalition needs to attract five other members to grab power from the ruling Labour.
Labour planned on instituting a carbon trading system in Australia, but its roll-out was delayed as the Australian economy was rocked by the recession. The opposition is against the emissions trading scheme and instead favours voluntary corporate measures to reduce emissions. Critics believe that neither party’s scheme is adequate to achieve the relatively modest 5% GHG reduction over 2000 levels by 2020 they are both aiming for.
While Independents and the single Green representative will decide which party forms government, wins for the Greens in Australia’s Senatorial elections transformed their level of influence in the Upper House. There, the Greens increased their representation from 5 to 9 senators in the 76 member House, effectively holding the balance of power in the otherwise polarized chamber.
Negotiations with MPs continue and the future of Australia’s carbon reduction commitments is largely in the balance. Australians are among the highest per capita emitters of greenhouse gases in the world, and rely heavily on domestic coal for energy production. Twelve new coal-fired plants are slated to be built, and are expected to increase the country’s emissions by 7% over 2008 levels – in direct conflict with Australia’s stated emission reduction goals. Interestingly, Australia is among the world’s best places for solar power generation due to their high insolation rates and available heartland space. It is also considered to be a harbinger of climate change impacts, with extreme drought and water shortages having devastated ranchers, ocean acidification and warming bleaching the Great Barrier Reef, and rampant fires sweeping the country’s parched West.
By Jeff Beyer, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
