Australia: Change of government after climate election

Coal industry supporters in the Australian government have lost power. The social-democratic Labor Party will now have to come to terms with Greens and conservative-Green independent candidates in order to be able to govern.

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese casting his vote.

Lukas Coch / Imago

The miracle prayed for by evangelical Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has not materialized. He lost his position. He has also resigned as leader of his conservative party. His party lost the Australian general election. According to previous calculations, the Social Democratic Labor Party can now count on at least 71 seats in the Australian House of Commons and thus form at least one minority government.

But Labor will probably have to work with the real winners of this election – new Green MPs and several confident, well-educated women who fought to become independent constituencies previously firmly in the hands of the Conservative ruling parties.

Receipt for Scott Morrison

Climate change is particularly evident in Australia. Since 2019, Australians have endured numerous natural disasters – catastrophic bushfires, floods, hurricanes. The warming of the sea off the east coast of the fifth continent has already destroyed large parts of the natural wonder Barrier Reef, a coral reef stretching over 2,300 kilometers.

Conservative Prime Minister Morrison had not covered himself in glory in dealing with these problems. During the bush fires, he flew to Hawaii with his family on vacation and only returned to his smoke-blackened home after harsh criticism in the media. During the floods, he reacted too slowly and with little compassion for those affected who had lost everything.

During the ensuing coronavirus pandemic, he constantly attacked regional governments, which desperately imposed lockdowns to limit the death toll while the country waited for the vaccine that its federal government had ordered late.

During the campaign, Morrison, who has always been a supporter of Australia’s influential coal industry, carefully avoided the issue of climate change. But the voters had obviously not forgotten his behavior during the disasters. “I’m glad Morrison is gone and the Greens and Green Conservatives did so well,” said 32-year-old teacher Hannah at an election rally. “When Morrison flew to Hawaii in the middle of the fire disaster, he died for me. His government has done nothing about the climate crisis.”

Next to her, 60-year-old Julie beams as the election results begin to trickle down. “I’m so relieved we don’t have to deal with Scotty from Marketing anymore, the constant slogans, constant PR, no substance.” And she hopes that the Greens and the green-conservative women will also influence the climate policy of the new Labor government.

«The Liberal Party has lost its way»

MP Zali Steggall is a champion of the Green Conservatives. She has won the affluent constituency of former Conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott for the second time. «The conservative Liberal Party has lost its way. She has moved too far to the right,” she said on television on election night. Voters wanted the fight against the climate crisis, they wanted respect for women, they wanted more transparency in government decisions and sensible and factual politics – not partisan politics.

In this election, Stegall ran against a candidate hand-picked by former Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who was particularly known for her statements against transgender people in sport and on
schools. She was part of Morrison’s campaign for votes from conservative religious organizations. But this electoral tactic has obviously not paid off for the former marketing man.

For many women he became unelectable. Even within his own party, he came under fire. A female MP called him a selfish autocrat who couldn’t show genuine compassion. Conservative Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells said in a public speech that Morrison was unfit to be prime minister and was only using his so-called faith as a marketing ploy.

Labor, Greens and Green Conservatives must cooperate

Now the winners of the Australian general election, the Labor Party, the Greens and the Green Conservatives must show that they can work together and, above all, change climate policy. In his victory speech, the future Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, promised a political transformation of Australia into a united, kind, compassionate society, where no one would be left behind or handicapped. “Together we will end the climate wars in Australia and seize the opportunity to become a renewable energy superpower.”

He stressed that his government will also ensure that the voices of Australia’s ancient indigenous people are finally enshrined in the country’s constitution. The public health system and the care of old people should be secured again and fair minimum wages should be paid. In addition, his government will set up an anti-corruption commission at the highest federal level, which the Green Conservatives are also calling for.

The Greens and Green Conservatives also support many of these goals. But they want to completely stop coal mining and gas production in the country, where mining accounts for more than 10 percent of gross national product, and achieve 100 percent renewable energy supply as quickly as possible. By 2030 they want the CO2-Reduce Australia’s emissions by 75 percent. The country aims to be climate neutral by 2035. Labor wants to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and reduce emissions to 43 percent by 2030.

The new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will soon have to show how he can reconcile these different goals and create a common climate policy.

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