The battle for the future of Australia’s climate policy is no longer about whether to cut carbon emissions — it’s about how fast to act.
On one side, pro-climate lawmakers who control the balance of power in Parliament are pushing for sharper cuts and radical policies like banning new coal and gas mines. In the other camp, big business who are committed to some change but fear rapid movement will imperil an economy reliant on fossil fuel exports.
Trying to balance these competing interests is Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who won power with a pledge to end the country’s "climate wars” — a term for the decades of inaction and division which paralyzed energy policy and earned Australia an international reputation as a climate laggard.
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