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(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a Reuters columnist.)
LAUNCESTON, Australia, June 4 (Reuters) – Talks about Australia's lack of energy and carbon policy stance over the past few weeks are not lacking, the only certainty being that combative rhetoric makes the lasting solution more phantasmatic.
Australia is the world's third largest energy exporter behind heavy crude oil, Saudi Arabia and Russia, mainly due to its status as the largest shipper of coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the third supplier of uranium.
More than a decade of conflicting political struggles and conflicting policies also mean that Australia has some of the highest electricity retail prices in the world and is likely to end up importing LNG into its populated cities in the south. is – an apparently strange situation for such a gigantic exporter of this country. fuel.
Natural Resources Minister Matt Canavan fired his last salvo last week in the war of words in the country.
Canavan was renamed Minister of Natural Resources by Prime Minister Scott Morrison following the shock of the federal election victory of his Conservative coalition government, the Liberal-National Party.
The opposition Labor Party, which calls for stronger action against climate change, was tipped to win and end six years of coalition government, but it simply failed in the May 18 vote. .
Canavan used a speech at the annual meeting of the Australian oil and gas industry last week to call for an end to the industry's support for a carbon price, saying that only "noisy media Australians "supported such a position.
"We had four elections in which the Australian people rejected such a policy and perhaps it is time that we all listened to the democratic wisdom of the Australian people and sought to solve the problem of climate change by other means. said Canavan at the Brisbane conference on May 30.
The elections refer to the victories won by the ruling coalition last month, in 2016 and in 2013, as well as by the last Labor government, which has ruled in the minority since the 2010 election until its defeat. three years later with the support of the independents.
It is fair to say that, according to Canavan, there has never been a strong electoral mandate for a carbon price, or even for more aggressive political action to reduce emissions.
Similarly, the last four federal elections were extremely tight, even with Morrison only getting a majority of the two seats in the 151-member lower house of Parliament.
The former coalition government had a majority of one seat when it was elected in 2016, but this loss was lost during its tenure after the loss of the seat of former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at a by-election, called to resign after his dismissal by his own parliamentary colleagues. .
What is missing at Canavan is that there is also no evidence of strong support for the coalition's more modest climate change goals of reducing emissions from 26 to 28% of 2005 levels by 2030.
The Labor Party has adopted a 45% reduction policy by 2030, as well as a greater emphasis on renewable energy production and the phasing out of production. electricity from coal, which currently accounts for about two thirds of Australian electricity.
PARALYSIS OF POLICIES?
The problem for business is the lack of a bipartite policy on energy and carbon emissions and the almost total lack of hope that such a policy can be developed.
While Canavan and the ruling coalition are encouraged by their electoral victory, business leaders recognize that there will likely be a Labor government in the future, and perhaps as early as 2022, at the time of the upcoming elections. federal.
CEOs are aware of the likelihood that a carbon price will eventually be reached, and that public concern about climate change is likely to increase over the next few years, instead of decreasing.
However, Australian politicians face a relatively short three-year electoral cycle and the focus is almost always on job creation.
The Carmichael Coal Mine Project in the State of Queensland is a case in point: badysts believe that coalition support for the controversial mine is one of the reasons they were able to remove rural seats from the party. Labor State.
Workers were in conflict over the company Adani Enterprises, torn between the promise of well-paying mining jobs and the anger of progressive urban voters facing the climatic consequences of building what would be the biggest new coal mining project in the world.
The problem for companies operating in Australia is that they are forced to make long-term investment decisions without any long-term political certainty.
(Edited by Kenneth Maxwell)
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