Australia's climate culture war is beginning to heat up

Australia is just weeks away from a national election, and one of the starkest moments of the campaign came during a televised debate.

- CHRIS WRIGHT

Asked last Tuesday whether climate change is linked to Australia's worsening extreme weather, opposition leader Peter Dutton replied: "I don't know because I'm not a scientist."

For a nation that has faced record-breaking wildfires, devastating floods and rising heat, Dutton’s refusal to acknowledge the connection was more than evasive – it was dangerous. And it signalled something deeper: a slide towards the kind of climate denial and delay politics that have become Donald Trump’s brand.

On 3 May, Australians will vote not just on who leads the country but on the kind of future they want: one that involves a transition to clean energy, already underway under prime minister Anthony Albanese, or Dutton’s Trump-style pivot towards fossil fuels and a nuclear plan that will take more than a decade to implement.

Though Dutton is smart enough to avoid explicitly denying climate change, and quickly tried to correct himself after the backlash, his proposed energy policy takes a page straight from the climate delay playbook.

He plans to spend US$380bn (£286bn) transitioning Australia – the world’s sunniest and windiest country – to nuclear power, without building a single reactor for at least 12 years. In the meantime, his proposal would funnel public money into extending the life of ageing coal-fired power stations, crowding out renewables.

After reviewing the modelling from both major parties, I fear the contrast is stark: my assessment is that Dutton’s roadmap would result in nearly three times more coal power by 2050, compared with the government’s existing plan, which prioritises renewable energy and emissions reduction.