Can Australia spark an energy change?

Over the past decades, Australia has lacked stability in its climate policy even as climate change becomes impossible for the world to ignore. With Australian voters heading to the polls this Saturday, does the country have the policy promises it needs to spark an energy change? On this episode of Policy Forum Pod, Ken Baldwin, Kylie Catchpole, and Mark Kenny look at how Australia can transition to renewables even without a strong policy framework to lead the way.

Ken Baldwin is Director of the Energy Change Institute at ANU, and Deputy Director of the Research School of Physics and Engineering. Since 2011, he has been a member of the Project Steering Committee for the Australian Energy Technology, and since 2014, he has been a Board member of the South East Region of Renewable Energy Excellence.

Kylie Catchpole is at the Research School of Engineering at the Australian National University. Her research interests are in nanotechnology and new materials for solar cell applications. She has a physics degree from the ANU, winning a University Medal, and a PhD from the ANU.

Mark Kenny is a Senior Fellow in the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the university after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times. He is also the presenter of Policy Forum's Democracy Sausage podcast.

Our presenters – Quentin Grafton and Martyn Pearce – also discuss the upcoming election, and the difficulties in understanding multiple policies when trying to cast an informed vote. They also go through some of your recent comments and pod topic suggestions.

Quentin Grafton is Professor of Economics at Crawford School, an ANU Public Policy Fellow, and Director of the Centre for Water Economics, Environment and Policy. He is also Editor-in-Chief of Policy Forum.

Martyn Pearce is a presenter for Policy Forum Pod and the Editor of Policy Forum.

Show notes | The following were mentioned in this episode:

Dividend Imputation Credits (franking credits and tax system proposed by Labor Party)
Labor Party’s Fair Go Action Plan
Even greater budget surplus revealed by Labor
Democracy Sausage podcast: Voter fatigue and the fight to the finish line
Policy Forum Pod Facebook Group
Australia’s 2030 climate change target
Worldwide student climate strike
Greta Thunberg at World Economic Forum in Davos
Lowy Institute poll on attitudes towards climate change
National Energy Guarantee (NEG)
Tony Abbott scraps carbon tax
Emissions intensity scheme removed by Turnbull...

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