Australia's national energy and climate change policy has
unfortunately stalled once again due to a leadership spill in late
August 2018 that led to former Treasurer Scott Morrison replacing
Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister. This latest change in
leadership follows the ousting of several Australian Prime
Ministers by their own parties, including Tony Abbott in 2015,
Julia Gillard in 2013, and Kevin Rudd in 2010. Turnbull, like Kevin
Rudd and Tony Abbott, was removed from office for reasons that
included his climate change policies.
Largely due to rising energy prices across the country, energy
policy in Australia has taken center stage politically. In
addition, after storm damage caused a statewide power outage in
South Australia in 2016, energy reliability has become a key
issue.