Albanese Government to ‘Recalibrate’ Morrison-Era Australian Climate Service

A photo taken on Nov. 18, 2015, shows coal being produced at an open-cut mind on the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, Australia. (William West/AFP via Getty Images)

The Albanese government is poised to “recalibrate” climate change institutions established by the previous Morrison government saying it now needs the “best institutions” that provide the “very best information” on climate change.

This decision follows a Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements that recommended a review of the Australian Climate Service (ASC).

“After a decade of climate denial and delay, the Albanese Government is ensuring that we have the systems and information we need to prepare for the impacts of climate change,” according to an Oct. 12 statement by the Department of Climate Change and Energy.

The ASC—a collaboration between the Bureau of Meterology, Geoscience Australia, CSIRO, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics—was setup under the Morrison government to help Australia better prepare for natural disasters, as well as climate change.

Then-PM Mr. Morrison provided a plan to achieve net zero by 2050 but maintained that Australia was not shutting down its coal, gas, mining, and farming industries in order to achieve the target.

“It is not a revolution, but a careful evolution to take advantage of changes in our markets,” Mr. Morrison said of net zero in October 2021.

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However, the Albanese government has slammed the former Morrison government for not “[accepting] the science of climate change,” and posits this as the reason for the recalibration of the ACS.

“We know that despite the ongoing international efforts to reduce emissions, some impacts of climate change are now unavoidable,” said Jenny McAllister, Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy.

“Unlike the former government, we accept the science of climate change. This means we must recalibrate our institutions to ensure they are fit for the challenges we have ahead of us.

“Unfortunately, the Coalition continues to demonstrate the same division and dysfunction when it comes to climate policy.

“The Albanese Government will ensure Australia has the best institutions providing the very best information to support climate adaptation and disaster risk management action.”

Why the ‘Review?’

The purpose of the review is to provide advice on the performance of the ACS to date, and to assess its suitability for meeting Australia’s future climate information needs.

When it was established, the ASC’s main focus was on natural disaster preparedness, response and recovery functions. It also provided some support for programmes, policy data, and activities related to natural disaster risk reduction within the National Emergency Management Agency.

Given its partnership with other governmental bodies, the ACS is seen as the government’s “extensive” climate and natural hazard information body.

Yet the Albanese government intends to enhance the ACS’s power, allowing it to “build and mature its capability to provide more wide-reaching national climate and natural hazard risk data and information,” according to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW)’s Terms of Reference (pdf).

On July 3, Ms. McAllister issued a statement that outlined the Albanese government’s expectations of the ACS—reflecting its “revised strategic direction” for the ACS.

This direction includes developing and delivering the technical input for Australia’s first National Climate Risk Assessment. The National Climate Risk Assessment is part of the $28 million (US$17.7 million) package that will focus on areas of national significance at risk from the impacts of climate change, such as the environment, agriculture, and health. The risk assessment is being delivered in two stages and will be completed in late 2024.

The direction also includes making all data available to federal, state, and local governments, as well as the private sector.

The review will be chaired by former NSW Chief Scientist Professor Mary O’Kane, and Daryl Quinlivan and Dr. Russell Reichelt will be panel members.

Coalition Says There Are Other Ways to Achieve Net Zero

In September 2022, the Federal Labor’s Climate Change Act passed, which legislates Australia’s emissions target of 43 percent by 2030, and net zero by 2050.

According to Chris Bowen, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, this legislation represented an “important overriding framework” for Australia’s climate ambitions.

“We could have got on without it, but we thought it was much better to send the signal that not only has the government changed, the Parliament has changed—send that signal that the Parliament had a good majority working for action,” Mr. Bowen said at an event hosted by the Financial Services Council (FSC) on Oct. 10.

Mr. Bowen added that the Act sent a signal to investors that Australia is open for business.

However, Ted O’Brien, Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy, said there are other ways to get to net zero.

“When it comes to net-zero, the Albanese Government has defined the wrong problem to solve and is therefore pursuing the wrong suite of policies,” Mr. O’Brien said at an Australian Financial Review Energy and Climate Summit on Oct. 9.

“Take, the electricity sector, for example. When you hear the Prime Minister or the portfolio minister speak about electricity in the context of net-zero, it’s clear that the core problem they seek to address is getting maximum renewables onto the grid.

“This explains their target of 82 precent renewables by 2030, and nearly 100 percent thereafter.”

This is why there are premature closures of baseload power stations, reductions to gas supplies, dismissal of abating technologies like carbon capture and storage, and the denial of zero-emission nuclear energy, Mr. O’Brien explained.

“This ‘renewables-only’ approach not only defies economics and engineering, but it actually sets renewables up to fail, not succeed,” he said.

“As our own emissions rise, our energy prices go through the roof, the reliability of own energy supply falls, and our manufacturers write down assets, shrink workforces, and look to offshore their operations—our government is refusing to even contemplate giving Australia the option to consider zero-emissions nuclear energy.”