The BioWizards of Oz: The Digest’s 2016 Special Report on Australia

July 3, 2016 | Jim Lane

Who’s running the show? Inconclusive Aussie election points to minority government, hung parliament

In Australia, the center-right Coalition parties are clinging to power after a Federal election Saturday which resulted in a sharp swing to the Labor Party, and to a plethora of minor parties. The government has secured 65 seats, 11 short of an outright majority, with 13 seats left in doubt, and when ballot-counting resumes Tuesday it is expected that a minority government is likely to result.

The Australian Broadcast Commission reported that strong swings to Labor in Queensland and New South Wales and a surge for the new, independent Nick Xenophon Team in South Australia spelled disaster for the ruling government, which has dismantled much of the renewable energy and carbon pricing structure established by Labor governments between 2008 and 2013.

Yet, Australia is one of the few countries with two party heads committed to clean energy action — and an aggressive third-party force in the Greens whose “clean energy” bona fides are obvious. The commitment to advanced low-carbon fuels is generally bi-partisan — the question tends to be more about the nature of the federal and state role and the extent of it.