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From ‘Lost Decade’ to incomplete ‘transformation’: Australian climate policy via ideas, interests, and institutions

William Hopkinson et al.

Australian Journal of Political Science2025https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2025.2566678article
ABDC A
Weight
0.41

Abstract

Australia’s centre-right Coalition government’s ‘Lost Decade’ (2013-2022) entailed the dismantling of climate policy. Subsequently, the centre-left Labor government passed the Climate Change Act in 2022, Australia’s most ambitious climate policy shift in a decade. In this article, we address the interrelated questions of how to explain the changes in Australian politics that allowed for the Climate Change Act to be implemented and, by extension, what, if anything, changed between 2022 and 2024? We identify explanations for this shift in national policy across ideas, interests, and institutions as Australia increasingly engages in global competition for critical minerals The Australian case offers insights for other fossil fuel exporter economies, as even transformative policy remains constrained by entrenched political-economic structures. This mixed position enables Australia’s new ‘dual-track’ approach that entrenches both fossil fuels and green energy while its weak climate policy legacy renders Australia a policy and price ‘taker’ in the net-zero transition.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2025.2566678

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@article{william2025,
  title        = {{From ‘Lost Decade’ to incomplete ‘transformation’: Australian climate policy via ideas, interests, and institutions}},
  author       = {William Hopkinson et al.},
  journal      = {Australian Journal of Political Science},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2025.2566678},
}

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From ‘Lost Decade’ to incomplete ‘transformation’: Australian climate policy via ideas, interests, and institutions

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Evidence weight

0.41

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.25 × 0.4 = 0.10
M · momentum0.55 × 0.15 = 0.08
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.