Kevin Rudd has failed his own test on climate change

Exit poll analysis by researchers from Swinburne and Macquarie Universities found climate change was the decisive issue for voters who changed their votes between the 2004 and 2007 elections; 73 per cent of these people changed their vote to the ALP.

Will these people vote for Labor again this year?

To regain credibility on climate change the Government must explain to the electorate its plan to introduce a price on pollution for the largest emitters by its previous deadline of 2011. It needs to work with the Opposition, the Greens and independent senators to build political consensus for strong action on climate change.

Without a credible plan from the Rudd Government, Malcolm Turnbull, may go down as the only major party politician willing to risk political skin for action on climate change. While his policies didn’t go far enough, his retirement is a loss for credible climate change policy in Australia.

We hope future politicians, including those that will be elected to our Parliament for the first time in this year’s election, will have the courage to follow through on strong rhetoric with strong action. There is still time to move Australia to a clean energy economy, with more jobs and a less polluted environment.