Imagine Australia as a Green Energy Superpower: It’s Possible!

Australia has so much potential. And with Labor’s decisive election win, we now have a historic chance to reshape our future - economically, environmentally, and geopolitically. Ross Garnaut, one of Australia’s most respected economists and a key architect of our climate policy history, has just likened this moment to the pivotal 1943 election, which set the stage for baby-booming decades of full employment and rising living standards.

I’ll be honest. I was hanging my hopes on a finely balanced parliament, where Labor would be compelled to negotiate with community-based independents driving real climate action. But instead, Labor has been returned with a resounding majority. That means it now has no excuse. It must be brave. Rather than hiding behind small-target politics like it did in the last election, this time it must lead - with ambition, accountability, and imagination.

From Fossil Fuels to Renewable Leadership

For years, Australia’s energy policy has been captured by fossil fuel oligarchs and mired in political conflict and instability. This has led to higher energy costs and squandered opportunities for renewable investment and the green exports of our future. We’ve just kept digging up coal and pumping out gas - while the world races ahead.

As Ross Garnaut warned in his post-election speech: “We have lived through a dark decade in climate and energy policy. Vested interests fought to retain privileges from the old energy economy, and Australians paid the price in lost growth, higher energy prices and rising emissions.”

Labor now has the mandate and anurgent responsibility to end this dysfunction. We can finally embrace a future powered by clean energy, smart industries and global leadership.

Australia’s vast renewable resources - abundant sun, wind, and land - position us uniquely to lead in producing and exporting green energy. By harnessing these assets, we can manufacture and export energy-intensive goods like green hydrogen, steel, aluminium and ammonia, embedding clean energy into essential materials for the global economy.

A Global Opportunity, a National Choice

Donald Trump might still be in denial, but the United States is just 4% of the world’s population - and shrinking. The rest of the world, particularly industrial powerhouses like China, Japan, Korea, and Europe, are urgently seeking partners to supply clean, green energy-intensive goods. Australia is perfectly placed to meet that demand. This isn’t just an environmental opportunity - it’s an economic transformation that can far surpass the mining boom.

The Superpower Institute’s research points to a $700 billion opportunity in green exports, highlighting the enormous potential of an economy based on renewables and decarbonised industries.

But to realise this, Australia needs consistent, forward-leaning, market-friendly policies. That’s why Garnaut is again calling for a return to carbon pricing - an approach that worked effectively between 2012 and 2014 - to drive down emissions and guide investment decisions.

Imagine!

Imagine an Australia where renewable energy drives prosperity, where green industries and jobs flourish, and where our country stands tall as a leader in solving the climate crisis. This vision is achievable. But it demands boldness, long-term thinking, and political courage.

As Garnaut so aptly said: “The decisive Albanese victory… creates an historic opportunity to change - for the government, and for business relations with the policy process.”

Let’s not waste it. Let’s imagine, and build, the green energy superpower Australia was born to become.

Check out this article by ABC business reporter Gareth Hutchens which explores Ross Garnaut’s vision more in more detail.