She'll be right mate: Australia's approach to sustainable development

Abstract

This thesis examines policymaking for sustainable development in Australia. It specifically focuses on climate change policy at the federal and state levels by examining how the coal mining industry has managed to continue operations despite pressure from the international community to phase down unabated use of coal power. The analysis focuses on government and stakeholder policies on sustainable development, climate change and coal mining. Interviews with civil society in Tasmania were used to gain a local perspective on coal mining and climate change policies. The findings were analysed through a Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (PCSD) lens to answer the main question of: How and to what extent is there policy coherence for achieving sustainable development in Australia? The findings show that due to Tasmania’s vast forest reserves that offset carbon emissions and the abundance of hydro and wind power, coal mining does not affect the state’s overall emissions profile. Consequently, there is a lack of political commitment and leadership to scale back coal mining and provide incentives to transition away from fossil fuels. At the federal level, mining lobby groups exert greater influence, which in turn results in political inaction to formulate and implement bold policies that address climate change. Sustainable development policies risk being incoherent due to the country’s federal system of government which provides for power sharing between levels of governments and departments. The study finds that without a coordinated and whole-of-government approach for sustainable development, numerous trade-offs are highly likely.