PRIME Minister Scott Morrison’s surprise victory in Australia’s election was a win for the coal industry and ensures the debate about tackling climate change will continue to polarize the nation.

Rather than backing the opposition Labor party’s plans for sweeping cuts to greenhouse gas emissions, voters fell in behind a conservative government that has refused to legislate its Paris Agreement commitments. Morrison once brandished a lump of coal in parliament as a mark of his support for the industry, and in focusing his energy policy on lowering electricity prices has derided the reliability of wind and solar.

“The battle to combat climate change in Australia has suffered a major setback,” said Frank Jotzo, an academic in climate economics and policy at the Australian National University. “Australia could hugely benefit from the worldwide shift from fossil fuels to renewables. My colleagues in the world are shaking their heads in disbelief about the political system’s inability to translate those advantages into reality.”

Coal miners gained strongly in Sydney trading yesterday, with New Hope Corp. rising as much as 4.8 percent and Yancoal Australia Ltd. and Whitehaven Coal Ltd. jumping as much as 6.1 percent and 2.7 percent respectively.

Since coming to power in 2013, the Liberal-National coalition has largely rejected market driven measures to tackle climate change. It scrapped the carbon price mechanism introduced by the previous Labor government and refused to legislate any measures to penalize greenhouse gas polluters.

As treasurer in 2017, Morrison taunted rival Labor lawmakers in parliament with a lump of coal, saying they were “scared” of the industry and its implications for their policy platform of reducing emissions.

Adani Power Ltd.’s plan to develop a coal mine in Queensland state was hugely divisive during the election campaign and ultimately helped derail Labor leader Bill Shorten’s bid for office. He equivocated on his support for the mine, unable to balance the need to create blue collar jobs with his environmental pledges. In contrast, Morrison’s support for the project resonated with voters and the coalition picked up crucial seats in the state. (SD-Agencies)