Power Failure : the Inside Story of Climate Politics Under Rudd and Gillard

The inside story of a wicked problem and#x2026; What should Australia do about climate change? A succession of leaders has tried to answer this question - and come unstuck. Politicians and public servants call it a "wicked" problem - one highly resistant to solution - and many approaches have been developed and discarded by the major parties. Some believe Australia's dependence on coal makes effective action impossible. In this book, award-winning journalist Philip Chubb examines the tenacity of fossil-fuel interests and their allies in business, politics and the media when their power is challenged. He reveals and analyses the political strategies of prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard as they tried to overcome the obstacles created by Australia's carbon-intensive economy. This is a dramatic study of leadership replete with new revelations. Using more than 75 interviews with key figures (including Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd, Wayne Swan, Greg Combet and Penny Wong), freedom-of-information requests and good old-fashioned leaks, Chubb gives a persuasive account of success and failure in climate policy, and of the strategies that leaders must use in future. Philip Chubb was the creator of the renowned documentary Labor in Power, which told the inside story of the Hawke and Keating governments and won a Gold Walkley Award and a Logie. He has worked as National Editor of The 7.30 Report and held senior editorial positions at the Age and Time Australia. He is currently Head of Journalism at Monash University Annotation The inside story of a wicked problem ... What should Australia do about climate change? A succession of leaders has tried to answer this question - and come unstuck. Politicians and public servants call it a "wicked" problem - one highly resistant to solution - and many approaches have been developed and discarded by the major parties. Some believe Australia's dependence on coal makes effective action impossible. In this book, award-winning journalist Philip Chubb examines the tenacity of fossil-fuel interests and their allies in business, politics and the media when their power is challenged. He reveals and analyses the political strategies of prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard as they tried to overcome the obstacles created by Australia's carbon-intensive economy. This is a dramatic study of leadership replete with new revelations. Using more than 75 interviews with key figures (including Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd, Wayne Swan, Greg Combet and Penny Wong), freedom-of-information requests and good old-fashioned leaks, Chubb gives a persuasive account of success and failure in climate policy, and of the strategies that leaders must use in future One of the most bitterly contested political issues of recent times has been climate change, and how or indeed whether Australia should act to mitigate its effects. Different policy approaches have been developed and discarded by both major parties. The leaders who promoted or blocked these attempts have themselves become casualties. According to some observers, Australia's dependence on coal makes climate policy failure inevitable. Philip Chubb interviews the key political figures in the struggle, including Julia Gillard, Wayne Swan, Greg Combet and Penny Wong. He examines the tenacity of fossil fuel interests and he analyses the political strategies employed by prime ministers Rudd and Gillard as they tried to overcome the structural obstacles created by Australia's carbon-intensive economy. The result of these investigations is Power Failure, a compelling study of Australian leaders' successes and failures in climate policy, and the strategies they must employ for the future.