If Dutton is successful, Australia could well return to the “lost decade” of climate denialism and undo all the changes the Labor government has enacted since 2022, as his party has vowed to scrap all the 2030 targets that were made, and to be the “best friend that the mining and resources sector will ever have.”.
This year, there are four key elections taking place in Germany, Canada, Australia and Chile – the outcomes of which could either create a much-needed buffer against the rising right-wing tide and anti-climate science sentiment or may amplify the damage that Trump’s as-yet unmitigated chaos presents.
It’s also worth noting that a win for either candidate would push Chile far closer to Argentina’s far-right leader Javier Milei, who is one of Trump’s most loyal international allies, and has already received praise from both Matthei and Kaiser.
As well as vowing to “drill, baby, drill” and tap into America’s “liquid gold” oil reserves, the president pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement and has signed various executive orders that will effectively undo the progress that has been made in the past four years under Joe Biden.
Just last week, reports also said that Elon Musk visited the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) offices in Washington DC, sparking fears that the Trump administration will be making severe cuts to the country’s foremost weather authority – in terms of both staffing and funding.
