Shutterstock Save for later Print Download Share LinkedIn Twitter Australia’s new Labor government is taking a balanced approach when it comes to energy, which bodes well for the country's significant oil and gas industry. Dramatic energy policy changes are not expected from the new regime, which will take over after nine years of Liberal rule. Before, during and even after the campaign, Labor has tried to reassure the fossil fuel industry that its victory would not disrupt their activities. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese even said in April that “if coal mines stack up environmentally, and then commercially, which is the decision for the companies, then they get approved.” Indeed, Labor has a track record of supporting the oil and gas industry. It voted last year with the center-right coalition to oppose a motion to cancel $50 million worth of taxpayer-funded grants for private companies to explore fracking in the Beetaloo Basin. “I expect Labor to stick closely to its election policy on climate with likely no short-term change in day-to-day oil and gas business, and potentially none in the medium term either,” said Kate Crowley, a climate policy professor at the University of Tasmania.
