79% of Australians want the government to prioritise affordability and reliability when they are focusing on energy policy, with only 21 per cent stating the government should prioritise Net Zero.

However, it's not easy to get out of it, thanks to the ‘5 Pillars’.

Research by serious objectors has revealed that there are five pieces of legislation supporting Net Zero.

. The Climate Change Act 2022 entrenching the Paris Agreement in federal legislation
. The Safeguard Mechanism mandating large projects to lower transmissions
. The Future Made In Australia Policy with government subsidies for renewables
. The New Vehicle Efficiency Standard
. The Large-Scale Renewable Energy Target mandating retailers to purchase renewables credits

These ‘pillars’ apparently ensure that “regardless of whether or not a future government is signed up to the Paris Agreement and is committed to the Net Zero target, they cannot be easily reversed, even if mainstream Australian(s) want it to be”.

We have been well and truly done over by the political class, folks.

All the costs, including higher power bills, lower energy reliability, and the country's declining economic competitiveness, are now “embedded into Australia’s legislative framework”.

Hence, it is now very difficult for future governments to do anything.

I must admit that I did not know this. And, I am more disgusted with Australian politicians and their advisors than I thought that I could be. And, to make things even more infuriating, hardly anyone outside Australia, Canada and the EU pays any more than lip-service to the suicidal nonsense.

https://ipa.org.au/research/australias-prosperity/dismantling-net-zero-not-as-simple-as-it-sounds

Things can always change. The problem is that both Labor and the coalition support net zero. Utterly stupid?

Fester

Correct. Both parties do support it. The Liberals signed up to it.

Hence, we can't take any notice of people after our votes saying they will get rid of it. There are not enough of them to change the legislation.

Only an entirely different political system and a real leader - e.g the US and Donald Trump - can do it.

While I like the Monarchy (not the Monarch), and our British heritage, I think that the Westminster system is well past its use-by date.

ttbn,
The Westminster system is merely a Dictatorship running mainly on luck & the good will of some.

Indyvidual

I don't know about that; but I think it has had its day.

Let’s clear up a few things, ttbn:

1. The “79%” stat is deeply misleading. The actual question asked wasn’t “should we abandon Net Zero?” - it was about balancing priorities like affordability and reliability. That doesn’t mean Australians oppose climate action, it means they want it delivered competently, which is precisely why policy needs to be embedded in law - to protect it from populist backflips and short-termism.

2. The so-called “5 pillars” aren’t some shadowy plot - they’re just policy tools.

- The Climate Change Act gives Australia a climate target, just like most developed nations.

- The Safeguard Mechanism makes big polluters reduce emissions - a market mechanism, not socialism.

- Future Made in Australia is about economic opportunity - manufacturing clean tech here, not handing everything to China.

- The Vehicle Efficiency Standard simply ensures cars aren’t energy guzzlers - something even America is doing.

- The LRET just means a growing share of electricity must be renewable - a target that’s actually lower than what state governments already deliver.

3. These policies are not irreversible. Parliament made them; Parliament can repeal them. That’s how democracy works. What is hard is undoing them without crashing investor confidence, legal obligations, and energy markets. And no serious government wants to tank the economy just to win a culture war.

4. Your claim that only Trump’s America is a “real” system is… revealing. Trump didn’t repeal net zero, he just slowed it. And now that he's back, renewables are still booming, because they’re cheaper. If you think the solution is an authoritarian-style system that overrides parliamentary process and long-term planning, then you’ve admitted the goal isn’t “freedom” - it’s control.

This isn’t a conspiracy. It’s just grown-up policy designed to give certainty to industry, protect the environment, and prevent endless zigzagging. If that’s what disgusts you, maybe the real issue isn’t the policies - it’s that they’re working.