Australia votes 2025: Where’s the climate action?
It felt like this election climate change disappeared from the headlines.
It seemed the major parties didn’t think there were many votes to be won on the climate change issue this election. But the result might be proof they were wrong, with voters firmly rejecting an opposition leader some have accused of being a climate denier in the past.
We think the major parties were completely off the mark in thinking climate wasn't a big election issue. Australians care deeply about climate change, and we’ve got proof – around the time Trump was inaugurated at the start of this year Future Super saw a record number of new joins to the fund.
Money talks and the people have made it loud and clear: action on climate change, and getting money out of fossil fuel companies, is what they want. If you’re one of those new members who voted with their $$$, welcome and thank you for joining!
Voters care about climate
Polling before the election showed cost of living was the first priority for Gen Z and Millennial voters – and fair enough!
But it’s possible to care about many things at once, and the polling shows that too. 79% of Gen Z and 73% of Millennials said climate action was important in determining who they would vote for this election.
Young voters also overwhelmingly preferred renewable energy solutions, like solar and wind with storage, over the nuclear solution proposed by the coalition or coal and gas by a 3-to-1 margin.
Dr. Barry Traill, Director of Solutions for Climate Australia, summed up those polling results by saying: “Young voters aren’t buying the false choice between cost-of-living and climate action. They want practical policies that cut bills and emissions—and they’re ready to vote accordingly.”
The power of money
Young Australians have faced the consequences of decades of failed climate policy, seeing natural disasters like fires and floods get more and more severe.
And with renewables the cheapest form of power, the choice between cost of living and climate action is definitely a false dichotomy.
Where money flows has a huge impact, it’s one of the ways we all vote for the kind of world we want to see outside of elections. Politicians know this too.
As Lock The Gate points out, there’s a link between fossil fuel companies getting environmental approvals and those same companies making significant donations to political parties.
That’s the power of money in action, you could say – but the good news is Future Super is demonstrating the power of money too.
Which party is in power doesn’t change much about how we do things at Future Super. We’re still keeping money away from fossil fuel companies and investing for a future worth retiring into.