Buried among the jargon in the communiqué from this week's meeting of federal, state and territory energy ministers were seven simple words which could, in time, prove a turning point in the long and tortured road to a climate change consensus.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The phrase "a new era of cooperation and collaboration" was slipped into the statement to describe the spirit in which ministers had agreed to develop a plan to guide the decarbonisation of the energy sector.
As federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen highlighted multiple times on Wednesday night, these ministers were not of the same political hue.
There were Labor, Liberal and Greens (the ACT's Shane Rattenbury) sitting around the virtual meeting table, finding common ground.
That agreement was reached on the need to plan for the monumental task of transitioning to net zero shouldn't come as a surprise.
The states and territories long ago committed to a net zero target for either 2050, or earlier.
Federal Labor is firmly behind the target and even the former Coalition government came to the party, albeit late and not without some resistance.
This shouldn't detract from what was achieved earlier this week.
Consider where we've come from.
Consider the toxic cocktail of division, self-interest and scare campaigns which has defined the climate and energy debate in federal politics for much of the past decade.
Those factors combined to halt progress on a transition which Australia, blessed with an abundance of renewable resources, was uniquely positioned to benefit from.
The states and territories took it upon themselves to lead the transition as the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Coalition governments fought amongst themselves and ultimately failed to land a coherent and effective national plan.
The distance between the states and the federal government was no more apparent than in the final months of the Morrison government.
The hostility between former minister Angus Taylor and his NSW Liberal counterpart, the climate-conscious Matt Kean, was well known.
He and other state energy ministers took to publicly stating their positions ahead of meetings in an attempt to sway outcomes.
READ MORE:
The states were preparing to revolt against Mr Taylor's plan to use a mechanism designed to shore up energy supply to support coal and gas plants.
The so-called "capacity mechanism" was on the agenda at Wednesday's meeting.
With Mr Bowen at the helm, the ministers agreed the mechanism should focus on technologies such as renewables and storage.
It's still being designed and Mr Bowen hasn't ruled out it being able to support fossil fuels.
There might yet be a revolt on this plan, or another.
But for now, there is peace and unity.
If it remains that way, and the governments of Australia manage to develop a long-term plan to steer the green energy transition, Mr Bowen and Labor might be able to achieve what they promised.
Ending the climate wars.
