Asia | Political weather

Australian voters have had enough of climate inaction

The country’s election hinged on promises to reduce emissions

Labor leader Anthony Albanese at the National Press Club in Canberra this afternoon.Guardian Australia© Mike Bowers / Guardian / eyevineContact eyevine for more information about using this image:T: +44 (0) 20 8709 8709E: info@eyevine.comhttp://www.eyevine.com
|SYDNEY

First came fires, which incinerated an area larger than Britain and swallowed cities in a suffocating haze. Then came floods, which inundated towns in Queensland and New South Wales. Climate change has become harder to ignore since Australians last voted in a federal election in 2019. When they returned to the polls on May 21st, enough of them cast their ballots with the climate in mind to oust a conservative coalition government that had been in office for nine years. “Together we can end the climate wars,” declared the new prime minister, Anthony Albanese (pictured), after his Labor Party won.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Political weather”

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