If You're Listening with Matt Bevan

In 1987, scientists gathered in Melbourne for a landmark conference where they discussed, for the first time, the effects climate change might have on Australia. In the decade after that, two decisions were made by federal governments - one Liberal, and one Labor - which have shaped the climate debate in this country ever since. Australia, If You’re Listening will look at why Australia’s found it so hard to tackle climate change since then, and what that means for the future.

Australia’s second-oldest city, Newcastle, was built around a single resource - coal. Since then, Australia has come to rely on coal for its prosperity. Our industries grew around the cheap energy it provided, and our global trade balance relies on its export. But now, that has to end. The question is - what will happen to Australia, and its coal communities - when it does?

Australia intends to keep exporting coal for as long as there are countries willing to buy it. Miners have grand dreams of establishing new coal regions in Queensland to supply coal to the power stations and steel mills of India. But how much longer will India, and our other big coal customers, keep needing it?

In 1997, the debate over climate change in Australia was relatively civil. The question was not whether climate change was happening, but what should be done about it? In the following decade, Australia’s mining industry polluted the debate with misinformation. This is the story of how Australia's understanding of this vital issue went backwards.

For more than a decade, Australian politicians have discovered - the hard way - that climate policy is a dangerous game. But as the Federal Parliament tore itself apart, the rest of the world moved on, finding new ways to understand the effects of climate change, and deal with it. This is the story of how Australia fell behind the rest of the world, and why we might finally be ready to catch up.

Australia has always found energy underground - digging up coal, gas and uranium. As climate change begins to change the way we get our power, our leaders regularly argue that we can keep on digging for power while also saving the planet. But do nuclear energy, carbon capture and storage, and gas fired power have a role to play in the future?

Over the last five years, politicians in Australia and around the world have regularly tried to blame renewable energy whenever something goes wrong with our electricity supply. But lately whenever something catastrophic has happened to our energy supply, it’s been old technology at fault. This is the story of a series of disasters that show how the system we’ve always relied on to deliver electricity is faltering.

Australia is now in a race to build enough renewable energy to replace our coal fired power stations before they close. We’re in this situation because of a series of ignored warnings and missed opportunities over the last five decades. Now, experts are telling us that the transition to a decarbonised economy presents a big opportunity for Australia. The question is - can we grasp it?