A blueprint for a high energy Australia to restore affordability, rebuild industry and renew environmental stewardship. It finds that net zero is failing Australians and proposes guiding principles for an alternative path forward. The paper provides a set of policy recommendations representing a framework for restoring national strength through abundant, affordable energy, revitalising Australia’s industrial base and re-establishing an environmental ethic of stewardship rather than prohibition.

Key findings

• Since Australia adopted net zero, household electricity prices have risen by 39%.
• Australia has lost over 7,000 direct jobs in heavy industry since 2020, with over 73,000 jobs at risk and dependent on government subsidies to survive.  
• Fiscal exposure is ballooning: between the Capacity Investment Scheme, Rewiring the Nation, hydrogen subsidies, and state-based SuperGrid programs, the combined public exposure to net-zero-aligned spending exceeds $120–140 billion.
• 95% of Australia’s emissions reductions since 2005 have come not from cleaner technology, but from land-use restrictions and changes.
• Australia is delivering reductions at nearly twice the pace of comparable economies and four times the pace of global averages.
• Strategic vulnerability is rising. Energy-intensive industries – from refining and fertiliser to defence logistics – face higher costs and policy uncertainty even as regional tensions escalate. 

Guiding principles

1. Lower energy prices first: energy policy should prioritise reducing prices for households and businesses rather than chasing emissions targets. Net zero should not be a goal of climate policy because it puts achieving an emissions goal ahead of improving the living standards of Australians.
2. Do our fair share: Australia produces just 1% of the world’s emissions. We should reduce emissions in line with comparable nations, not ahead of them.
3. Share the burden equally: the cost of emissions reduction should be distributed evenly, not concentrated on regional industries or low-income households.
4. Empower local action: local communities should be able to lead initiatives such as waterway protection, land restoration, soil carbon and carbon capture projects to deliver jobs and stewardship across Australia.
5. Back innovation and support all technologies: a commonsense approach to renewables must be the priority.
6. Protect our security and prosperity: there can be no compromise on our quality of life, regional jobs and industries and national security and defence.