Labor and the Coalition have been accused of going to the election on a “unity ticket” ignoring Australia’s main contribution to the climate crisis after a report revealed thermal coal exports reached record levels in the final quarter last year.
Government data shows the country shipped a record amount – 57 million tonnes – of coal for burning in overseas power plants between October and December. It is the highest recorded for a three-month period.
Australia is the world’s second-largest exporter of thermal coal, behind Indonesia. It exported 209 million tonnes during 2024, the second-highest amount for a calendar year.
Both major parties have argued that there remained a global market for fossil fuels and if Australia reduced its sales they would just be replaced by coal and gas from other countries in a way that would lead to no overall gain but would hurt parts of the local economy.