Among its election policies, the new West Island government promised to “end the climate wars” and to restore the nation’s confidence in public administration and parliament. In his first press conference after being sworn in, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged to “bring Australians together with a vision of optimism,” and to “leave behind the combative politics of fear and division.”

Unfortunately, these visions have not been shared by the battered Liberal/National coalition, now coming to terms with greatly reduced parliamentary numbers and the prospect of remaining powerless in opposition for some years. They seem determined to carry on the wars which they started and constantly inflamed – the history wars, the culture wars and the climate wars. This has included rejecting any action to honestly deal with the West Island’s grim settlement history and its subsequent ill treatment of Indigenous peoples; stoking racial hatred and division; and denial of global heating and the climate crisis.

As well, nine years of coalition government have been marked by a huge increase in inequality; cronyism and corruption, particularly through the rorting of public monies to benefit their mates and to try to buy electoral success. Overall, the result has been a huge slump in public confidence in politicians and government. Prime Minister Albanese faces a herculean task to try to end these damaging political wars and to restore some of the lost trust in government and its institutions.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton seems determined to torpedo these efforts and to undermine attempts for government to be more consultative and responsive. This week, by announcing two negative policy positions, he signalled that his dispirited coalition wants to double down on the politics of misinformation and division by continuing to stoke the fires of the climate wars. Despite some limited pushback in the party room (with at least one member promising to cross the floor), Dutton proclaimed that climate change was overstated and that the opposition would vote against the government’s legislation to enshrine in law targets of a 43% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and achievement of zero net carbon emissions by 2050.

These modest targets did not impress the experts, the Greens or the teal independents, among many others, who cited United Nations sources calling for much greater emission cuts to keep global heating below a target of 2% increase on pre-industrial levels. Even if that is achieved, it is very likely that climate change will deliver a much greater rate of “natural” disasters, including fires, floods and droughts. But Dutton has his head buried deep in the sand and seems determined to pursue a discredited strategy which is based on denial of the established science.

That was made clear in the second coalition announcement that instead of facilitating the development of cheap, clean renewable energy, it would launch yet another inquiry aimed at creating a West Island nuclear power industry. This was clearly a pie-in-the-sky diversion tactic, not a realistic new policy.

Criticism of this recycled proposal came thick and fast. Liberal politician Trent Zimmermann, who lost his seat in the May election, wrote that the Coalition’s refusal to engage on climate legislation abandons the sensible centre of Australian politics. When your party is on the losing side of an election, why double down on policies that helped facilitate that defeat?

Writing in The Guardian, Political Editor Katherine Murphy did not hold back. She said that Peter Dutton has reached into the weeds of the climate wars and pulled out nuclear energy. It’s beyond ludicrous. What’s happening now is dead simple: later this week in the House of Representatives, the Liberal and National parties will once again vote against any form of serious emissions reduction. That’s the truth. Voting against action to combat the climate crisis. This behaviour needs to be called for what it is.

But Dutton obviously needed something to say apart from, I am an absolute shocker who is leading a political party that can’t seem to face up to the responsibility of leadership grounded in evidence, reason, and prudent risk management, so he sailed forth with “news.” There would be a review into nuclear energy.

Back in 2006, the Switkowski review commissioned by Howard found that nuclear power was likely to be between 20% and 50% more costly to produce than power from a new coal-fired plant at current fossil fuel prices in Australia. It said nuclear would only become competitive in Australia in a system where the costs of greenhouse gas emissions were explicitly recognised, and even then, reactors would require government subsidies. If the Coalition seriously wants to advance nuclear energy, then the questions it must answer are simple:

1. What carbon price are you willing to support to make this happen;

2. What level of taxpayer subsidies are you willing to allocate to create a domestic industry; and

3. Why on earth would you subsidise the most expensive form of power when the cheapest form of power generation already exists and has none of the downsides of nuclear?

The answer to the last question seems to be that Dutton and the conservatives have decided not to engage in the constructive consultation or less divisive politics that the nation voted for in May. Instead, its intention is to continue an all-guns-blazing climate war, never mind the damage to the global ecosystem, the national economy or our trust in government. If it continues down this path, the coalition may make itself irrelevant to most West Islanders and be doomed to many more years in opposition.