The seemingly gargantuan task is being tackled head-on by the energetic Minister, avowing to take a “common-sense” approach to the politically-sensitive climate change debate.

The 52-year-old’s rapid ascension to Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency has been impressive, but he has not entered into it without serious political and industry experience and clout.

Mr Combet joined the Australian Council of Trade Unions in 1993, and quickly assumed leadership of the Union from 1999 to 2007. As leader, Mr Combet was involved in many high profile union movements, including the 1998 waterfront dispute, the 2001 Ansett collapse and securing the multi-billion dollar settlement from James Hardie for victims of asbestos poisoning.

Mr Combet also holds a strong background within the private financial sector, as a former director of the Members Equity Bank as well as the Australian Super fund.

In his parliamentary career, Mr Combet was appointed the Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change in February 2009, after holding the Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Procurement position under the Rudd Government. In June 2009, he officially entered the Federal Ministry as Minister for Defence Personnel, Material and Science and Minister Assisting the Minister for Climate Change, namely the Hon. Penny Wong.

Following a parliamentary reshuffle, Mr Combet was delegated responsibilities within the Climate Change and Energy Efficiency portfolio in February 2010, giving him charge of closing the Federal Government’s insulation program, as well as implementing the Renewable Energy Bonus Scheme.

Following the election of the Gillard Labor Government in September 2010, Mr Combet was promoted to Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency.

In his first official speech in his capacity as Minister, Mr Combet delivered the keynote address at the Carbon Expo Australasia 2010 convention held in October. Mr Combet outlined his perspective on the challenges Australia faces with regard to climate change. In no particular order, key features of Mr Combet’s climate policy objectives include:

• Achieving the Renewable Energy Target (RET) of 20 per cent by 2020
• Encouraging the public uptake of efficient energy mechanisms
• Establishing a carbon price as a necessary economic reform
• Strict reforms for coal-fired power stations.

With regards to clean energy, Mr Combet said that the Government’s primary mechanism to support renewable energy is the 20 per cent RET.

He said that “economic modelling suggests that the enhanced RET will drive around $16 billion of investment in renewable energy generation by 2020.” He added that by the year 2030, total investment under the enhanced RET is expected to be around $19 billion.

Mr Combet remarked that the Government’s overall progress in achieving the RET was being supported by the $5.1 billion Clean Energy Initiative that is focused on “supporting the research, development, and demonstration of low emission clean energy technologies.”

Energy efficiency was also named by Mr Combet as a key tenet of the Government’s climate change mitigation approach. Mr Combet said that the Government had implemented numerous programs to support action by businesses and households, including a $100 million Energy Efficiency Trust managed by the Australian Carbon Trust, promoting energy efficiency throughout the business sector.

Departing from his positive environmental objectives, Mr Combet has been particularly damning of the Greens and Coalition’s blocking of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) in 2009, saying at the Convention that if the CPRS had been legislated, in the year 2020 “our carbon pollution would have been at least 144 million tonnes lower than it is currently projected to be.”

Although he conceded that getting a carbon pricing mechanism legislated was never going to be simple, Mr Combet reiterated that its implementation would be “the best and most responsible way... to becoming less carbon intensive,” and that “alternatives to a market-based mechanism, such as regulatory or subsidy-based approaches, cannot alone operate on the scale required to meet the Government’s targets.”

Mr Combet’s approach to climate change policy differs somewhat to that of his predecessor Penny Wong.

In her time as Minister for Climate Change and Water from December 2007 to March 2010, and as Minister for Climate Change, Energy Efficiency and Water from March 2010 to September 2010, Senator Wong achieved the legislation of the RET, the establishment of the National Carbon Offset Standard, and, with Kevin Rudd, achieved the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol in 2007. However, this was combined with the failure to introduce a CPRS, as well as the disappointment in Australia’s participation in the 2009 Copenhagen Accord.

Mr Combet’s focus is firmly on the future, which has already seen tangible results in the form of the creation of a new participatory forum, designed to engage the private and public sectors in his policy-making decisions.

Following the collapse of the proposed 2010 citizens’ assembly on climate change, Mr Combet assumed co-chairmanship of two recently created Roundtables – one for non-government organisations (NGOs) and another focusing on business interests – both established to encourage active engagement in the building of the Government’s climate change policies.

The NGO Roundtable, featuring conservation groups, social services, youth groups, high-profile environmentalists and unions, is being promoted by the Federal Government as an opportunity to discuss how the introduction of a carbon price, amongst other climate policies, will affect jobs and communities. Notable members include scientist and author Tim Flannery representing the Coast and Climate Change Council, Tim Costello, CEO of World Vision Australia, and Don Henry, Executive Director of the Australian Conservation Foundation.

Similarly, the business-focused Roundtable, incorporating the mining, transport, manufacturing, banking and energy sectors, is being advocated as a forum that will “play a critical role in providing advice to the Government on the economic and business issues surrounding climate change.” Prominent members include high-ranking representatives from BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Shell, Woodside, Qantas, and the Business Council of Australia.

The NGO Roundtable is co-chaired by Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, the Hon. Tony Burke, and the Business Roundtable is co-chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer, the Hon. Wayne Swan.

In what should be a preview of the Federal Government’s environmental policies, Mr Combet says “As previous major economic reforms have taught us, we sometimes need to do difficult things for the sake of our long-term national prosperity.”