ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 presents the findings of the discourse analysis, which are woven into climate and energy policy and diplomacy narrative, during the years of the Gillard Labor Government, which commenced in June 2010 and concluded in June 2013; and during the short return of the Rudd Labor Government, from June 2013 to September 2013 (the Labor Party, led by Kevin Rudd, were also in office during the period 2007–2010). This chapter reveals existence of a ‘master’ discourse about protecting Australia’s industrial competitiveness, shared between government and industry players, which shaped and constrained Australian climate policymaking at a national and international level. It also reveals the enabling (and constraining) influence of Labor’s ‘ancillary’ discourse about foreign policy. That is, on the one hand, Labor’s climate policies and negotiating positions were driven in part by their sense of obligation to respond to the call of multilateral climate norms (and in part by their agreement with the Green Party to strengthen their climate policies), but on the other hand, Labor sought to protect Australia’s fossil fuel/economic interests by shaping the UNFCCC processes, for example, by seeking to convince the Parties to allow REDD activities under the CDM so that domestic industry could access cheap offsets, and thus protect their competitive position.
