Only three in 10 young Australians would pay more than $50 a year to get the country to “net zero”, and the vast majority want the government to prioritise energy affordability and reliability, a new poll shows.
A survey commissioned by the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) found that of those in the 18-24 age bracket, 18% would be personally unwilling to pay a cent for “net zero”, while 40% would pay $50, 32% would pay $100, 5% would pay $500, and 4% would be prepared to fork out more than $500 a year.
For Australians of all age groups, 48% would be unwilling to pay anything (up from 42% in 2022), 26% would pay $50 (down from 30%), 19% would spend $100, 5% would fork out $500, and 2% would pay more than $500.
When asked what the main focus of the federal government’s energy policy should be, 56% said affordability, 23% said reliability, and just 21% said “meeting the net zero emissions by 2050 target” – down from 28% in 2022. Of those aged 18 to 24, just 19% wanted to prioritise “net zero”.
IPA Research Fellow Brianna McKee said the results showed that “idealism is giving way to pragmatism” as a result of Australia’s cost of living crisis.
“This is a generation that talks the talk on climate – but when it comes to footing the bill, enthusiasm quickly dries up,” she wrote.
“This should come as no surprise. Electricity bills have almost doubled between 2021 and 2025, and they are projected to keep rising. Cost-of-living pressures are uniting Australians across gender and age divisions. Only the very wealthy will be insulated from such price shocks. This presents both challenges and opportunities for Australia’s political leaders and will remain a key issue at the ballot box.
“Despite claims that renewables like wind and solar are cheaper, soaring power prices suggest otherwise. If the upward trend continues, public scepticism will grow, and support for ‘net zero’ – and the Greens – may falter.”
The poll was held just before the May federal election where the net zero-focused Greens lost three of their four seats in the House of Representatives, followed by Monday’s defection of Western Australia Senator Dorinda Cox to the Labor Party.
Sources told Sky News Australia that Ms Cox, an indigenous former police officer, was disillusioned by increasing extremism from antiwhite Pakistani Muslim immigrant deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi.
A text message leaked by a source in her old party after she left the Greens showed that Ms Cox recently called One Nation leader Pauline Hanson a “fucking retard”, and she was facing bullying allegations.
Header image credit: IPA Poll: Attitudes Towards Net Zero.
