What should the incoming government prioritise? We asked ANU experts

In case you’d missed it, there’s a federal election happening. Australia heads to the polls on Saturday, 3 May 2025.  

Election campaigns are always a whirlwind of policy proposals and promises, but once the dust settles, someone will form the next government.  

Whoever it is, what should they focus on first? We asked experts from across the Australian National University (ANU).  

Creating hope for the future

Recent ANU data has revealed that since the pandemic, Australians have become increasingly pessimistic about the future. 

Tackling inequality – especially intergenerational wealth inequality – should be a major priority, experts say.   

Dr Andrew Hughes from the ANU Research School of Management says that neither major party has made young people a central focus of its campaign. This is despite the fact that millennial and Gen Z voters make up more of the electorate than ever. 

“Each [party] must do better at reaching newer and younger audiences who will be less forgiving of excuses, for not listening, engaging, and reflecting this through policies which improve their lives in the years ahead,” he says.  

Dr Liz Allen from POLIS, the ANU Centre for Social Policy Research, identifies housing affordability, economic insecurity, gender inequality and climate change as crises facing our society. She says inaction on these issues is gravely undermining Australia’s future.  

“Lost hope is a dangerous ingredient in already fraying social cohesion,” she says.  

“Ignoring the urgent cluster of crises is pulling the rug out from under future generations of Australians and undermines wellbeing for us all.”  

Emeritus Professor John Wanna, from the ANU School of Politics and International Relations (SPIR), agrees.  

“The new government needs to address intergenerational equity in massively reducing debt levels,” he says.  

Emeritus Professor John Warhurst, also from SPIR, urges the next government to care for the disadvantaged. 

“Compassion demands that refugees and asylum seekers deserve a fairer deal,” he says. “And experts agree that the people on unemployment benefits cannot survive at the current rate.” 

Wanna also recommends ending ‘bracket creep’ – which means indexing taxation rates annually, “so that no more taxation is taken from people beyond what the legislation authorises.”  

Caring for our planet

It’s fair to say the issue of the rising cost of living has dominated the election campaign. 

But ANU experts fear that such a strong focus on this may come at the expense of addressing environmental degradation. They say the incoming government must act urgently to protect our ecosystems.  

“Whereas cost-of-living difficulties are often temporary, climate change is here to stay, and more significantly, it is accelerating at pace.” says Dr Liz Hanna, an Honorary Associate Professor at the ANU Fenner School for Environment and Society. 

“Climate change is already exacerbating the cost of living across Australia through losses in lives and health, in housing, property, livelihoods and capacity to insure.” 

Distinguished Professor David Lindenmayer AO says that Australia’s next government “needs to take environmental protection and management far more seriously.”  

He suggests a funding mechanism similar to the Medicare levy could be used to “invest properly in the environment.” 

Both Hanna and Lindenmayer stress the need to care for Australia’s rich natural heritage. They say the next government will have to do more to protect flora and fauna.  

“Ecosystems and species are in peril, as is the liveability of vast swathes of the planet,” Hanna says.  

According to Lindenmayer, policymakers, scientists and land managers need better ways to connect and prevent extinctions. He says a Threatened Species Recovery Hub could do this. 

He also recommends an end to native forest logging. This would limit biodiversity loss and reduce carbon emissions from native forests. 

Professor Frank Jotzo, Director of the Centre for Climate and Energy Policy, agrees, saying that emissions reduction must be a top priority.  

“The federal election should be an earnest contest over the fundamentals of Australia’s climate and energy policies,” he says. “Part of the mix [for the incoming government] will be to adopt an ambitious 2035 national emissions target to send a positive signal for clean investment.” 

Powering our future

The Coalition’s nuclear energy proposals have made headlines since they were announced last year. But ANU experts aren’t convinced.  

They say our current path – focused on solar, wind, storage and transmission – is the right  approach to energy transition, at least for now.  

“Nuclear will cost billions and won’t provide the electricity we need for peaking services, which are better supplied by batteries, pumped hydro and gas,” says Dr Marnie Shaw, Deputy Director of the ANU School of Engineering.  

Professor Ken Baldwin from the ANU Research School of Physics says Australia should not invest in nuclear energy “for the moment.”  

He says it’s more expensive, and slower, at a time where rapid decarbonisation is needed. But he says this doesn’t mean we should rule out its potential entirely.  

“Nuclear may become competitive and could play a role closer to 2050 in helping to decarbonise the last few per cent of the electricity sector,” he says.  

“To be ready for that – with all options on the table and consistent with a technology neutral approach – we should remove the legislative prohibitions on nuclear power and develop a regulatory system for nuclear power generation in case it is needed in the longer term.” 

As for our approach to energy in the present and near future? 

“Australia should continue full steam ahead with the rollout of solar and wind – supported by storage and transmission – as the cheapest and fastest way to decarbonise our electricity sector,” Baldwin says.  

“In parallel, we should proceed as rapidly as possible to electrify all other energy use – including transport, heating and industrial processes.”  

Shaw says the next government should help Australians invest in household batteries. The Clean Energy Council has touted them as the next step in our electrification journey. 

She also notes that any future low-carbon economy will be run by engineers. This means properly funding education, especially universities. 

Protecting our people

Australia’s most powerful ally, the United States, is on the brink of collapsing into authoritarianism. Russia and China continue to eye off military bases in our region. Clearly, things are changing fast. How can Australia safely navigate this increasingly unpredictable world?  

ANU experts agree: accountability and transparency are key. 

“The next government needs to match its words with actions when it comes to national security,” David Andrews, a Senior Policy Advisor at the ANU National Security College (NSC), says.  

“For years now, politicians, officials and researchers have all stressed the severity of the strategic circumstances in which Australia finds itself, but the pace of change and investment has not kept up. This disconnect undermines the veracity of these assessments and sends mixed messages to the Australian public about how genuine these claims are.” 

Dr James Mortensen, also from NSC, highlights threats closer to home. He says sovereign citizen movements, riots and domestic terrorism are real risks, noting they both fuel, and are fuelled by, a loss of faith in government.  

“There’s no easy fix, but a new government should take steps to ensure that its policies – especially its often contentious and costly national security policies – can foster, rather than challenge what credibility they have. 

“Consistency between what they say and what they do, transparency in decision-making, and genuine accountability in dealing with a critical public will likely have a bigger impact on Australia’s day-to-day security in the next three years than any defence or intelligence policy. 

While they identified different dangers, the experts agreed that the next government has to protect Australians first. 

“What Australia needs is a more self-reliant defence policy focused on our own immediate interests,” Emeritus Professor Paul Dibb AM, from the ANU Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, says.  

“Self-reliance does not mean an isolationist Australia, but it does mean rapidly developing Australia’s capability to defend our continent and our area of immediate interest, including in the South Pacific and Southeast Asian waters.”  

“While the change in attitudes displayed by our US ally should put even more impetus into this push for greater self-reliance, the primary justification is one of principes,” Andrews says.  

“A vital duty of government is to protect its citizens and interests, and if the risks to national security are truly increasing, our capabilities need to keep pace.”