Chris Bowen’s bold and sudden movement on climate sent the Coalition clutching at its pearls

Energy minister Chris Bowen says the government’s radical expansion of support for clean energy is a ‘powerful’ way of attracting investment. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

A lot of the time, politics feels incremental. But every now and again, a big thing happens suddenly. Chris Bowen made it clear this week the government intends to transform the fundamentals of Australia’s energy grid. Labor has been saying this for ages of course, but this week, words were matched by a concrete plan of action.

Bowen unveiled a radical expansion of a capacity scheme intended to reshape the national electricity market. Coal is coming out, renewables moving in and taxpayers will underwrite the transformation. This is the biggest strategic shift Australians have seen in this policy area for a decade or more.