FutureCoal Chief Executive Michelle Manook is calling for Australia to reset its national energy conversation, warning that political ideology has increasingly overshadowed engineering, economic realities, and the practical needs of the country’s power system.

Speaking at the National Press Club of Australia, Manook argued that the goals of the Paris Agreement have been distorted in public debate. She emphasized that the agreement did not mandate a global fossil-fuel phaseout and was instead designed around technology neutrality, national sovereignty, and multiple pathways to emissions reduction.

“We need to return balance to the public debate on climate, exactly as the Paris Agreement intended,” she said. “We need to use every tool available but never rely on one. Our goal is not to narrow the conversation. It’s to broaden it.”

Electricity Costs and Energy Security Under Pressure

Manook drew a direct link between rising electricity prices and the cost-of-living pressures faced across the country. She described electricity as “the first domino in the cost-of-living chain,” referencing the significant investment needed to rebuild the power system, from new transmission lines to long-duration storage and firming capacity.

She expressed concern that Australia is leaning heavily on weather-dependent energy sources without adequately accounting for reliability risks. In her remarks, she compared this approach to “the reckless gambler,” saying the country has world-class baseload resources but is increasingly relying on assumptions that may not hold up as industrial demand grows and consumers face rising bills.

“We have gambled on ideology, on the assumption that luck will hold,” she said, warning that affordability and security could erode if the system becomes unbalanced.

A central theme of Manook’s address was her call to adopt “Sustainomics,” a framework that integrates environmental, economic, and social priorities rather than elevating one dimension at the expense of the others. She argued that sustainability depends on reliability, competitiveness, and social trust, and cannot be achieved through what she described as slogans or rigid ideological positions.

She also pointed to coal’s continued role in global industries beyond electricity, including steelmaking, cement production, chemicals, fertilizers, and emerging advanced materials. According to Manook, modern low-emissions coal technologies now operating in parts of Asia show how other countries are advancing while Australia risks falling behind.

“Progress is not measured by what we shut down but by what we build,” she said. “We do not need a movement defined by refusal; we need one defined by improvement, innovation and balance.”

Manook closed her remarks with a push for a more pragmatic, inclusive approach to shaping Australia’s energy future. With COP30 concluded and G20 discussions on the horizon, she said the country has an opportunity to revisit its current trajectory and align around solutions that can work at scale.

“Australia has been the lucky country,” she said, “but luck will not chart the future.”