The dizzying pace and unpredictability flowing from Washington DC has required governments at all levels to prepare for continued volatility.

The USA will still play a major role in world affairs, but it might be flipping tables over more regularly, instead of providing a guiding hand for democracy and free trade. Rather than assuming benevolence and a shared history can be relied upon for security or economic partnership, the Trump Administration is seeking to transact a price for their ongoing involvement across the globe.

Back-to-back state and federal election campaigns for voters in Western Australia provide an opportunity for political parties to pitch their response to this volatility, with the coming decade looming as a major inflection point for energy, trade and geopolitical security.

Western Australia is a jurisdiction with much to gain or lose from these seismic shifts, through its trade-exposed economy, an energy system embarking on major transition and its link to the Asia-Pacific region.

In the lead-up to the WA election on 8 March, WA Labor and Premier Roger Cook have sensed the ongoing public appetite for more self-sufficiency and skilled jobs.

Their Made in WA plan sets out a bold policy prescription to access more downstream components of the value chain, via advanced manufacturing, critical minerals processing and access to giga-scale clean energy.

The early successes of locally made railcars for METRONET have led to greater confidence in an ability to manufacture grid-scale batteries, transmission towers and wind turbines.

This follows hot on the heels of the Albanese Government’s Future Made in Australia policy, which in turn was a policy response to then-President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.  Australia’s significant investment in renewable energy, critical minerals, technology and skills is designed to set a baseline for economic growth well into the second half of the twenty-first century.

The opposition responses from both Libby Mettam and Peter Dutton have focused on a reduction in government bureaucracy and regulatory barriers, in order to streamline the approval and delivery of major projects.

On behalf of clients in energy, resources and manufacturing sectors, ReGen Strategic’s stakeholder engagement team is regularly engaging with government to identify opportunities to align and right-size projects that could warrant support, via standard approval mechanisms or through the provision of grant funding that provides the critical ‘last mile’ of momentum to attain financial feasibility.

The major electoral challenge shared by State and Federal Governments – and Opposition parties - presently is the cost-of-living, fuelled by inflation.  You don’t need an economics degree to recognise that many of the initiatives designed to encourage domestic economic activity could quickly accelerate inflation.

Targeted cost-of-living relief, clean energy and local manufacturing are electorally popular, so governments will need to finely calibrate the policy settings for each, to avoid unintended economic consequences or short-lived industries.

Public support for combating inflation and advancing the energy transition can be quickly undermined by hikes to mortgage repayments or recurrent power outages.

Even when navigating global issues, all politics is local.

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