It has taken 17 days to confirm who will serve as Prime Minister of Australia for the next three years — but the result could be good news for this country’s smart meter and smart grid future…

By Timothy Day, APAC Regional Manager for eMeter, Sydney

The Aug. 21 Australian federal election yielded no clear majority. So on Sept. 7 the front-runner candidates (four independents and one from the Green Party) threw their support behind the Labor Party — which led to Julia Gillard becoming Australia’s first female Prime Minister. This is also the first time a Green candidate has won a seat in the House of Representatives.

More interestingly: Currently neither of the major parties holds a majority in the Senate. So now the balance of political power favors the Greens.

Australia’s Greens are now in a position to ensure that real climate change action can happen. There probably will be an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) or a carbon tax. Such measures should be supported by a national rollout of smart metering, as part of an overall smart grid strategy for Australia.

Watch what happens on this issue “down under” in the coming months.