BB, I'm not convinced keeping Hazlewood open long term is a done deal. The alpine grazing was a deal with the nats and I don't believe anyone is sorry to see it's been stopped (except half a dozen graziers who wanted to make a point). In any case, the Libs didn't open it up to full grazing, only to a short term trial (and now it's not going ahead).
The desal plant is meant to be powered by renewables. I don't know what the current state of play is as far as that goes. With the Thomson still less than 40% full even after all that summer rain, for Melbourne's sake they absolutely need it. Especially as the coming winter and spring could well have less than average rain, and if there is another El Nino, Melbourne would be in dire straits. As well as that, it takes some pressure off the Murray-Darling diversion. (The cost of it is another matter.)
You can probably guess I'm not a Liberal voter, but I'm prepared to give them a shot. Brumby wasn't very enviro friendly IMO, although later in his term he made some token gestures. Labor is too beholden to the unions and 'workers'; the Libs might just see more opportunity when the carbon price is settled, especially if more power companies want to invest in wind / solar power in line with the current trend.
A lot of Victorians, especially Melburnians, would be pretty aware of climate change - after the 2009 fires, the decade of water restrictions, and the multiple flash floods this summer. That will keep the pressure on the government IMO.
