Scott Morrison has announced his government’s intention to potentially underwrite 12 gas, pumped hydro and coal projects.

Oh, and to fund a feasibility study into a new coal-fired power station in Central Queensland.

This election stunt is designed to firstly indicate to the electorate that this government is doing something on energy and secondly placate a cabal of coal-loving Queensland Nationals while not doing too much to damage the electoral chances of Victorian Liberals, particularly treasurer Josh Frydenberg.

I call it a stunt because that’s what it is – given these projects lack detailed costings, there’s no legal basis to sign contracts to underwrite these projects and the government is going into caretaker mode in the next two to three weeks.

However, the very nature of this stunt speaks to a broader trend in “policy making” that is not only undermining climate action and the future of our energy system, but the very institutions of our democracy.

The Coalition's 'big stick' was all about coal – and a big waste of energy | Nicky Ison Read more

The idea of the federal government underwriting new electricity generation is based on a recommendation made by the ACCC in their Retail Electricity Price Inquiry Report last year. The ACCC proposed that the federal government support commercial and industrial electricity customers to access long-term contracts for new generation.

It explicitly did not propose that the owners of existing coal-fired power stations upgrade their assets.

The federal government has taken a sound policy idea and turned it into a captain’s call – a process whereby our prime minister gets to pick which electricity infrastructure projects get funded. The prime minister was an advertising executive, not an expert in how our electricity system works, he does not have the qualifications to make a decision on which electricity infrastructure projects are needed and which aren’t. This is the problem.

From Abbott knighting Prince Phillip and launching the now disbanded Green Army, to Turnbull’s support for Snowy 2.0 and a $444m “grant” to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, Morrison’s announcement on Tuesday continues a trend of captain’s calls replacing policy by this government.

In any representative democracy, a bit of pork barrelling is expected, particularly during election seasons. However, there is a huge difference between a grant to a worthy charity in an electorate and basing your entire energy policy purely on a plan to win votes.

Indeed, eight of the 12 projects on Morrison’s underwriting shortlist are located in Coalition-held electorates or marginal seats. Not to mention the fact that the “very small” coal power plant upgrade is for Vales Point, the NSW coal-fired power station owned by Liberal Party donor Trevor St Baker. A power station St Baker bought for $1m from the NSW Coalition government just three-and-a-half years ago.

This is not to say that governments don’t have a role to play in driving new generation to the electricity system, nor that some of these projects may not have merit. It’s just that without a sound policy and selection process underpinning this shortlist, how can the electorate know?

If you compare this process to any of the energy auctions or tenders run over the past five years by state governments the difference is chalk and cheese. State governments have put in place strong policies, with robust selection criteria for energy projects they will support. The processes have been transparent and there has been sufficient time for government departments to assess applications against the selection criteria. The state energy minister and in some cases the cabinet then does a final approval based on this rigorous process.

In contrast, the federal underwriting new generation investments program did not have selection criteria, but rather vague merit criteria. Applications had little detail and the department had little time to review.

We have a rare chance to make our electricity system fair again, but we need to act fast | Nicky Ison Read more

Governments have departments for a reason. Government departments are meant to be staffed by policy and subject matter experts that design and implement policies. In this case, the projects chosen are clearly a captain’s call, designed not to meet a need in the electricity system, but rather to meet a political need of the Morrison government.

As shadow energy minister Mark Butler is fond of pointing out this underwriting program is the Coalition’s 13th energy policy.

When a government is divided, when a huge part of it denies the existence of climate change and is ideologically committed to coal (the single largest cause of climate change), rational policy and the ability to listen to experts becomes impossible.

This in turn makes stable policy impossible.

• Nicky Ison is a research associate at the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney and co-founder of the Community Power Agency