It was one of the most turbulent periods in Australian political history and culminated with the dramatic removal of both a prime minister and opposition leader.

In November 2009, Kevin Rudd was trying to build enough support to pass an emissions trading scheme through parliament while Mr Turnbull put his leadership on the line by agreeing to negotiate with the Labor government.

For a brief moment, it looked as if the pair might actually rise above party politics and reach bipartisan agreement on tackling "the greatest moral challenge of our time".

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd shed a tear after Julia Gillard ousted him in 2010. ( ABC News: Jeremy Thompson )

But by June the following year, both men had failed and it ultimately cost them their jobs.

A decade later, Australia still lacks a clear plan for securing reliable, affordable, and clean electricity for households and businesses around the country.

In fact, one senior Liberal figure believes the politics of power is even more toxic than it was 10 years ago.

New South Wales Energy Minister Don Harwin says there remains an overwhelming consensus to act on carbon emissions but it is being hijacked by extremist views within mainstream parties.

He cites as an example the dumping of the National Energy Guarantee (NEG) by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who declared the policy "dead" in September last year.

"It's almost an exact re-run of what happened in 2009 where there was a lot of support for what was Kevin Rudd's carbon reduction scheme and that failed," Mr Harwin told Background Briefing.

"A small group was able to effectively hold the federal government to ransom."

Five conservative Coalition MPs had earlier threatened to cross the floor if the legislation reached a vote in parliament.

Mr Harwin says it is unfortunate a vocal minority can wield so much influence.

Then-opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull lost the Liberal Party leadership in 2009 while trying to negotiate with Labor on an emissions trading scheme. ( ABC News: Jeremy Thompson )

"The nature of our two party system is that pressure from small groups on the extreme can actually have a lot of effect because there's just not enough bipartisanship," he said.

This is not the first time Mr Harwin has clashed with his Liberal colleagues in Canberra.

At a COAG meeting in Adelaide last December, Mr Harwin tried to raise the issue of emissions but says Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor cut him off and shut down the discussion on procedural grounds.

"I wasn't sticking to the script," Mr Harwin concedes.

"I think people thought it was going to be a relatively uncontroversial meeting but there was a bit of tension," he said.

"I wouldn't say it was awkward. It was a little tense, though."

When asked about the incident, Mr Taylor would not refer to Mr Harwin by name but said he would not entertain an increase to emissions targets beyond the 26 per cent agreed to under the Paris accord.

Coalition divestiture law proposal sparks industry backlash

The federal government is instead seeking to focus debate on lowering the price of electricity and increasing reliability.

It initially proposed a divestiture law which would have given Treasurer Josh Frydenberg the ability to force energy providers to sell power stations slated for closure in order to keep them running under a different operator.

A spokesperson for Mr Frydenberg's office said the draft legislation was subsequently changed to require a court order where recommended by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

The Coalition's proposed divestiture law could force energy companies to sell power stations slated for closure in order to keep them running. ( ABC News: Helen Brown )

He said the government would only intervene in particular cases in order to secure supply and stop price-gouging by companies that benefit when prices soar following the closure of generators.

"If you had an energy company that was deliberately withholding supply from the market or shutting a plant and refusing to sell it to a third party in order to manipulate prices, that would be a scenario for instance where these powers might be used," Mr Taylor said.

But Mr Harwin says the Coalition's "big stick" approach has spooked the industry and risks discouraging investment as a result.

"It's a matter for the federal parliament but the feedback I'm certainly getting from the sector is it's making it less likely they'll invest," he said.

Energy experts exasperated by policy inaction

As the debate rages on, energy policy expert Tony Wood is frustrated by the seeming powerlessness of politicians to take meaningful action to address this tricky issue.

When asked about the number of proposals that have come before parliament only to fail, Mr Wood quipped, "You're going to make me cry".

A senior executive of Origin Energy for 14 years, Mr Wood is now the Director of the Energy Program at the Grattan Institute.

"I've been working in the energy industry directly since 1995 and for the first half of that period, things were reasonably stable and energy was pretty boring, really," Mr Wood told Background Briefing.

"It all started to go a bit strange in the early 2000s and we've probably seen on climate change policy at least seven or eight different attempts to try and do something," he said.

"Has it just been a series of unfortunate individual events combined with political circumstances that have meant we keep falling over, or is there something more fundamental about climate change that has made it so difficult to progress?"