Malcolm Turnbull says Coalition should back Labor's energy policy
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull says the Morrison government's "big stick" threats to energy companies are no substitute for a comprehensive climate and energy policy and has thrown his support behind Labor's electricity sector plan.
Speaking after a renewable energy conference in Sydney on Tuesday, Mr Turnbull said the National Energy Guarantee - a policy developed then dumped by his government before being adopted by Labor - was the best way to create investment certainty in the electricity sector.
"You won't get investment if people see an investment climate which is uncertain and racked with controversy," he said.
"That's what we were endeavouring to do with the National Energy Guarantee. It's still there, you can see the Labor Party has taken it up. It should be the basis of reaching a bipartisan consensus on energy policy, the nation is screaming out for it.
"I know there are people who want to keep on fighting about energy. I tell you I think the electorate is fed up with it."
Labor's energy policy announced last month confirmed it would adopt the energy guarantee framework devised under Mr Turnbull's leadership, which aimed to reduce emissions and ensure affordability and reliable supplies. Labor would apply its higher emissions reduction target - 45 per cent by 2030, based on 2005 levels - rather than keep the 26 per cent target that the government initially proposed.
Under new leader Scott Morrison, the government has declared lowering electricity prices will be top of the agenda.
It has threatened to use a "big stick", such as the forced divestiture of assets, to ensure that major energy companies do not rip off consumers on price. It will also underwrite investment in new energy generation capacity, in line with recommendations by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Mr Turnbull said "the devil will be in the detail" on divestment powers, legislation for which was being drafted. The move has been vehemently opposed by business.
He added that "with great respect [the big stick approach is] not a substitute for the National Energy Guarantee".
"Ensuring a competitive market and the protections of consumers is very important, but you've also got to have the certainty of integrated climate and energy policy so that you get the investment," he said.
Speaking later in Canberra, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the government had replaced the energy guarantee with a "reliability guarantee" and had a suite of policies to put downward pressure on prices.
He said the issue in question was Labor's "recklessly high" 45 per cent emissions reduction target.
"They haven’t produced any modelling on what the cost on the economy will be. The Business Council of Australia has said it will be an economy-wrecking target," the former energy minister said.
"What will be the impact on agriculture, what will be the impact on the industrial sector, what will be the impact on the transport sector?
"Their target is going to shut down coal-fired power stations across the country [and] drive up costs, particularly for households and industrial customers."
The government has previously failed to produce its own modelling to support claims Labor's energy plan represents an economic-wrecking ball.
Independent modelling comparing scenarios with a 45 per cent and 26 per cent cut in emissions has found no difference in electricity reliability or price, and other analysis suggests prices will be cheaper under the higher targets.
Labor MP Ed Husic described as "extraordinary" the government's divestiture measures. He applauded both Mr Turnbull's call for the major parties to work together on energy and his admission that the National Energy Guarantee was "the best way to go".
Mr Husic predicted voters would see Mr Turnbull's views on the policy as more credible and honest, as opposed to the government's "politicking" over Labor's plan.
Earlier in a speech, Mr Turnbull said the federal government’s efforts to craft a coherent energy and climate change policy was “bedevilled by what I would call ideology and ignorance".
Addressing an audience made up largely of people involved in the solar industry, Mr Turnbull said many of his former colleagues disregarded basic climate science and clung to a set of beliefs that were simply untrue.
He noted that former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce had once “unhelpfully” suggested that instead of investing in the so-called Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro scheme advocated by Mr Turnbull, the government should instead invest in new coal fired power plants.
Asked if people should vote for independents until the Liberal Party reforms on the issue, Mr Turnbull said he had been a member of the party for many years and could rely on his support in future.
But he said, “at the moment there is an impasse in terms of the politics of the federal Coalition on this issue and I think everyone understands that. I am sure the media will report what I have said here today as sensational but it is just a statement of fact.”