More now on the Liberal Party's decision to scrap their net zero by 2050 policy. Dan Tehan is the Liberal's Shadow Energy Minister he spoke with Afternoon Briefing host Patricia Karvelas a little earlier.
00:00As you know there has been a thorough process that we have undertaken to bring this policy
00:08together. Six months ago Susan said that she wanted us to really focus in on policy development
00:17so I began a process where I began talking to my colleagues about this. I also went to
00:24the backbench committee process which was set up under the auspices of Simon Kennedy
00:29and Jane Hume and obviously we also set up a process of working with the National Party
00:37through a working group with them where we have met every week pretty much that the parliament
00:43has sat. And then we had a discussion yesterday with the full Liberal Party room and then obviously
00:50today the Shadow Ministry met and out of that process, that incredibly thorough process,
00:58we now have our policy. Which is to dump net zero. So let me ask this, today part of your
01:04policy is that if net zero by 2050 was somehow by magic you know created, you'd welcome it,
01:13but your entire policy platform is about dismantling an ability to get there. How does that make
01:20happen? Well it's not, it's about dismantling Labor's way of getting there and Labor's way of getting
01:27there isn't working. So households are facing an increase in their electricity prices of 39%, we're seeing emissions
01:38flatline and we're seeing industries closing or on life support. So the way they're going about it is an abject failure.
01:45But you're not going about it at all. What we want to, we are, what we want to do is we want to have a complete
01:53reset and go back to an approach where the market determines how we're going to generate our electricity
02:02and it's a policy of making sure clearly that it's energy affordability first and then also that we bring all the technologies
02:12that we can muster to help that and it's a policy where we are going to pursue energy abundance because we know and
02:19understand that that's where the rest of the world is going because they understand what's happening with AI.
02:25They also understand what's happening and that we have to lift another four to five billion people out of poverty.
02:32So we want to make sure that everything we do is being done from a position of economic strength.
02:39Would you like to get to net zero by 2050?
02:41Well, we've made it very, very clear that our focus, our focus is energy affordability first.
02:49Now, if the rest of the world gets there, then of course we would welcome that.
02:54But for us, it has to be done through markets, through a voluntary approach, through using all the technologies
03:01that are available. That is the way we're going to do it.
03:04Well, just to be clear, so you're happy for the world to get there but not us? Like I'm confused.
03:07No, that's not what I've said. What we've said is that it is not our target, it's not our policy to get there, right?
03:17But what we've said is if we do and it's done by using technology, by using markets, then obviously that would be welcome.
03:28Okay. How about winning metropolitan seats? Have you just given that up? What happens to someone like Tim Wilson at the next election?
03:37Well, there will be people in Tim's seat, there will be people in my seat, there will be people right across Australia today who are opening power bills saying that Anthony Albanese promised me a 275 reduction in my power bill by the end of this year.
03:56And not only that, he used modelling to base his commitments to reducing emissions on that modelling and now we're at the situation where everything that Anthony Albanese said has completely failed.
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