Sussan Ley Insists ditching net zero will deliver cheap power prices

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Representatives from the liberal and national parties have started negotiations to settle a joint position on energy policy after the liberals agreed to abandon its net zero by 2050 target. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says a coalition government would not strive to achieve net zero carbon emissions but if it was achieved, that would be a welcome outcome.

Transcript

00:00In scrapping a net zero target by 2050, opposition leader Susan Lee has been trying to appeal

00:09to Australian voters by arguing that the coalition will prioritise cheaper power prices while

00:16also working to reduce Australia's emissions.

00:19Now, it's unclear how exactly the Liberal Party is going to do that, but that is the

00:24key argument.

00:25And it's not just about the party dropping its commitment to reach net zero emissions

00:30by 2050.

00:31The Liberal Party also agreed to walk away from the government's 2030 emissions reduction

00:37target, as well as Labor's renewables rollout target too.

00:42The Liberal Party also promised to water down a number of policies aimed at curbing Australia's

00:48emissions.

00:48They include things like the safeguard mechanism, which essentially incentivises high emissions

00:55emitting projects to reduce their carbon emissions over time.

00:58But despite all of that, Susan Lee says that the Liberal Party remains committed to the Paris

01:04Agreement.

01:05That's that international treaty where countries agreed to limit global warming to below two

01:09degrees Celsius.

01:11So it is a tricky tightrope for Susan Lee to walk.

01:15Now, there is a case to be made about high power prices.

01:18In 2022, Labor made themselves a target by promising to reduce households' energy bills.

01:26Since then, power prices have gone up.

01:29Now it appears that the coalition is trying to frame the government's energy policies as

01:33a cost-of-living issue.

01:35Here's what Opposition Leader Susan Lee had to say earlier.

01:38There are ways of injecting more gas into the system, and that supply is critical.

01:44Now, we will have affordable energy prices.

01:48Our prices will be more affordable than Labor's.

01:52And the way that you bring prices down is to bring supply into the system and have a balanced grid.

02:00Now, you may have noticed that Susan Lee did not say when a coalition government might bring

02:07down power prices, nor by how much.

02:11So even though cost-of-living clearly is a big issue for Australians, it's going to be

02:15difficult for the Liberal Party to prosecute this argument without a clear plan, particularly

02:20to young voters who do worry about the impact of climate change, as well as voters in inner-city

02:27seats, which the Liberal Party needs to win back if it's going to form government again.

02:32And what's been some of the political reaction to the Liberals dumping net zero?

02:36Well, Jo, the Liberal Party's decision to dump net zero really has been music to the ears

02:41of Labor.

02:43Rather than engaging in a debate against the opposition about the best way to achieve net

02:49zero emissions by 2050, the government can now turn around and say, well, the opposition

02:53doesn't take climate change seriously, full stop.

02:57Climate change and energy minister Chris Bowen was speaking to reporters in Sydney earlier

03:01today, and he suggested that the Liberal Party was being pulled further to the right by the

03:07Nationals, highlighting the influence of outspoken anti-net zero campaigners such as Barnaby Joyce.

03:14Take a listen.

03:16Clearly the National Party is calling the shots, and Barnaby Joyce is calling the shots within

03:20the National Party and therefore within Australia's opposition.

03:24That is sad for Australia because it means we don't have an opposition fully engaged in

03:29the great challenges and opportunities of our time.

03:33Now, on the other side, this decision by the Liberal Party is also somewhat of a gift for

03:38the Greens, who've been trying to use the coalition's turmoil over net zero as leverage to try to pressure

03:45the government to negotiate with the Greens instead of the coalition over their proposed environment

03:52laws.

03:53Green Senator Sarah Hansen-Young spoke to media here inside Parliament House earlier.

03:58The Liberal Party's credibility, both economically and environmentally, is in tatters.

04:06And the question for the Labor government now is how on earth can they continue to negotiate

04:13with the clown show?

04:15So, as you can see there, the Liberal Party's acting of net zero is being seized upon by both

04:21the Greens and Labor to pursue their own political agendas.

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