- 14 hours ago
Coalition Press Conference on energy and emissions
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00:00Australians deserve affordable energy and responsible emissions reduction.
00:10But under Labor we've seen a trifecta of failures.
00:14Reliability is coming down, prices are going up and emissions are flatlining.
00:19We will prioritise affordable energy for households and businesses
00:24and this is just so important.
00:27Since 2005, in the last 20 years, this government has raced ahead
00:32and emissions have been reduced at one and a half times the rate of comparable countries.
00:39And if we were to reach their target in 2050, they will have to double again.
00:44That's not responsible emissions reduction.
00:47That's not doing our fair share.
00:50Now this is hurting.
00:52It's hurting Australian families and it's hurting Australia's amazing small businesses.
00:56And when I talk to mums and dads, I hear their pain and their struggle.
01:01And I remember as a mum sitting at the kitchen table trying to balance the family budget
01:07and how difficult that is.
01:09And now, as a grandmother, I look at the sort of world I want my grandchildren to inherit
01:15and I don't want it to be in Australia with a lower standard of living than we have today.
01:22That's not fair on the next generations.
01:26Now, the Prime Minister and his ministers are unable to answer simple questions.
01:33When are power prices going to come down?
01:36Because the Prime Minister went to two elections saying that he would reduce your energy bills,
01:43your electricity bills would come down by $275.
01:46In fact, they've gone up by $1,300.
01:49It's a very simple question, Prime Minister.
01:52When are the power prices going to come down?
01:57Now, we know that as Labor looks Australians in the eye, they've got this all wrong.
02:05But we also know that our plan, the plan that we've talked about today,
02:10the plan that I release today is all about affordable energy and responsible emissions reduction.
02:19Now, just before I hand over to David and then Dan and we take your questions,
02:23I want to update you on another priority of mine, which is migration.
02:27As I foreshadowed at the Howard lecture a couple of nights ago,
02:31we've been working very closely on migration policy in the last six months.
02:36This work has been done by Paul Scar and more recently,
02:40John O'Donoghue has joined as the Home Affairs Shadow Minister.
02:44And in the coming weeks, we will release a migration policy,
02:48the broad principles of such a policy that demonstrates what I have said from the get-go,
02:54which is that this country's migration numbers are far too high
02:59and this needs to be addressed as a priority.
03:03Today is about energy, affordable energy, responsible emissions reduction
03:09and playing our part globally exactly as we should.
03:13Over to you, David.
03:14Well, thanks, Susan, and it is a great day that the Coalition has settled
03:18on a cheaper, better, fairer way to reduce emissions
03:22and to address the challenges of climate change.
03:24This debate is not one predicated on science.
03:27It is one predicated on economics.
03:29The Albanese government wanted to hold this country back
03:33and continue to throw sledges at the Coalition about a 2015 debate
03:38about the science of climate change.
03:40We've moved on to the economics of it,
03:42the lived experience that Australians are feeling in their energy bill every quarter.
03:46They should see Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen's face on those energy bills,
03:50because they're the perpetrators of their energy bills.
03:54And to the people of Tomago, Mount Isa, to Wyalla, Port Pirie,
03:58they're the ones that don't have job security today.
04:01They're the ones, because energy is the economy,
04:04that the ideology that Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen had bought
04:08is the lived experience that Australians are feeling.
04:11So what we've done is brought some common sense back to this.
04:14We are going to do our fair share of reducing emissions.
04:18We will make sure that we don't streak ahead,
04:20but we're not going to be a laggard.
04:21And we should peg ourselves to what the rest of the world is doing.
04:24When we're 1.1% of global emissions,
04:27we should reduce our emissions
04:28and make sure that we don't fall behind that, nor streak ahead.
04:31This government is going to reduce the emissions in this country
04:35by 4.8% every year between now and 2035.
04:38The OECD is only doing it at 1.7%.
04:41Now, when we're only 1.1% of global emissions,
04:44we can't mitigate all the world's emissions here in Australia.
04:47We should do our fair share and we should pivot into adaptation,
04:50making sure we have a stronger environment,
04:53a stronger society that can face up to the challenges
04:56that are thrown at Australians.
04:58And that is the practical, common sense solution
05:02that our two great parties have been able to put forward
05:05to the Australian people.
05:06A cheaper, better, fairer way to reduce emissions,
05:09to reduce emissions.
05:10And net zero is not the only way to actually address climate change
05:14and to actually do our fair share.
05:16We're saying to the Australian people,
05:18let's have a conversation.
05:20Let's take away the purality of what Albanese and Bowen,
05:24all they've got is to call us names,
05:27rather than the lived experience that we are coming
05:29to the Australian people with, which is a solution,
05:32a way forward to live up, to do our fair share,
05:35and to make sure you can afford it,
05:36to make sure you've got hope that there is a future
05:39for the next generation economically
05:41and in terms of a healthier environment.
05:43That's common sense.
05:45And I'm proud to say that we've worked through this
05:47and we're not going to buy into the negativity of a 2015 debate
05:53that Albanese and the Teals want to continue to have.
05:56We're going to talk about the real lived experience
05:58of how we move forward, how we do our fair share,
06:00and we make sure this country is stronger for it.
06:03And I just say to the Australian people,
06:05if that's all your Prime Minister has,
06:06if that's all your Energy Minister has,
06:08is pure old comments, then they are out of touch.
06:12They're out of touch with what Australians are feeling
06:14in their energy bills,
06:15and they're out of touch with those people
06:17whose job security is lost.
06:19So can I thank Dan and I can thank the Liberal Party.
06:22We've worked constructively through this
06:24and understand this has been a calm, considered process.
06:26We started six months ago.
06:28And it would have been easy for us just to say no and walk away.
06:33But we're parties of government.
06:35We want to actually say to the Australian people
06:37there's an alternative way.
06:38And we have to show that.
06:40We've demonstrated that today.
06:42And the fact that we can bring our two party rooms together
06:44in the way, in a constructive way,
06:46that has real solutions for Australians,
06:48shows the maturity and strength of our coalition.
06:51And can I say thanks to you, Dan, for all your hard work.
06:53So I'll hand it to you.
06:55Thanks, David.
06:56Thanks, Susan.
06:57Thanks, David.
06:58And it's wonderful to be able to stand here today
07:00and say that we've got a coalition policy
07:03which is all about energy affordability
07:06and doing the responsible thing
07:08when it comes to emissions reduction.
07:11And can I say to the Australian people,
07:13every time you hear the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese,
07:17and the Energy Minister, Chris Bowen, attacking us,
07:21you should know they're doing that,
07:24not being focused on doing the right thing by you,
07:27and that is bringing your energy prices down.
07:32Every time they attack us,
07:35you should know they're doing it
07:37because they don't have an answer
07:39when it comes to energy affordability
07:41and reducing emissions.
07:43You should know they're doing that
07:45because the $275 they promised you
07:50at the end of this year in the reduction in your power bills
07:55isn't going to happen.
07:57And remember, they promised you that on over 90 occasions.
08:01They also promised that they were going to bring emissions down as well,
08:06yet emissions are flatlining.
08:09So we now have a plan,
08:11a plan which is all about affordable energy.
08:14It's all about doing the responsible thing
08:17when it comes to emissions reduction.
08:19And we're looking forward to getting out and selling our plan
08:23because there is now a very, very clear contrast
08:27when it comes to this debate.
08:29You have a coalition which is all about energy affordability
08:33while doing the responsible thing,
08:35paying our fair share,
08:36versus a government
08:38which cannot meet its commitments
08:40when it comes to energy prices.
08:43As a matter of fact,
08:44they've gone up by nearly 40%
08:47and there is no sign that that is going to change.
08:51So there is now a clear contrast
08:53and I look forward to getting out on the road
08:56and selling our coalition policy.
08:58Questions?
09:00Opposition Leader,
09:01some of your moderate colleagues have already raised concerns
09:05about coal being underwritten by the taxpayers
09:07and the capacity investment scheme,
09:10given you've already dumped net zero.
09:12Are you worried that this sends the wrong message
09:14to suburban voters you're trying to win back?
09:17Just a little while ago,
09:18the joint coalition party room,
09:20which includes members of my party
09:22and members of David's party,
09:23signed off on the affordable plan
09:25that I've talked about today
09:27and that we'll continue to talk about over the coming weeks.
09:29It is all about affordability
09:32when it comes to energy prices
09:33and playing our part responsibly
09:35with emissions reductions.
09:37I'll ask Dan to address the particular detail
09:39that you mentioned.
09:41So we've said all along
09:43that we will take a technology-neutral approach
09:46and that has been clear from day one.
09:49That is what the Shadow Ministry decided last Thursday.
09:55It's obviously what the National Party have decided.
09:58And so we are taking a technology-neutral approach
10:02and that is what we will continue to do.
10:04How will this policy drive down power bills?
10:07And are you willing to put a number or a figure
10:09on how much people can expect them to go down by?
10:13Downward pressure is so important.
10:15All we're seeing from Labor is upward pressure
10:17and upward momentum.
10:19This is terrible for Australian families.
10:21This is just terrible going into summer
10:23when mums are saying,
10:24how can I put the cooler on?
10:25What am I going to do when this electricity bill comes?
10:28How am I going to pay it?
10:29What if somebody has to step back from their job
10:31for whatever reason?
10:33You know, this is really tough.
10:35We have to see downward pressure on electricity prices.
10:38Now, when you get more supply into the system,
10:40you get more supply brings more pressure going down on prices.
10:46And what we're not seeing from the government
10:48is the supply of gas.
10:51Peaking power, baseload power
10:53to balance the huge amount of renewables
10:56that are in the system.
10:57And we're not anti-renewables,
10:59but they have to be in the right place
11:01and they have to be balanced by baseload power.
11:04And we have to have a government that,
11:06look back four years, they demonised gas.
11:08They didn't want anything to do with it.
11:10The energy minister sort of
11:12washed his hands of gas in our system.
11:14Reluctantly, they've had to come back to gas
11:16because they know that it's vital.
11:18Meanwhile, they've got an environmental approval system
11:21that refuses to unlock the very gas that Australians need
11:25to bring down their power prices
11:27and make energy affordable again.
11:30By giving the national electricity market
11:34the objective of affordable power,
11:36we know that the investments we make
11:39and the rules that we set
11:40will be all about bringing energy prices down.
11:43Exactly.
11:44And this is a practical way of changing the mandate of AEMO,
11:47that now their first mandate is to source energy predicated
11:52on the 2030-35 targets.
11:54That means that we have latent supply of baseload sitting there
11:58that we need to increase the supply of
12:01and actually drive down those prices
12:04by the simple principle of demand and supply.
12:07And when we talk about the capacity investment scheme,
12:10taking a technology agnostic approach to that,
12:13when you look in my home state of Queensland,
12:15they intend to sweat out their coal-fired power stations.
12:18What you do by expanding it,
12:20you actually put that downward pressure
12:22of putting it right across all sources of energy.
12:25And what it also does is it buys the time
12:28for us to transition into particularly things like nuclear energy,
12:31to be able to have an energy mix,
12:33not put all your energy eggs in one basket.
12:35This government is going to get to 92% renewables.
12:37There is no country of the industrial scale
12:39the size of Australia that has done that.
12:41There's a couple that had a crack, Portugal and Spain,
12:43and they lost their grid for over a week and a half
12:46because you need base load power.
12:48So these are practical steps that we're taking
12:51that builds in the capacity of us
12:53having a cogent plan moving forward of transition with nuclear,
12:57but we should have a balance.
12:58And we're not against renewables,
12:59but we should have the right balance.
13:01And our plan at the last election was around 38% nuclear.
13:04Around 54% were renewables
13:06and the balance was gas and snowy hydro.
13:09That is a common sense solution.
13:11Totally, David.
13:12And consumers instinctively know that when energy is unaffordable,
13:16everything is unaffordable.
13:18Do you have a timeline at all as to when consumers
13:20can see downward pressure under your plan?
13:22Well, they need to see downward pressure.
13:24And by changing the rules of how energy operates,
13:27the priorities that the various structures operate under,
13:31and the underwriting where necessary in a modest way
13:34to bring that base load power forward,
13:36we know that we will start to put downward pressure on supply.
13:39It's two and a half years to the election,
13:42can't come soon enough for Australian households
13:44that are really struggling under this government's energy policy.
13:48Our priority will be to make energy affordable,
13:51add supply into the system, be really upfront.
13:54We have a Prime Minister who can't look Australians in the eye
13:57and be honest about the cost of his long-term targets
14:02and the effect that that is now having on electricity prices and reliability
14:08and the fact that a massive renewables-only grid
14:11is causing huge problems to base load power,
14:14particularly as we go into the uncertain months ahead.
14:18So just to reiterate,
14:19does your plan have any timeline at all
14:21as to when consumers can start seeing downward pressure on supply?
14:23Consumers can be absolutely confident
14:25that once we have charge of energy policy in this country,
14:31we will start to change the rules as soon as possible.
14:35That means we have to get into government,
14:37that means we have to change rules around the supply of gas
14:40and the operating rules of the energy system.
14:42And we can see from that point on
14:45how downward pressure will be placed on energy prices.
14:48But here's the challenge for Labor.
14:50Why don't they expand the CIS
14:53to take in all the technology that's been driven today?
14:56Why don't they change the mandate of AEMO?
14:59And the challenge for them is they're in government.
15:01They are the government.
15:02They are the ones responsible for the fact
15:04that you didn't get your $275 reduction this year in your energy bill
15:08that they promised you.
15:09In fact, it's gone up by over $800
15:11and the reality is they have the levers to pull,
15:14but they are letting ideology get in the road
15:16of the pain that Australians are feeling.
15:18There is Australians tonight
15:20that won't be able to put dinner on the table
15:22because they can't afford it,
15:23because they can't afford their energy bills.
15:25And some of them don't have job security at all.
15:27So why wouldn't you, as Prime Minister of this country,
15:30pull any lever you possibly can to give Australians some hope?
15:34It is a disgrace that there would be people tonight
15:36that can't put dinner on their table
15:38in a country as rich as Australia.
15:39Why wouldn't you, as Prime Minister,
15:41prioritise affordable energy
15:42instead of the ideology of an 82% renewable grid by 2030,
15:46which everyone acknowledges cannot be reached.
15:49But if you set that and you make everyone pay for it,
15:52the cost is actually skyrocketing.
15:54So it's fundamentally completely around the wrong way
15:58when it comes to looking after Australians
16:00who deserve a government that backs them in
16:02and understands that affordable power
16:04is the number one consideration for citizens.
16:07If the coalition wins the next election,
16:10will the Senate revise 2030 and 2035
16:12emission reduction targets?
16:14We've already said that we won't make any comments
16:17about targets from opposition
16:19and that we will look at our NDCs,
16:22our short-term targets, once in government.
16:25But we will look at our own domestic energy policy
16:28as a primary consideration, as every other country does
16:31and as every other country should.
16:33Just on the timeframe for seeing lower power prices,
16:36you must have a target, though,
16:37a marker of success if you win government
16:39and when people can expect to see that.
16:41Why should people vote for you
16:43if you can't provide more information,
16:45some concrete figures or more of a plan than what's in it?
16:48Because they'll have a look at our plan
16:50and they'll see that it will work because they'll know
16:55that immediately it starts to put downward pressure on prices
16:58by being technology agnostic about baseload power,
17:02injecting more gas supply into the system,
17:04opening up gas fields in Australia
17:06so we have Australian gas for Australians
17:08in terms of a domestic reservation scheme
17:11and they know that that will bring downward pressure on prices.
17:15Mr Littlepear, do you think a net-zero future
17:18would be a welcomed outcome in Australia?
17:20Well, let me make this clear.
17:22The National Party believes in reducing emissions.
17:25It's a core principle that we've got to in our determination.
17:30What we want to do is do that in a responsible way, a fair way,
17:33that Australia does its fair share
17:35but we don't streak ahead causing the pain
17:38that we've got at the moment.
17:39Now, I think it would be unwise for anyone to comment
17:42about what comes in the future, particularly in technology.
17:44The technology, whether it be carbon capture storage,
17:47we're balanced in terms of nuclear,
17:51the whole facet of where our economy is going can be balanced
17:56and one day it would be a great achievement
17:59but what we're in trouble for at the moment
18:02is we've set these targets so far out
18:04that we've lost an energy grid
18:06and we've now got a whole lot of other industries like transport
18:10where effectively you're going to pay for a combustion engine, a tax.
18:16When you talk about mandatory reporting, they're doing scope 3 reporting.
18:20That's $1.2 billion in the first year for what no-one else in the world is doing.
18:25In fact, even Joe Biden had the brains not to go anywhere near scope 3 emissions.
18:29So this is where, unfortunately, we're not going to be able to afford to have any reduction in emissions
18:35if we send our country broke.
18:37So the debate is not about whether we want to reduce emissions.
18:40It's about how and how much it's going to cost.
18:42I think that's a mature conversation.
18:44That's leadership that the National Party and the Liberal Party got to
18:47to say that there is a cheaper, better, fairer way.
18:50Last question, guys.
18:51How would your policies actually reduce emissions?
18:54Emissions?
18:55We've said we will reduce emissions.
18:58On average...
18:59But how?
19:00Can I just finish?
19:01On average, year-on-year, in line with comparable countries
19:04and as fast and as far as technology will allow.
19:07So that is our policy.
19:10And coming from that, breakthrough technologies, realigning the CEFC and ARENA,
19:16which now invest or underwrite taxpayers' money in wind and solar,
19:21which don't need their help.
19:23But we would repurpose so that they would look at these breakthrough technologies
19:27and in 25 years' time will be technologies that we're not talking about today.
19:31Meanwhile, we know that carbon capture and storage has come a long way.
19:35We know that blue hydrogen has come a long way.
19:37For our agricultural sector, something very familiar for David and I,
19:41soil carbon does many things, including make our soils healthier
19:46for our own vegetation and farming activities, but sequesters carbon.
19:50So there are a range of activities that we can use and employ
19:54and that I know is starting to happen.
19:57I think that was the last question, guys.
19:59Thanks very much.
20:00Thank you very much.
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