Energy minister calls Coalition plan ‘chainsaw’ to economy, budgets
Opposition leader Angus Taylor said Wednesday that a Coalition government would introduce legislation within 30 days of winning the next federal election to repeal a package of climate and renewable energy policies. The bill, announced by Taylor’s energy spokesperson Dan Tehan, consolidates eight previously announced opposition policies into a single piece of legislation.
The package would scrap vehicle emissions standards, remove the legislated net-zero-by-2050 target, and revoke four of six offshore wind energy zones due for completion by the late 2030s — the Hunter, Illawarra, Southern Ocean and Bunbury regions. It would also introduce a renewable energy code of conduct for developers, redirect state and territory energy funding toward affordability and reliability, and refocus the Australian Energy Regulator on those priorities.
Two of the measures targeted for repeal — the safeguard mechanism and nuclear prohibitions — were originally introduced by previous Coalition governments. Taylor framed the reversal at a Wednesday press conference by declaring that “Australia has done its bit” on emissions reduction. “What we will continue to see is technologies emerging with lower emissions that Australians want to choose. That is fine, and that is great,” he said.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen, whose portfolio the legislation would unwind, said the plan would take “a chainsaw to the economy and household budgets” and “make Australia poorer, weaker and less secure from global shocks.” Bowen argued the Coalition’s plan to “stop renewables and household batteries” and extend the life of existing coal power stations would leave households “left to pick up the bill of global shocks.” “They want to take choice away from Australians – remove your ability to take control of your energy bills with a cheaper home battery, and pick a cheaper to run car,” Bowen said.
Kooyong MP Monique Ryan described the announcement as “dumb, dangerous, and desperate climate denial which would make energy more expensive and unreliable.” Acting Greens leader Mehreen Faruqi criticized both the Coalition and Labor. “Australians deserve a safe climate future, but we won’t see that while the Labor government is capitulating to fossil fuels and the Coalition’s energy policy is written to prop up corporate profits,” Faruqi said, taking aim at Labor’s resources minister, Madeleine King, who marked the opening of the Beetaloo basin.
Environment groups and a farmer coalition echoed those critiques. Amanda McKenzie, chief executive of the Climate Council, called the energy announcement “pure ideology” underpinned by years of climate denial. “The Coalition’s plan is to let climate change rip. It’s deadly negligence that would leave Australians facing more fires, floods and heatwaves,” McKenzie said. “The Coalition wants to force Australians back into the most polluting cars in the world and increase our dependence on foreign oil.”
Gavan McFadzean, the Australian Conservation Foundation’s head of political advocacy, said the proposal amounted to “a breathtaking act of economic self-harm that would increase climate pollution and abandon jobs and investment in the future low carbon economy.” “You can’t be anti-renewables and pro-energy reliability, because renewables with storage is the most reliable and affordable form of energy, while nuclear is the most expensive and would need to be publicly funded,” he said.
Farmers for Climate Action, a group representing more than 8,000 farmers across Australia, said it was “extremely disappointed” in the announcement. Harden sheep and crop farmer Peter Holding, a spokesperson for the group, said giving up on pollution reduction was irresponsible. “We are extremely disappointed in the Coalition today. You can’t say you’re looking after farmers while you axe pollution reduction policies, when we know more pollution means more fires and droughts, more climate change, and higher insurance costs,” Holding said.