Labor has been accused of a political retreat after caving in to pressure over its commitment to a 50 per cent renewable energy target, as Malcolm Turnbull sought to sharpen his attack against Bill Shorten on electricity prices.
The opposition’s increasingly confusing position on whether its policy was an aspiration, ambition, goal or hard target comes as the government prepares to go to war with recalcitrant states on the real pricing issue of excessive network charges.
The Greens yesterday accused Labor of “cowardice” after its climate change and energy spokesman Mark Butler appeared to back away from an iron-clad commitment to a 50 per cent RET in a clear sign that Labor believes it is being damaged politically on the issue.
“It’ll be an emissions-intensity scheme that is aligned with our emission-reductions target which will require, in my very clear view, that about half of our electricity by 2030 will be zero emissions,” Mr Butler said.
Opposition Treasury spokesman Chris Bowen also sent mixed signals about Labor’s RET policy and was unable to say what its cost would be, other than to claim there would be no cost in its commitment to an emissions intensity scheme. Mr Butler later said claims of a retreat on its RET goal were “rubbish.”
The shift comes after West Australian Labor leader Mark McGowan capitulated on his party’s mooted plans for a 50 per cent state RET and said there would “be no renewable energy target at a state level under any government I lead”, in an echo of former prime minister Julia Gillard’s pre-election carbon tax promise.
Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg told parliament Labor had “no idea what its policy on renewables actually is.”
“It is becoming increasingly unclear whether Labor’s talk of 50 per cent renewable energy is, in their own words, an ‘aspiration’, a ‘goal’, an ‘ambition’, an ‘objective’, a ‘policy framework’ or in fact a hard ‘target’,” he said.
As the government labelled the scheme as a new carbon tax, the Prime Minister used question time to label the opposition reckless on energy policy.
“The one thing we’re all aware of is that the Leader of the Opposition is proposing to impose a 50 per cent renewable energy target on all Australians, shatter Australian businesses, destroy jobs, hurt households,” Mr Turnbull said during a fiery question time.
“Every member opposite knows there are businesses and jobs in their electorate which their policy puts at risk. There is no bigger burden on Australian households than Labor’s effective tax which they are imposing and it is a tax levied by Labor incompetence.
“Their energy plan is guaranteed to deliver the least reliable electricity and the most expensive electricity — which is driving jobs away, discouraging investment, putting families at risk with higher and higher bills.
“That is what Labor would deliver to the whole of Australia, if they had their way.”
Greens climate change and energy spokesman Adam Bandt accused Labor of a complete withdrawal on its commitment to a 50 per cent target enshrined as a policy goal at the 2015 ALP national conference. “It seems Labor has waved the white flag in Turnbull’s war on renewables,” he said.
“Labor’s retreat on the renewable energy target is a betrayal on climate change and a betrayal of clean energy. This is incredible cowardice from Labor. Instead of fighting for clean energy, they are capitulating to the Coalition.
“Investment is being held back because of the lack of clear long-term policy on renewables.”
In a broadening of the government’s political strategy to exploit the energy security and pricing crisis, Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg will today demand in a phone conference with energy ministers that states sign up to reforms that would restrict power network businesses from challenging pricing decisions of the energy regulator, which this year threaten to cost consumers and businesses up to $7 billion in extra charges.
It is believed Queensland and NSW are resisting reforms that would remove the ability of the network businesses to appeal decisions of the Australian Energy Regulator using a weighted average of the cost of capital (WACC) to argue for greater cost recovery through pricing. Network charges make up more than 50 per cent of the average power bill and have been responsible for much of the price increases that have seen average power bills double over the past 10 years
Mr Frydenberg told The Australian that unless the states signed up to the reforms of the Limited Merits Review, which the federal government wanted to abolish, consumers could expect that power prices would continue to rise beyond what the regulator set as acceptable.
“This is something we can do now to try to put downward pressure on household electricity bills,” he said.
“It is vitally important all states get on board with this proposal to ensure consumers aren’t paying more for their power bills than necessary. Now that the COAG Energy Council has agreed to a significant suite of reforms, I look forward to all the states supporting these measures to lower power prices.”
While the renewable energy target is at the centre of the debate, it is the annual network charges sought by network operators that are responsible for most of the price increases.
The 18 network companies, which include Ausgrid and Transgrid, have regularly appealed against the energy regulator’s decisions on the WACC to the Australian Competition Tribunal, using the Limited Merits Review, which was designed under the Howard government and implemented under the Rudd government to achieve a balanced outcome of competing social and business interests.
Since 2008, reviews have been sought on 32 out of 51 regulatory decisions, none of which resulted in lower prices for consumers.
NSW Energy Minister Don Harwin was equivocal when asked if the Berejiklian government would honour its commitment to the reforms it agreed to late last year.
Any changes to the Limited Merits Review require legislation and agreement from all states and territories.
“The NSW government’s position on the Limited Merits Review reforms has not changed,” Mr Harwin said.
itch green targets, states told
