‘Improved following consultation’: Turnbull’s awkward defence of backflip

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has insisted his signature energy policy was “improved following consultation”, prompting loud jeers from inside the House of Representatives.

Labor's Bill Shorten couldn't help smiling throughout question time. 

Mr Turnbull announced radical changes to the National Energy Guarantee on Monday morning as MPs threatened to cross the floor to oppose the policy and publicly questioned his leadership.

“The policy that we took to the party room last week has been improved following consultation,” he told Parliament on Monday afternoon.

When that answer attracted a raucous response, he said: “Well, it has been.”

Read the story by Jackson Stiles from The New Daily - “‘Improved following consultation’: Turnbull’s awkward defence of backflip.”

Malcolm Turnbull approves radical NEG redesign in bid to prevent backbench revolt

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has approved a radical redesign of his flagship energy policy to put a priority on price cuts rather than climate change targets in a bid to prevent a backbench revolt that could threaten his leadership.

The drastic changes will make consumer prices a key factor in deciding the scale of future cuts to greenhouse gas emissions, removing one of the biggest obstacles to a Coalition consensus on the National Energy Guarantee.

The controversial target at the heart of the policy, a 26 per cent cut to emissions by 2030, will be set by ministerial regulation rather than being cemented in legislation to avoid forcing Liberals and Nationals MPs to vote for a climate change target they cannot support.

Read David Crowe’s story from The Age - “Malcolm Turnbull approves radical NEG redesign in bid to prevent backbench revolt.”

(The coalition's efforts to control Australia's carbon dioxide emissions, as insignificant as they were, have been formally extingushed - Robert McLean)

Consumers aren't the big winners out of National Energy Guarantee

As with any major policy change, it’s worth asking who benefits from the National Energy Guarantee. Among the obvious answers are Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg and the big three energy companies – AGL, Origin and Energy Australia.

Josh Frydenberg and Malcolm Turnbull.

For Turnbull and Frydenberg, the stakes are clear: a political win they can campaign on before the election.

However, the real winners are the big three. Last week, AGL recorded a 27 per cent increase in annual profit to $1 billion. In light of the oligopoly that exists in Australia’s electricity market, it’s reasonable to assume similar performance from AGL’s competitors. The driving force behind these profits is of course the increases in electricity prices that are hurting consumers.

One of the reasons for rising electricity prices is lack of competition, particularly in the wholesale electricity market, of which the big three control 46 per cent. As it stands, the NEG coupled with Turnbull’s low targets for emissions cuts does nothing to provide incentives for new generation to enter the market and compete.

Read the comment from The Age by Nicky Ison - “Consumers aren't the big winners out of National Energy Guarantee.”

Malcolm Turnbull consoles grief-stricken woman as he announces emergency drought relief

A charity worker helping drought-stricken farmers has broken down during an emotional confrontation with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in regional New South Wales.

The $190 million package of immediate relief
measures include additional support for mental
 health services.

Mr Turnbull comforted Edwina Robertson in the town of Trangie, west of Dubbo, as she spoke about dire conditions and hardship in many farming communities.

"It's worse than anything you are seeing in the media, it's far worse," Ms Robertson told the Prime Minister.

"It's dire. I worry every day when I go to visit farming families that it's going to be hours too late, it's literally that bad.”

Mr Turnbull has today promised to do more to help those under intense financial strain due to relentless drought conditions, signing off on emergency "special" payments for eligible farmers, to be made through the Farm Household Allowance (FHA) scheme.

Read the ABC News story by the national regional reporting team’s Anna Henderson - “Malcolm Turnbull consoles grief-stricken woman as he announces emergency drought relief.”

Call on energy plan a test of Shorten's integrity

Rejuvenated and reinforced by Super Saturday byelections success, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten mused that voters want him and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to respectfully debate public policy ideas and to focus less on their own political interests.

Bill Shorten has spotted public interest.

‘‘People don’t want more of the same from Malcolm Turnbull,’’ Mr Shorten declared. ‘‘They want a government that acts in the interests of people. To be honest, that’s the message I get out of it, too. The people of Australia are sick of me and Turnbull being in a Punch and Judy show – he runs around complaining about me, we complain about the government. They want better from us.”

Read the Editorial from today’s Age - “Call on energy plan a test of Shorten's integrity.”

Rein in sceptics or we'll walk: Victoria's ultimatum on energy scheme

Victoria is refusing to sign up to the National Energy Guarantee until Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull can give assurances that his entire caucus is locked in behind the scheme.

Energy and Environment Minister Lily D'Ambrosio
is giving the PM an ultimatum on energy policy.

The ultimatum from the Andrews government is the latest obstacle before the Turnbull government as it seeks to end 15 years of political inertia on climate policy and push through an energy blueprint that has been attacked as too timid by renewables advocates and too green by internal critics.

Victoria is one of three Labor-governed states and territories yet to agree to sign off on the national energy guarantee because of concerns the scheme’s modest emissions reduction target could kill off the boom in renewable energy generation.

Read the story by Adam Carey from The Age - “Rein in sceptics or we'll walk: Victoria's ultimatum on energy scheme.”

Clean Energy Target dumped by Coalition in favour of Malcolm Turnbull's new plan, a National Energy Guarantee

A meeting of the Coalition party room has agreed to ditch the Clean Energy Target (CET).

Josh Frydenberg, Malcolm Turnbull and John Pierce.

MPs today signed off on a new plan that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull argues will make power bills cheaper and more reliable while still cutting carbon emissions.

That plan replaces the CET with a National Energy Guarantee (NEG), which requires retailers to use a percentage of electricity from so-called dispatchable sources such as coal and gas, batteries or pumped hydro.

That would ensure they meet their obligation to deliver reliable power.

The decision came after the Cabinet last night agreed to dump the CET recommended by Chief Scientist Alan Finkel.

Read the ABC News story by Louise Yaxley - “Clean Energy Target dumped by Coalition in favour of Malcolm Turnbull's new plan, a National Energy Guarantee.”

Stand-off between Turnbull government and AGL deepens over conflicting statements.

The tense stand-off between the Turnbull government and energy giant AGL has deepened after different accounts emerged of what happened in a meeting about the future of the Liddell coal-fired power plant.

AGL's Andy Vesey said on Monday after meeting
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that he would put
the idea of extending Liddell to his board even
though it was "economically irrational". 

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg said the government had secured a commitment from AGL to develop within 90 days a proposal to keep the NSW plant open, sell it, or guarantee equivalent power should the scheduled 2022 closure proceed. The government wants to plant to remain operating to meet a looming shortfall in baseload power.

However, a statement released by AGL following Monday's meeting noted it had committed to deliver a plan to avoid an energy shortfall "once the Liddell coal-fired power station retires in 2022”.

While Mr Vesey said he agreed to the government's request to examine keeping the plant running or selling it, the statement emphasised the ageing facility's growing reliability problems.

Read the story by Fergus Hunter in today’s Melbourne Age - “Stand-off between Turnbull government and AGL deepens over conflicting statements.”

Malcolm Turnbull rejects Tony Abbott's call for subsidy to keep Hazelwood open

Calls for an extraordinary government intervention to keep the ailing Hazelwood coal power plant open have been rejected by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who said its closure would not affect electricity security.

Hazelwood has a capacity of 1600
megawatts, but rarely runs at
full capacity. 

Former prime minister Tony Abbott and the Australian Industry Group have separately suggested the 53-year-old plant - which is due to shut next week and faces hundreds of millions of dollars in WorkSafe orders -  may need to be kept in operation due to concerns over whether there would be enough electricity to meet peak demand during summer.

Read Adam Morton’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Malcolm Turnbull rejects Tony Abbott's call for subsidy to keep Hazelwood open.”

Cheering and jeering greets PM's decision on environment and energy

One of the most notable moves in yesterday’s cabinet reshuffle was Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s decision to merge the environment and energy portfolios, and hand them both to current energy minister Josh Frydenberg.

The immediate reaction was mixed. The Australian Petroleum and Exploration Association described it as “the holy grail”, whereas others branded the move a nightmare scenario.

Often when two agencies are combined, the culture of one dominates. In this case, it will hinge on the agenda chosen by Frydenberg, Turnbull, and the government as a whole.

If the resource-oriented, centralised, growth-focused energy industry culture dominates, we could see emerging industries blocked, the climate response crippled, and environmental destruction.

Read the thoughts of the Senior Industry Fellow from RMIT University, Alan Pears, on The Conversation - “Under a single minister, will energy and the environment be friends or foes?”

Turnbull quietly commits Australia's support to decarbonising the world economy

T

he Turnbull government has quietly committed Australia to support decarbonising the world economy as one of the goals for this month's global climate summit in Paris, a move that has drawn applause.

Australia's PM, Malcolm Turnbull -
quietly commits Australia to the
idea of decarbonising the world economy.

With little fanfare, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull agreed on the sidelines of the G20 gathering with European leaders in Turkey this week that the language of the Paris agreement should agree on a long-term goal to ensure temperatures keep within an increase of 2 degrees on pre-industrial levels.

The terrorism attacks in Paris are also considered to be a reason Australia's shift was largely overlooked.

Read Peter Hannam and Tom Arup’s story in today’s Melbourne Age -“Paris 2015: Australia's quiet climate commitment to decarbonise the economy.”

Turnbull's climate goals inadequate - The Climate Institute

T

he centrepiece of the Turnbull government's climate policy will deliver just one-seventh of Australia's post-2020 carbon reduction goals, according to analysis by The Climate Institute.

The $2.55 billion Emission Reduction Fund (ERF) – which may swell to almost $5 billion by 2030 – will likely deliver about 355 million tonnes of carbon abatement, based on the price paid in the fund's first auction, the group said in a report.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has maintained the climate goals of his predecessor Tony Abbott. These project a 5 per cent fall in Australia's 2000 emissions by 2020 and about 19 per cent out to 2030.

Read the story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Malcolm Turnbull climate plan to deliver only one-seventh carbon cuts: The Climate Institute.”