Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Forrest for her question. The Turnbull government's priority is to ensure that all Australians and Australian businesses are provided with affordable and reliable electricity. We're also committed to meeting our international obligations when it comes to reducing emissions. Australia has a very strong record in setting and meeting and beating our international emissions targets. In fact, we have already exceeded our first Kyoto target by some 128 million tonnes and we will exceed our second Kyoto target by 2020. Our Paris agreement target is to reduce emissions by 26 to 28 per cent on 2005 levels, by 2030. I am confident that we will do that, because our National Energy Guarantee, which was announced today and was recommended by the Energy Security Board set up by COAG, will ensure that Australian households and Australian businesses are able to be delivered with affordable and reliable electricity. The guarantee is in two parts. The first supports the reliability of electricity—that is, keeping the power on so that we don't see the blackouts as experienced by South Australia recently. The second part is about reducing emissions. This is the integration of climate and energy policy that has been lacking for so many years. It will also ensure that there's appropriate investment in our electricity grid. Australia has abundant sources of energy, and this National Energy Guarantee will ensure that we see investment in a range of electricity generation ideas and that we reduce our emissions at the same time.

Labor's reckless plan to reduce emissions way beyond our international obligations not only will drive up electricity bills but also will threaten jobs, threaten household budgets and threaten future economic growth. The choice is clear: Labor will deliver higher electricity bills; the coalition will deliver affordable and reliable electricity.

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