Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Does the current Prime Minister agree with the recently retired former Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, who said today:

There's never been a national energy policy that has had more universal support than the NEG.

Why won't the Prime Minister implement the National Energy Guarantee with his own government's emissions targets?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm asked about comments of the former Prime Minister in relation to the National Energy Guarantee. The Leader of the Opposition may not be aware, but the former Prime Minister has just tweeted:

I have not endorsed "Labor's energy policy". They have … not demonstrated that their 45% emissions reduction target will not push up prices.

That's what the former Prime Minister said, and he is absolutely right. Labor have not and cannot demonstrate that their reckless 45 per cent, 'economy-wrecking'—as the Business Council have said—emissions reduction target of 45 per cent will not increase power prices, because, of course, it will increase power prices. Our target of 26 per cent has been clear for years. It is unchanged. The whole purpose of the design of the original National Energy Guarantee—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition on a point of order.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On direct relevance: I asked the Prime Minister about former Prime Minister Turnbull's comments on the National Energy Guarantee, and then I asked him: why won't the Prime Minister implement the National Energy Guarantee with his own emissions targets? The Prime Minister has studiously avoided all questions dealing with Prime Minister Turnbull's comments on the NEG. It's a very straightforward question on emissions targets.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Glass jaw!

Honourable members interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Did the Leader of the House say sorry? There's a first time for everything, there really is. I have to get that into Hansard. On the point of order: the Leader of the Opposition makes a reasonable point that the question was quite specific, but, as the Prime Minister said in the early part of his answer, it did ask about comments of the former Prime Minister, and he is relating his remarks to comments of the former Prime Minister, but I'm listening very carefully.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm referring to comments that the former Prime Minister was making about the National Energy Guarantee. He has made it very clear that the mechanism would be similar, but the key difference is that a 45 per cent emissions reduction target would push up electricity prices. This is something the Leader of the Labor Party does not want to have a discussion about. We are implementing and meeting our emissions reduction targets through the Renewable Energy Target, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, our energy efficiency measures and the Emissions Reduction Fund. Per capita emissions are now at their lowest level in 28 years, so our government is implementing and meeting our targets. We have smashed Kyoto 1. We are going to smash Kyoto 2. The findings of the recent IPCC report said very clearly that we are meeting our emissions reduction target. We will meet our 2030 target. We will meet this without putting up electricity prices.

Those opposite, the Labor Party, have got a plan, but it is a plan to increase electricity prices for every single household in this country. They've got form. When they were last in government they introduced the carbon tax, and it put up electricity prices—the carbon tax that they promised they wouldn't introduce but introduced anyway, in defiance and in arrogance, driven by ideology. And it hurt every single family. We're not going to do that. We are going to meet our emissions reduction target, and we are going to balance that with sensible energy policies that get electricity prices down. The Australian people have a choice: higher electricity prices under Labor or lower electricity prices under the Liberal and National parties.