Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's apt, isn't it, to be talking about policy leadership on the day that the High Court has ruled that we have to continue with this shambles of a postal survey cooked up by the government?

On energy, much like on marriage equality, the government has had to repair its makeshift solutions so many times that there's really not much left but masking tape and bits of chewing gum.

In this case, it's not just a case of the government making a bad decision; it's actually refused to make any decision at all. Its policy paralysis on energy has had serious effects for business, consumers and our environment. Let's be really clear about this: we are in the middle of an unprecedented investment strike which has been brought about by the government. Earlier this year, the head of the Energy Council, which represents the coal-fired generators and the gas generators, wrote:

We are already experiencing the consequences of energy policy paralysis … The "grid" as we know it is degrading in front of our eyes.

But you don't hear much about that from the coalition, a group ordinarily enthusiastic about championing the views of business, because they are not listening. They are stuck in an ideological dilemma entirely of their own making.

I want to take a moment to consider how we got into this mess in the first place. This is not a technical problem. We know how to reduce electricity prices and we know how to reduce emissions, and we know that those two things are entirely compatible. This is a political problem. It's a political problem because the solution requires the coalition to make a break from the universality of coal-fired generation, a mineral that has long ceased to be an energy source and instead has become a symbol of the culture wars in the coalition party room.

The Liberal Party brawl about energy has been going on for so long that it is hard to remember where it all started, but late last year we were promised a circuit breaker. The Finkel review was supposed to be a way for the Liberal party room to put off having to make a decision about energy policy. They were going to defer it for a while and have an expert come up with what was hopefully a workable compromise. Within days, however, the Minister for the Environment and Energy had already been forced into an embarrassing backdown. On Monday on ABC Radio an EIS was in. The minister said:

We know that there's been a large number of bodies that have recommended an emissions intensity scheme, which is effectively a baseline and credit scheme, we'll look at that …

That is what he was saying on the Monday—'We'll look at it.' On talkback radio on Tuesday it was ruled out. What did he say on the Tuesday, just 24 hours later? He said: 'The Turnbull government is not contemplating such a scheme. We are not advocating for such a scheme. What we are focused on is driving down electricity prices and increasing energy security.' How utterly embarrassing and completely depressing for Australian consumers and Australian energy businesses.

This depressing trend continues. Every time anyone from the government dares question the orthodoxy propagated by the hard Right of the Liberal Party, the hard Right flex their muscles and bring them right back into line. It was inevitable that the same thing would happen to Dr Finkel's proposal. Within hours of the Liberal Party's special meeting on the Finkel report in June, one anonymous but very, very talkative MP had briefed The Australian:

Finkel in its current form is dead.

What we have had ever since is a government in search of an escape and absolutely desperate to avoid making a decision. It has been months since Chief Scientist Alan Finkel delivered his report recommending a clean energy target. The Finkel panel indicated that there was an urgent need for a clear and early decision on a clean energy target. At this stage, I think we'd just settle for a decision.

This isn't a problem caused by partisanship. At the start of this year, industry, consumer and not-for-profit groups put out a rare joint statement on energy. I'm going to read it because all of these groups, not normally allies, said:

The status quo of policy uncertainty, lack of coordination and unreformed markets is increasing costs, undermining investment and worsening reliability risks. This impacts all Australians, including vulnerable low-income households, workers, regional communities and trade-exposed industries.

The finger pointing will not solve our energy challenges. More than a decade of this has made most energy investments impossibly risky. This has pushed prices higher while hindering transformational change of our energy system. The result is enduring dysfunction in the electricity sector.

We need mature, considered debate.

Well, that was in February, and now—in September—nothing has changed.

Labor have been willing all along to compromise in order to find a solution, to work with whoever we can on the other side of the aisle who might be in a position to meaningfully or coherently negotiate. But this is something the Liberal Party has proven to be unwilling and unable to do, time and time again. The problem is that the Liberal Party doesn't need to compromise with us; it needs to reach a compromise with itself. What does the solution look like? It's not coal. You have to wonder how far from the pack you have strayed if you are being slapped down by electricity companies as being too bullish on coal, as the Prime Minister was yesterday. The simple reason AGL, like all the other generation companies, is getting out of coal is that it doesn't make economic sense for them.