Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Hansard source

It's funny that you mention the Australian Energy Council. The CEO of that organisation said just last week, 'We are now on a trajectory for a highly renewable system supported by gas, battery storage and pumped hydro, and that is generally going to deliver the lowest cost outcome.' She then went on to say, 'Keeping coal open for longer is likely to increase costs rather than decrease costs.' She then went on to say: 'We can't keep coal in the system forever. There are some coal plants that can run for a longer time and are a bit more reliable, but there is a large proportion that do need to exit by 2035, and we can't delay that.' I just wonder how hard you must have had to search through what energy experts say to find something that comes even remotely close to backing your silly argument.