MINISTER FRYDENBERG NEEDS TO CARRY CONVICTION

Federal Labor welcomes Energy Minister Frydenberg’s comments to the Australian Clean Energy Summit last night that new coal-fired power is a fantasy given the reality of a “carbon constrained environment.”

But it's one thing for Minister Frydenberg to say this to the renewable energy industry – he now needs to make the point clearly and strongly in the Coalition Party Room.

It is clear even other members of Cabinet don’t agree with the Energy Minister, with Resources Minister Canavan sending strong coal advocate George Christensen MP to Japan, on the coal industry’s purse, to try and persuade Japanese investors to build new coal power stations in Australia.

The unrealistic, uninvestable new coal fantasy of the Coalition Party Room will continue to fester unless Minister Frydenberg can back up his tough talk with action, starting with a National Energy Guarantee (NEG) emissions reduction target that will actually secure investment in the renewable energy sector.

Malcolm Turnbull and Josh Frydenberg’s pathetic emissions reduction target of 2 per cent over the 2020s will smash renewables investment, costing 15,000 jobs in the industry, push up power prices and pollution, and stifle the transition to a clean energy economy.

In comparison, Labor’s 45 per cent emissions reduction target will result in wholesale power prices being 25 per cent cheaper, while driving job-creating investment in renewables and bringing down pollution.

Minister Frydenberg can say the right things to a renewable energy audience, but he and his Government will be judged on their actions, not on their rhetoric.

Only Labor has the policies to combat climate change, lead Australia’s energy transition and deliver 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030.