Senior Liberal figures have labelled the Morrison government’s stance on climate change as "mad" and "morally irresponsible" as the party’s moderate wing reels at the ultra-conservative takeover of Australia’s energy policy.
In his first speech as Energy Minister in Melbourne on Thursday, Angus Taylor reiterated the Morrison government’s intention to curb electricity prices, but made no mention of reducing greenhouse gas emissions created by burning fossil fuels for energy.
Energy Minister Angus Taylor says he is not "skeptical about climate science ... but I am and have been for many years deeply skeptical of the economics of so many of the emissions reduction programs dreamed up by politicians.
“There will be no ideology in what I do ... my goal, the goal of my department and the goal of the electricity sector must be simple and unambiguous - get prices down while keeping the lights on,” he said.
Mr Taylor did not take questions after the speech at the Council of Small Business of Australia summit in Melbourne, reportedly avoiding waiting media by retreating to a meeting room then leaving via a back door.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday confirmed that responsibilities for meeting Australia’s emissions reduction targets under the Paris treaty will now fall to new Environment Minister Melissa Price.
The Coalition’s plans to legislate emissions reduction as part of its energy plan were shelved in the final days of Malcolm Turnbull’s prime ministership following a backlash from conservative backbenchers who threatened to cross the floor.
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| Liberal Party moderates have expressed concern at the direction of energy policy under new minister Angus Taylor. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen |
A senior NSW government source said the federal Coalition’s avoidance of emissions reduction was “just putting off the inevitable”.
“[They] are going to have to deal with it because that’s what the Australian public wants. Kicking it down the road is unhelpful,” the source said.
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| Liberal Party veteran Oliver Yates described the government's energy policy position as "economically irrational". Photo: Paul Jones |
A senior NSW Liberal MP said any politician who acknowledged the science of climate change was “morally obliged to do something about it”.
Government MPs who denied the science were "stupid" while those who believed the science but didn't act "have a moral failing", the source said.
The MP described as “not promising” the appointment of Mr Taylor and Ms Price, who has worked as a lawyer for the mining industry.
Oliver Yates, a Victorian Liberal Party veteran and former head of the federal government's Clean Energy Finance Corporation, said divorcing electricity from emissions reduction was “economically irrational” and "mad".
It was also “a question of morality”, he said.
“If [we] can, without a lot of cost, avoid damaging the environment or avoid inflicting damage on other individuals, do I have a moral responsibility to do that? The answer is yes,” he said.
“I don’t understand how a leader could set in process motions that knowingly create long-term environmental damage and ... irreparably damage other human beings .”
Former Liberal leader John Hewson said the government had “no overarching emissions reduction strategy at all. It’s a big failing”.
“If you don’t start working on it and instead kick it down the road to your children and grandchildren, that’s morally irresponsible,” he said.
Alex Turnbull, son of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and a Singapore-based fund manager, told Fairfax Media there was “no conflict between cutting emissions and reducing prices” given the cheap cost of renewables.
“This change in tack [by the Morrison government] has other motivations and drivers and they are not consumer welfare,” he said, describing the position as “lunacy”.
However conservative Liberal backbencher Eric Abetz, a key critic of energy policy under Malcolm Turnbull, on Thursday threw his full support behind Mr Taylor, describing his speech as “a game-changer”.
“He has announced clearly and plainly that the federal government will prioritise price and reliability above all else – this is an enormous and positive step forward” he said.
Links
- Issue Has Proved Too Big For Run Of Australian Leaders
- Angus Taylor Signals Further Taxpayer Investment In Existing Coal And Gas
- Climate Change Making Drought Worse, Farmers' Federation Chief Says
- Climate Change Brought Down Another Prime Minister In Australia. Here’s What Happened.
- The Global Rightward Shift On Climate Change
- 'No Real Appetite': Former Farmers Chief Lashes Ministers Over Climate Link To Drought
- A “Middle Finger” To Climate And Renewables: Morrison Draws Fire – And Dismay
- At Last, Maybe A Real Choice On Climate Change
- 'He Will Fail Farmers': Morrison Pressured To Tackle Climate Change As Part Of Drought Pledge
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