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A Coalition pledge to repeal Australia's climate laws has drawn condemnation from industry and a former Liberal Prime Minister.
In 2023, Dan Tehan, the Liberal member for Wannon, stood alongside Climate Change and Energy Minister, Chris Bowen, to welcome a new Southern Ocean offshore wind zone in his Victorian electorate, praising its job potential and large-scale turbines.
But in a major policy shift on 23 September 2026, Tehan —now serving as the Shadow Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction— said a Coalition Government would revoke the zone.[1]
This policy reversal forms part of a broader eight-point strategy titled "Scrap Net Zero (Cheaper Energy)".
Under this plan, Tehan and the Coalition leadership have pledged to introduce a dismantling bill within 30 days of winning government.
This investigation examines what the plan would repeal, who carries the risk, and what the evidence shows.[1][7]
The plan would repeal the Climate Change Act 2022, the law that commits Australia to net zero emissions by 2050. It would also scrap the safeguard mechanism, which requires heavy industrial polluters to cut emissions or face penalties.[1][2]
Vehicle rules face the same fate. The New Vehicle Efficiency Standard requires car makers to import more efficient and electric models or face penalties. Tehan says the standard has affected vehicle choice and pricing.[1][2]
Four of six offshore wind zones, the areas declared for developer feasibility studies, would be revoked. The Hunter, Illawarra, Southern Ocean and Bunbury regions would lose their status, leaving Gippsland and Bass Strait. About a dozen projects hold planning licences, though none is under construction.[1]
Tehan argues the zones lack community acceptance, and the Coalition says the offshore wind push has stalled. Bowen has conceded that offshore wind costs are falling more slowly than forecast. A new renewable energy code of conduct would require developers to earn social licence, meaning community acceptance.[1][2]
The Coalition would seek to repeal every legislative prohibition on nuclear energy, which sits in both federal and state law. Any federal change requires Senate approval. Success would depend on Labor or the Greens shifting their positions.[1]
Former leader Peter Dutton once proposed that the federal government fund and part-own nuclear plants. The current plan drops that model, offering only the support available to any other energy source. The earlier proposal proved unpopular ahead of the 2025 federal election.[1][2]
The Capacity Investment Scheme, which underwrites new generation for the energy transition, would open to coal, gas and nuclear. The Coalition says the scheme should stop picking winners. Critics respond that propping up ageing coal plants would raise household bills.[1][2]
The Coalition says nuclear power could supply energy-hungry data centres, and it has urged states to reconsider their bans. The CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, reports that solar and wind remain cheaper than coal after transmission costs.[1]
Minister Bowen said the plan would take a chainsaw to household budgets. He warned that halting renewables and household batteries leaves families paying for global shocks. Coal plants, he said, would be run harder.[1][2]
Treasurer Jim Chalmers called the package a One Nation policy with a Liberal Party sticker on it. He predicted a smaller economy, lower wages, poorer workers and fewer jobs.[3]
Bowen also cited the Coalition's previous decade in office. Under it, 24 of 28 coal-fired power stations announced closures. Four gigawatts of dispatchable energy, meaning supply operators can call on at will, left the grid and four refineries closed.[2]
The Coalition rejects that reading and says energy policy has prioritised targets over affordability. Tehan argues the safeguard mechanism has pushed industrial jobs offshore, while Opposition Leader Angus Taylor says Australia has done its bit. Bowen replies that Taylor's earlier underwriting scheme delivered no new energy.[2][3]
Independent MP Monique Ryan called the plan "dumb, dangerous and desperate", arguing it would make energy more expensive. Australians embraced rooftop solar, electric vehicles and household batteries, she said, because those technologies save money and cut emissions.[1]
Ryan attributed the shift to Liberal efforts to appease the Nationals and woo One Nation voters. She said that course would drag the country backwards. Renew Economy reports that One Nation intends to demand a royal commission into the cost of the energy transition.[1][2]
Acting Greens leader Mehreen Faruqi said the plan would lift household energy and transport costs. Weaker vehicle standards, the Greens argue, prolong reliance on petrol cars during a fuel crisis. She described the policy as written to prop up corporate profits.[3][5]
Faruqi also targeted Labor. Resources Minister Madeleine King marked the opening of the Beetaloo Basin, a gas region in the Northern Territory, with smiles. The Greens also condemn Labor's capitulation to fossil fuel-powered data centres in the Northern Territory and Queensland.[3][5]
Malcolm Turnbull, who led the Liberal Party as Prime Minister, described the plan as "ideology and idiocy". He said it defies economic evidence and will lift electricity prices. His remarks targeted policy written by former colleagues.[6]
Climate Council chief executive Amanda McKenzie said the plan would "let climate change rip". She warned that Australians would face more fires, floods and heatwaves. Propping up ageing coal plants, she added, would add hundreds of dollars to household bills.[2][3]
Farmers for Climate Action, representing more than 8,000 farmers, expressed deep disappointment. Peter Holding, a Harden sheep and crop farmer, said axing pollution policies invites more fires, droughts and insurance costs. The Australian Conservation Foundation said slowing the transition abandons jobs and investment.[2]
The Clean Energy Council called the plan economic nihilism that dismantles investor certainty. Climate Energy Finance director Tim Buckley said the 2028 federal election would test alignment with the Paris Agreement. The record El Niño building in the Pacific may bring drought and severe bushfires this summer.[2][4]
The Coalition plan would dismantle the legislated architecture linking energy policy to emissions. Its authors promise affordability and reliability, though evidence that repeal lowers bills remains unpublished. Tehan has yet to outline the alternative mechanisms.
Accountability questions cross the party divide. Labor faces scrutiny over gas approvals and an offshore wind industry with no project under construction. The Coalition faces scrutiny for reversing measures introduced by its own governments, including the safeguard mechanism.
Voters, farmers and investors will weigh these records before the 2028 federal election. Policy certainty, tested against CSIRO cost evidence and a record El Niño summer, now defines the governance choice.
1. Coalition vows to 'take a chainsaw' to climate laws and offshore wind (ABC News, 23 September 2026). Sets out the eight-point plan, the four offshore wind zones, the nuclear ban and Senate hurdle, and responses from Bowen and Ryan.
2. Coalition panned after vowing to scrap renewable, EV and climate policies (Renew Economy report, republished by Pearls and Irritations, 25 September 2026). Details the Climate Change Act repeal, safeguard mechanism history, Bowen's coal closure figures and reactions from the ACF, Climate Council, Farmers for Climate Action and Climate Energy Finance.
3. Angus Taylor pledges to repeal swathe of climate policies, saying 'Australia has done its bit' (Guardian Australia, 23 September 2026, republished by inkl). Records Taylor's remarks and the responses of Chalmers, Ryan, Faruqi and McKenzie, including the Beetaloo Basin criticism of Labor.
4. Coalition pulls out the chainsaw in energy debate (AAP, The Canberra Times). Reports the Clean Energy Council's response and the plan's implications for renewable investment certainty.
5. Greens Warn Aussies of Costly Fossil Fuel Plans (Australian Greens media release via Mirage News). Presents the Greens' view that both major parties would raise household energy and transport costs.
6. Scrapping the NVES: Coalition goes from 'I don't hold a hose mate' to 'let's pour fuel on the fire' (EV Central opinion). Relays Malcolm Turnbull's criticism of the plan as ideology and idiocy and the Climate Council's response on vehicle standards.
7. Coalition to unveil climate priorities to pass first month after an election (Capital Brief, summarising The Australian). Confirms the proposed Scrap Net Zero (Cheaper Energy) Act and the 30-day legislative commitment.
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