Subjects: Labor’s energy policy shambles; Labor’s cost of living crisis; the Prime Minister’s lack of leadership; the Teals’ true Labor-Green identity; nuclear power.
E&OE
PETER DUTTON:
Thank you very much for being here today. Just a couple of points to make and then I’m very happy to take any questions.
Look, it’s clear that out of all the Prime Minister’s remarks over the last couple of days, he’s never mentioned electricity prices, he’s never mentioned the cost of living crisis that he’s created in this country. The Prime Minister says he wants the next election to be on energy, well, of course it will be because that’s an integral part of the economy and it will be on the economy that the next election is fought, because families at the moment know that after three budgets, this Government has made it much harder for them, not easier.
We know that with the energy policy – which is a complete trainwreck – the renewables only energy policy of the Government, it’s driving prices up. At the next election, it will be about who do you trust to bring your electricity prices down? It will be about who do you trust to manage the economy and to deal with the cost of living crisis that Labor’s created? It will be about who do you trust to deal with the housing crisis that Labor has created in our country? We will have that discussion with the Australian people all the way up until the polls close at the time of the next election.
I want to be a Prime Minister who works hard day and night to bring electricity prices down, because I know that families can’t afford the reckless increases that we see under the Labor Party. Mr Albanese and Mr Bowen are out there telling people that you’ll get a $275 cut to your electricity. It’s never eventuated. Of course it won’t. He’s out there saying that your electricity prices will come down because wind and solar is free. Well, whose electricity price has dropped under this Government? There’s frankly no Australian who’s better off today than they were two years ago when Mr Albanese was first elected.
So, I think there is a big debate for our country to have. We’ll make sure that we meet our international obligations, make sure that we do the right thing in relation to our economy, but the only Party with a credible policy on net zero by 2050, is the Coalition. Let’s be very clear about that.
I’m not going to destroy the economy and send families bankrupt in the process of de-carbonising our economy, whereas the Labor Party has the Australian people on that path. They’re killing manufacturing – we know that over the last two years manufacturing insolvencies are up threefold – and we know that there are many families at the moment who are doing it tough, and yet Anthony Albanese, in his trainwreck press conference yesterday, just couldn’t even utter the words ‘electricity costs’ or ‘electricity bills’ or ‘cost of living crisis’ that Labor’s created.
I’m very happy to take any questions.
QUESTION:
Opposition Leader, will you adopt a lower climate target for 2030 than Labor?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, as we’ve said, Labor has no chance of meeting their target by 2030. We now know that the Labor Party is talking about a 60 to 65 per cent reduction in February of next year. Now, I suspect the Prime Minister will want to go to an election before that, because he won’t want people to do the math – and what the math means is that electricity prices under Labor will go through the roof – that’s what Mr Albanese is promising at the next election.
There is only one Party with a credible pathway to net zero by 2050, and it’s the Coalition. This Government has increased the price of cars under their proposal by about $10,000 to try and meet their 43 per cent; but as most experts tell us now, the Government is not going to meet their commitment.
I’m going to have a responsible approach, but I’m not going to adopt an approach that sees power prices skyrocketing like they will under Labor. We know with the energy regulator, they are warning that there can be blackouts under the Labor Party’s renewables only policy.
QUESTION:
Does that mean you’ll have a lower target than Labor?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, it means that we’re committed to net zero by 2050 and that we need to make sure that we don’t harm Australian families and businesses in the interim. At the moment, that’s what Labor is doing. In terms of the targets otherwise, we’ll make those decisions when we’re in government.
QUESTION:
Can you please clarify, will you have a target of 2030? Will you announce that before the election or is it going to come afterwards?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, a couple of points. I mean, firstly, the economy is deteriorating. I think we should be very conscious of this. There are many analysts that are worried about this quarter. We’ve got anaemic growth in the economy at the moment because after three Labor budgets, the economy is in all sorts of strife. Families know it in their own budgets. They know it when they go to the checkout, they know when they go to the bowser, they know when they’re paying their insurance, or their premiums on private health insurance and other items within their household budget.
So, we are not going to do things that hurt Australians. The Labor Party can try and please people in Paris. My job is to take care of the Australian people, and that’s exactly what I would do as Prime Minister. We’ll look at the prevailing economic conditions after the next election, and we’ll make announcements in due course.
QUESTION:
Chris Bowen today said it would be ‘incompetence’ or ‘dishonest’ not to go to the election with a 2030 target. So you’re saying today you will not have it, this side of the election?
PETER DUTTON:
I can tell you what I say about Chris Bowen; I mean he’s the guy who was the worst Immigration Minister since Federation – people drowned at sea, he put kids into detention – he was the architect of FuelWatch and GroceryWatch, which were disasters. He told people at the election in 2019 not to vote for the Labor Party if you weren’t happy with them. I hope that he’s able to give the same advice at the upcoming election as well.
He’s presided over an energy policy now which is a train wreck. Let’s be very honest. It is causing harm to Australian businesses and it’s causing harm to Australian families. That is not the path that we’re going to be taking. So, will I take advice from Chris Bowen and an increasingly rattled and weak Prime Minister? No I won’t.
QUESTION:
What’s achievable by 2030?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, we’ll make our announcements in relation to our targets in due course, but I think it’s very clear that we have absolute commitment to Paris and our commitment for net zero by 2050. It’s important. It doesn’t need to be linear, as we’ve pointed out. We’re not going to send the economy into freefall and families bankrupt through an ideologically based approach, which is what Anthony Albanese is doing at the moment. Why? Because he’s trying to court votes from the Greens. Let’s look at what they’re doing in relation to the issue around anti-Semitism in our country as well.
The Prime Minister talks a big game in Canberra, but the reality is that he’s going to take preferences from the Greens at the next election. If he gets into a position after the election to form minority Government, he’ll do it with Adam Bandt. So, the man’s word counts for nothing. But what I do know is that there are families hurting at the moment. When Anthony Albanese promised that he’d reduce power prices by $275, he just hasn’t. When he says that wind and solar is free, it’s not. And Australian families, I think, have had a gut full of broken promises from this Government, and a Government that, frankly, rolls from one disaster to the next.
QUESTION:
In 2022, you did say that you would have a higher 2030 year target than the Morrison Government’s 26 to 28 per cent reduction. If you are a person of your word, are you still sticking to the view that you will have a 2030 target above that 26 to 28 per cent reduction?
PETER DUTTON:
We’ll make our announcement in due course.
QUESTION:
Ted O’Brien told ABC Radio National yesterday that you do have a new 2030 target, but didn’t give any more detail. Is that an announcement…
PETER DUTTON:
Who was that, sorry?
QUESTION:
Ted O’Brien. Is that an announcement that you’re hoping to make?
PETER DUTTON:
Look, in terms of announcements, we’ll make them in due course. But I’ve been very clear about the fact that we are wedded to net zero by 2050. We are not going to crash the economy as Labor’s proposing to do, we’re not going to make it harder for families, as Labor is in the process of doing. This is a Government that’s two years old. Frankly, it looks 22 years old. I think there is a lot of pain in the economy at the moment that the Prime Minister won’t even acknowledge.
If he believes that families can continue to pay through the roof prices for electricity, I think he’s got it dead wrong. If he believes that families are going to pay another $10,000 for a car, just so that Mr Albanese can rub shoulders with leaders in Paris, I think he’s got it dead wrong. I think the Prime Minister has demonstrated to the public time and again that he can talk big, but he never delivers – and apart from the Voice, what agenda does this Government have?
The budget sank like a stone because there was nothing in there that was going to help families. They’ll trumpet the fact that they’ve got assistance coming, but as we know, with the renewables only the energy policy, it’s not just your household prices that go up in your electricity bill. So you’re paying almost 30 per cent more for electricity under this Government, but it’s not just your household. It’s the people next door, it’s the local butcher, it’s the farmer, it’s the manufacturer, and all of that bleeds into higher prices when you go to the supermarket. So, unless you can get the energy policy right, then inflation will remain high under Labor. That means interest rates stay higher for longer, and it means that families will continue to struggle.
So, I think we should be very clear about what is ahead. It’s going to be a difficult six months, and families already, particularly with their mortgage payments, are feeling that under this Prime Minister of the moment. So when he says that the election will be about the economy, or energy, he’s right. Let’s have that debate at the appropriate time, but at the moment, I think the Prime Minister needs to concentrate a little bit more on the reality of families who under his Government, are really suffering at the moment.
QUESTION:
Sophie Scamps says your decision shows ‘you’ve abandoned inner city seats’, have you?
PETER DUTTON:
No. Somebody like, frankly, some of the teals, Monique Ryan and Sophie Scamps, they will vote with Labor because they’re Greens, they’re not teals. Let’s be very honest about it. They are more inclined to support Labor on every occasion – and that’s their voting record in the Parliament.
So, do I think that they’re in touch with average families who are struggling to pay their power bills at the moment? No, I don’t. I think Monique Ryan is in a very rarefied air, that’s quite distant from the people of Kooyong, and I don’t think that she’s got, frankly, a handle on the reality of what families are going through at the moment. I’d put Anthony Albanese in the same category.
This Prime Minister is weak and indecisive. He can’t make the tough decisions that are required to help families and to help our economy. At the moment, the three budgets that they’ve delivered have all contributed to the situation that we find ourselves in, with anaemic growth in the economy and the prospect of recession, or at least a negative quarter over the quarter that we’re in at the moment.
QUESTION:
Targets aside, will the Australian public see your broader energy policy by the end of the month?
PETER DUTTON:
We’ll make announcements in relation to our energy policy when we see fit to do so. I’m not taking again advice from, with all due respect, I’m not taking advice from Chris Bowen on when we should announce our policy.
I mean when is Chris Bowen going to release his policy that will guarantee Australians get a $275 reduction in their electricity price? Because that’s what the Prime Minister promised on 97 occasions before the last election. He’s never mentioned it since, I might say, and it shows that he was just never genuine or serious about it.
So, in relation to nuclear energy, I think it’s important to look at the facts. As Bill Gates says, you want to have the minimal impact on the environment with the maximum yield for every square metre of impact. So, if you look at a 470 megawatt no emissions reactor – so the Rolls-Royce model – it takes up a land size of about two hectares or five acres. The equivalent in a solar array takes up 4,000 hectares or 10,000 acres. The waste off the small modular reactor is about a Coke can size per year, and it can deliver cheaper prices because it’s got an 80 year or so life. That’s the reality.
So, if you want to have a vision for your country, you need to make sure that you can keep the lights on, and you need to make sure that electricity is affordable. What we know under this Prime Minister is that the independent energy regulator is warning that there will be blackouts and brownouts, and every Australian family knows that they’re going to pay more and more for their electricity under this Prime Minister.
QUESTION:
To be clear, you said that you’re committed to the Paris Accord, but if there’s any backsliding, that would be in breach of the 2050 agreement?
PETER DUTTON:
Look, I’ve heard this argument. I mean what about the United States? Are they in breach? Because they’re not going to reach their targets either. This Government is not going to reach its target either. So again, Chris Bowen’s interpretation, just blindly accepted by some journalists, it’s a nonsense.
Always look at what Labor does, not what they say. They have presided over a mess because they have this ideological bent toward renewables only. People know, I mean people have cottoned on. Australians aren’t stupid. They know that the wind and solar – fantastic – I’m a strong supporter of renewables, and I want a firm renewables up because we’ve got 90 per cent of baseload power going out of the system by 2034, which is why I say more gas, significantly more gas, is required into the system. This Government is extending the life of coal fired power stations at the moment. Is that in breach of their Paris commitment? It’s going to see them get further away from their target.
So again, you look at what they actually do, not what they say that they’ll do. Their train wreck of a policy is being felt by every Australian at the moment because people’s power prices keep going up, and now we know under this Prime Minister that there’s a likelihood of blackouts and brownouts.
Thank you very much.
[ends]