Coalition plans to strip climate from energy operator's objectives

The Coalition would reduce emissions "year on year" considering the "real performance" of other developed countries and strip climate from the objectives of the nation's energy operator under a plan negotiated between the Liberals and Nationals. A joint partyroom submission obtained by the ABC reveals the Coalition has settled on a range of policy positions, including ditching net zero and stripping Labor's 2030 target of 43 per cent emissions reduction from legislation. The leaked document is being presented to a full joint partyroom meeting of National and Liberal members, taking place virtually on Sunday afternoon for final sign-off, but no further major changes are expected. Under the plan the Coalition would reduce emissions "on average year on year, for every five-year period of Australia's Nationally Determined Contribution". This would be done "in Australia's national interest by doing our fair share considering the real performance of OECD countries". Emissions reduction would also occur "as fast and as far as technology allows, without imposing mandated costs on families or industry". The Coalition position would not set long-term targets to reduce emissions, but net zero "would be a welcome outcome, if achieved through technology, choice and voluntary markets". If elected in 2028, a Coalition federal government would also move an amendment at the first meeting of the national cabinet with states and territories to strip emissions reduction as a national electricity objective for the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO). Instead the Coalition wants to "ensure that the focus of our energy market is in the long-term interests of consumers with respect to price, quality, safety, reliability and security of supply". According to the policy submission, this would mean AEMO "plans the design of the electricity grid around delivering a least-cost energy system for consumers, not a system designed to meet political targets". The Coalition will "scrap punitive mandates" under the Safeguard Mechanism, oppose any Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms, scrap penalties under the New Vehicles Emission Standard and ditch Labor's fringe tax benefit exemption policy for electric vehicles. The party would also establish a "technology-neutral" affordable energy scheme over the "near term" that would support both new and existing power generation, including gas, hydro, batteries, coal and renewables "in the right place". There would be "modest, targeted underwriting to keep prices down and ensure investment happens when and where it is needed". The document also pledges to bring on new energy supply faster by "giving investors certainty across all technologies". The Coalition also wants to prevent "early closure" of "reliable generation" until replacement capacity is "ready". The document said the scheme "fixed market failures without central planning" by "crowding in private capital, stabilising the system and putting consumers at the centre of every decision". Under the plan, "no technologies will be treated in a disadvantageous way". Legislation would be amended The policy submission explains the Coalition would amend the Climate Change Act 2022 to "enshrine" the new scheme and also establish a code of conduct for electricity infrastructure developers that would require a "social licence" and "protects prime agricultural land and native habitats". The Coalition would also maintain its pledge to scrap four of the six offshore wind zones — Hunter, Illawarra, Southern Ocean off Victoria and Indian Ocean off Bunbury — announced by Labor. All contracts under the Capacity Investment Scheme and Rewiring the Nation that have not reached a final investment decision would be reviewed. The Coalition would support new gas supply by streamlining regulations and committing to an annual "offshore acreage release". An east coast gas reservation scheme would also be established, provided it ensured supply for domestic consumers, protected international contracts and put "downward pressure on prices". The Coalition would also seek to ensure "no premature closure of coal plants" by removing the prohibition on nuclear energy technology and adding uranium to the critical minerals list. If elected, there would be a voluntary market under the Accountability and Baseline Credits Scheme that would require major emitters to transparently report emissions, though without Labor's forced decline rates or "punitive" costs. Emissions reduction would be rewarded by allowing facilities to earn, bank and trade credits when they cut below their baseline. The Coalition would also seek to re-establish "veto powers" held by the agriculture minister that could prevent native forest vegetation projects from going ahead if they had an "adverse impact" on agricultural production and regional communities.