Topics: Our plan for affordable energy and lower emissions, Liberal Party

 

E&OE…

TRUDY MCINTOSH:

Shadow Defence Minister Angus Taylor, thanks for your time.

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Good to be with you.

TRUDY MCINTOSH:

A big shift from when you were the Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister in 2021. At the time when you signed up to this alongside Scott Morrison, you said it's a plan that will not put industries, regions or jobs at risk. So, what's changed?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, the thing is that we're going back to technology not taxes, which was the centrepiece of that policy. We said today that our focus is on deploying technology, choice, voluntary markets, not Labor's sneaky carbon taxes, their heavy handed mandates, their vehicle emission standards, capacity investment schemes - all of which is driving up the price of electricity, of vehicles, of everything we buy Trudy, and so we're going back to where we were in terms of those principles, and that's incredibly important because Labor has failed over the last three years. Prices have gone up around 40% for energy, and even worse, or as bad as that, we've seen no emissions reduction despite those increases in prices, they've completely failed. So, we've got to hit the reset and the reset is to go back to what we know works, and worked when I was Minister, which is to use Liberal principles, choice, technology, voluntary markets, to achieve the outcomes we know are achievable.

TRUDY MCINTOSH:

But I suppose that's my point. In 2021 standing there with Liberal principles, you believed you could reach net zero by 2050, so if you put Labor to one side, if there was a Liberal government, why couldn't you do that now reach net zero?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, we made a point that there was actually still significant obstacles to getting there in terms of technologies, but a lot has changed since then. Labor's policies have failed. We've seen no reduction in emissions, and it's clear the heavy handed, big government approach that's been taken to climate policy, not just in Australia but around the world, is not working. It's driving up the price of energy. It's not getting emissions reductions that are needed and we know from history, you get the emissions reductions when the clean energy technologies become commercial and are adopted by people who are choosing those technologies when they want them and most importantly, that means you don't get the increases in costs. Labor’s been selling Australians a pup. They've been saying to people that they can get emissions reductions without increases in costs, doing it their way. They've failed. They've absolutely failed. So, it's time for the reset, and that's exactly what we've announced today.

TRUDY MCINTOSH:

Do you see a role for propping up coal for longer? Will that actually drive down prices?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, as I said when I was Minister, you should, you should only close down a coal fired power station when there's a replacement, which is like for like, and we made sure we did that.

TRUDY MCINTOSH:

Even though it’s more expensive as these plants get older, isn't that more expensive to keep them open?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, you know, an old plant, it doesn't have to be replaced, can be very economically effective and making sure that you don't close something down before there's a replacement is incredibly important. We saw with Hazelwood, you remember a number of years ago, it was shut before there was a replacement, and the result of that was prices spiked immediately. It had a very big impact, particularly in Victoria, you cannot afford to allow that to happen. This is the sort of thing that Labor just simply hasn't got right, and it's why Labor has not achieved what it promised. It promised affordability, it promised lower energy prices. It's going exactly the opposite way and meanwhile, emissions haven't gone down. They haven't gone down in any discernible way.

TRUDY MCINTOSH:

And what about would you see reaching net zero as a welcome outcome at some point, if that would be possible?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

You know, we should reduce emissions as far and as fast as technology, choice and voluntary markets can achieve. That is the approach. Well as far as they can. I mean, we know there's big challenges in getting, eliminating all emissions. We've got to work out how to stop cattle from burping, I mean that's pretty difficult Trudy, and we knew that back in 2021. I made that point many times over, back in 2021, so we've got to be realistic about this. But what we do need to do is make sure, first and foremost, we deliver Australians affordable energy and affordability more generally and alongside that responsible emissions reduction, the way Liberals think about it, which is through deployment of technology, making sure that people have the technologies available they can choose and we know that that has worked in the past and can work again in the future.

TRUDY MCINTOSH:

And what do you say to some Liberals who were speaking out ahead of this meeting? Keith Wolahan, who lost the seat of Menzies, Gisele Kapterian, who didn't win the seat of Bradfield, they say, like it or not, net zero is a proxy for climate action in the cities, that to dump it was going to make their job harder. How do they now sell this to voters?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

You know, the ideology around those climate policies that Labor has been pursuing is big government, it's heavy handed, there's lots of regulations, telling people what kind of car to drive. It's deciding what kind of electricity is the right type of electricity, and all of that has failed. We need to get back to core Liberal principles of technology and choice and voluntary markets. We know it could work. In my time as Minister, we saw a 10% reduction in emissions – we haven't seen reductions under Chris Bowen over a similar time period – and a 10% reduction in prices. This can be achieved if we use Liberal principles.

TRUDY MCINTOSH:

Is that saleable in the cities?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, you know what is saleable is getting the outcomes, Labor hasn't got the outcomes. We did achieve those outcomes, and we need to get back to those principles that achieve those outcomes.

TRUDY MCINTOSH:

We saw these striking pictures yesterday walking into the party room. You and Andrew Hastie, side by side, Sarah Henderson, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price in front. Was that a calculated move, a strike at Sussan Ley's leadership?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

No, it was a calculated move to stand up for affordability of energy for hard working Australians, and that's what we all stood up for in the party room, and I know that's what Liberals believe in across the board. So that was the focus, and that will continue to be the focus, and we can achieve that at the same time as we achieve responsible emission reductions. We can achieve that because the Liberal approach to this is the right one. It's worked in the past, and it can work again in the future.

TRUDY MCINTOSH:

You've been around this building a long time, though, when we look at these corridor shots, they're often read into the tea leaves about who supports who. We know you ran against Sussan Ley and only just narrowly lost. How can we not view that the big block from the right altogether as a sign that you didn't have confidence necessarily in Sussan Ley?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

You know you can take it as a sign that there's a very strong group in the party that is standing up for hard working Australians who want affordability in their lives, affordable energy and affordable everything else, we will keep fighting for them. We know they also want to see responsible emissions reduction. We can achieve both if we take the right approach to it, but we can't under Labor's plan. You know, they have already told us that they're on their way to a $300 carbon price. Now they're doing that in all sorts of sneaky ways, Vehicle Emission Standards, the Capacity Investment Scheme, Safeguard Mechanism. They give them all different names these days to try and hide it, but what it all means is it's going to drive up the cost of living for hard working Australians. It's not delivering the emission reductions that were promised, and the result of that is Labor’s policies have failed. We need a reset.

TRUDY MCINTOSH:

I noted with interest earlier in the week, you were asked to give an iron clad guarantee. No move on Sussan Ley's leadership before Christmas, you said, it's not something we're planning. Well, any plans for next year?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

No move. You asked me this question before I think, and I'll give you the same answer. There are no plans and there will not be a move that you’re talking about.

TRUDY MCINTOSH:

Next year?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

That is not something that I am either planning or intend to do, so I don't know how much clearer I can be. I know I've got to say this five times a day to satisfy you.

TRUDY MCINTOSH:

Sussan Ley would probably like you to say that.

ANGUS TAYLOR:

I have just told you exactly that.

TRUDY MCINTOSH:

Final one, net zero has been dumped. Would you like to see Andrew Hastie now welcomed back into the Shadow Cabinet fold.

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, I mean, that's a question for him, and the leader, of course because both of them would have to make the decision to want to do that.

TRUDY MCINTOSH:

Is that irreparable between the two of them?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Look that’s a matter for them, I'm not going to…

TRUDY MCINTOSH:

Would you welcome him back if he's got a good contribution to make?

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Well, of course, I mean, I welcome his contribution every day. I welcomed his contribution in the party room this week, and it's always constructive and he, like me, is absolutely focused on affordable energy for hard working Australians, and focusing on the abject failure of this government, their pathway to a $300 carbon tax and what that will mean for this country and the standard of living of every Australian. It’s just completely unacceptable to us, and that's why we put forward a very clear alternative.

TRUDY MCINTOSH:

Shadow Defence Minister Angus Taylor. Appreciate it. Thanks for your time.

ANGUS TAYLOR:

Good to be with you.

ENDS.