Scott Morrison says partisan politics has driven up power prices

Treasurer appears to have moved on from position which saw him brandish a lump of coal in parliament last February

Treasurer Scott Morrison has flagged further support from the Turnbull frontbench for bipartisan energy policy, acknowledging that politics as usual has driven up power prices, and calling for both parties to “meet in the middle”.

The remarks, reported in Rockhampton’s Morning Bulletin, follow a speech Morrison delivered in Adelaide last week where he admitted building new coal power plants would not bring down power prices.

The statements appear to mark a shift from Morrison’s previous interjections in the energy policy debate, which included him brandishing a piece of coal in question time.

“Australians want their political parties to meet in the middle and deliver certainty on energy policy, because only through certainty will there be downward pressure on energy prices,” Morrison is quoted saying in the regional Queensland paper.

“This requires sacrifice from both sides, putting aside ideological positions to strike a deal that delivers genuine results for Australians struggling to pay their power bill.”

Mark Butler, opposition spokesman for climate change and energy, said Labor agreed with the treasurer and was “ready to sacrifice” its emissions intensity scheme to negotiate a clean energy target (CET).

However, a statement from Butler said: ”But, while it’s been two months since the chief scientist Alan Finkel handed his CET recommendation to the Turnbull government, all we have seen is government infighting while electricity prices just keep going up and up.

“Labor has made it clear we are ready to negotiate a clean energy target as recommended by the Finkel Review, to end the policy chaos and deliver investment certainty and lower prices to Australian energy customers,” he said.

The comments closely mirror Morrison’s Adelaide speech last week to the Australian Industry Group. “Australians are sick and tired of watching political parties fight over the right energy solution. Politics as usual means business as usual which means power bills continuing to surge to outrageous levels,” he said.

In the same speech, he also said building new coal power stations – those marketed by the industry as “high efficiency low emissions (HELE)” – would not bring down energy prices “anytime soon”.

“By all means let’s welcome investment in a new lower emissions coal-fired power station or HELE plant as they are known and are building in places like Japan. But let’s also be real about it,” Morrison said.

“These new HELE plants would produce energy at an estimated two and a half times the cost of our existing coal fired power stations. They would also take up to around seven years to set up. While welcome, where the economics and engineering stack up, we shouldn’t kid ourselves a new HELE plant would bring down electricity prices anytime soon.”

Morrison also appeared to hint at support for Finkel’s CET, noting that since building new coal wasn’t going to help with prices, the existing plants needed to be kept operating for longer.

“When it comes to coal, the best thing we can do is simply ensure the power stations we currently have, Liddell, Bayswater etc, stay open, remain economic and work longer into the future. We need to sweat these existing coal fired assets for longer,” Morrison said.

The Finkel review’s modelling of its proposed CET suggests it will not help any new coal power stations get built, but it will help existing coal power stations stay open for longer than competing carbon reduction mechanisms or business as usual.

“And as outlined in the Finkel report – which now has the support of the states – you must have a comprehensive pricing approach for renewables which reflects the fact that you also want stability,” he said.

The remarks also highlight the existing divide between most of the Turnbull frontbench, which appears to support the CET, and the Coalition partyroom, which is pushing support for coal power stations.

When the Finkel review was handed to government, minister for the environment and energy Josh Frydenberg gave a lengthy presentation to the joint Coalition party room, highlighting the benefits a Clean Energy Target would provide for coal.

But the Coalition’s backbench energy and environment committee has called forsupplemental measures, originally proposed by the coal lobby, that could directly support the building of new coal power stations.