The Minister of Energy, Chris Bowen, and the spokesman for the energy of the coalition, Ted O’Brien, have been square on which the important party will reduce energy invoices for Australians with difficulties.
Both parliamentarians acknowledged that the May 3 elections were a “bifurcation on the road” for Australia’s energy transition at the beginning of the first electoral energy debate on Thursday afternoon at the National Press Club.
Bowen began his launch highlighting the “good progress” of work, with renewable energies that increase from 33 to 46 percent of the energy network in the last three years, but said there are “more to do.”
He labeled the “risky” coalition plan, saying that it would be “terrible for emissions, bad for prices, diabolics for reliability.”
O’Brien’s opening comments were interrupted by a climate activist who intervened with demands to “stop new coal and gas projects.”
A protester momentarily interrupted the energy debate on Thursday afternoon. Fountain: AAP / Dean Lewins
After the interruption, O’Brien asked voters to consider whether they felt better in the middle of very high energy bill under the “radical” work plan of work.
He averaged that the “balanced energy mixture” of the coalition would deliver a “strong” and “fiercely independent” market, warning about Australia’s future dependence on “foreign supply chains.”
The debate had everything from Chinese menu analogies to nuclear energy plans, everything that leads to the key question: what part will it depend on energy invoices?
This is what you missed.
Who will drive for energy invoices?
With many homes feeling the load of the increase in energy prices, both leaders were asked to declare how many cheaper invoices would be under their plans.
Bowen refused to cite a direct figure, possibly having learned from the commitment of labor 2022 to reduce prices by $ 275, that the coalition has repeatedly attacked as a broken promise.
“The promise I give is that energy prices will be cheaper under us than under Mr. O’Brien,” he said.
“Look, anyone who predicts energy prices in this very complicated geopolitical environment, I think, he’s doing a clearance. So I’m not going to do that.”
O’Brien took this as an opportunity to attack Bowen to make decisions “based on the intestine.”
He said that under the modeling of the border economy, the nuclear plan of the coalition would result in the domestic gas invoices falling by 7 percent and industrial gas invoices by 15 percent by 2025-26.
But host Tom Connell stressed that the modeling was during the first year, and O’Brien could not provide figures for later years.
Instead of answering the question, O’Brien challenged Bowen to apologize for the growing invoices.
“I hope Chris [Bowen] Take the opportunity today just to look down the camera canyon and say, Australians, I was wrong, “he said.
Modeling compared to Chinese restaurant menus
Both parties repeatedly attacked the modeling and costs of the other.
Bowen said: “I have seen more details in a Chinese menu”, saying that the modeling of the border economy that supports the coalition plan lacked details.
Then, the reference continued, with O’Brien saying that the work plan “would not fit into a Chinese fortune cookie.”
“In any case, it is probably where I would belong because it opens it and everything that would be, it would be a slogan. Without numbers, without plan, without modeling,” he said.
The comment led Bowen to get a thick battery of expert reports that said the government uses for planning, comparing it with the thin economy report of the border of the coalition.
Climate change and energy Chris Bowen and coalition energy spokesman, Ted O’Brien, presented their energy vision as the best way to reduce invoices. Fountain: AAP / Dean Lewis
“We base our plan on experts,” Bowen said.
“The work of the Australian Energy Market operator, the work of CSIRO, Australian Energy Market Corporation, the difference between Ted and I [is] I listen to them [and] Ted ignores them. “
Another discussion point was the cost of the nuclear proposal of the coalition.
Frontier Economics estimates that the coalition plan to convert seven electric coal power plants at the end of life in nuclear reactors will cost $ 331 billion.
The analysis of the Smart Energy Council estimates that the price will be between $ 116 and $ 600 billion, using data from the latest CSIRO GENCOST report. The $ 600 billion figure is often mentioned by labor parliamentarians.
Will Australia remain in the Paris agreement?
O’Brien promised that the coalition would carry out a complete analysis of Australia’s trajectory towards the emission objectives if they win the government.
When he was interrogated if the coalition would withdraw Australia from the Paris Agreement if the analysis showed that the country was not on its way to its 43 percent reduction target, O’Brien refused to compromise in any way.
“Once we have done that analysis, [we] It will make decisions on the line you propose, “he said.
“I can commit that we will always act in national interest, and we will be in charge of the Australian people.”
Bowen described the “disappointing” response.
“I am disappointed to listen to Ted’s response because, in effect, he could not confirm that he stayed in Paris or left because [if you] Change the 43 percent objective, it leaves Paris. “
Shot, O’Brien replied: “You are happy that anyone breaks along the way to achieve that.”
The coalition reveals the future of the nuclear plan after the 2015 elections
O’Brien was asked if the coalition would see a loss in the next elections as a rejection of its nuclear plan by the Australian people and “would end their nuclear defense” as a result.
The liberal parliamentarian rejected the “hypothetical wild”, saying that it was in the national interest of Australia pursue nuclear energy.
“I do not want to tempt the suggestion that we should delay the action here; Australia is already behind the eight ball when it comes to zero nuclear energy emissions.
“The sooner we go, the better … nuclear will have a good decade before it leaves online … so we cannot delay. We have to move on.”
O’Brien said even if he took another three years, “we have no intention of changing our opinion on that.”
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