Coalition signs off on Neg but Tony Abbott continues internal dissent

Extract from The Guardian

National energy guarantee (Neg)

Five government MPs reserve right to cross the floor and ACT warns of political deadlock

Katharine Murphy Political editor

@murpharoo

Tue 14 Aug 2018 14.12 AEST Last modified on Tue 14 Aug 2018 19.58 AEST

Malcolm Turnbull and Josh Frydenberg announce the Coalition’s backing for the national energy guarantee after a party room meeting. Photograph: Mike Bowers for the Guardian

The Coalition party room has signed off on the government’s national energy guarantee, but conservatives remain resistant, with a group of MPs flagging they could cross the floor when the proposal comes to parliament, potentially killing the policy.
After the party room sign-off on Tuesday, state and territory energy ministers allowed the process to keep moving by permitting legislation required to enact the Neg to go out for consultation – but while the proposal inched forward, the ACT warned “political deadlock” loomed.
The emissions reduction components of the scheme were debated by Turnbull government MPs for more than two hours on Tuesday morning, with the former prime minister Tony Abbott continuing to lead an internal rebellion on the proposal – to the irritation of many colleagues.
While the majority of government MPs spoke in favour of the Neg, five MPs reserved their right to cross the floor once the legislation comes to parliament: Tony Abbott, Andrew Hastie, Eric Abetz, Craig Kelly, and the National George Christensen.
Another group expressed concerns: Tony Pasin, Kevin Andrews and the National MP Andrew Gee. The former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce – who, like Abbott, has been campaigning publicly against the Neg – said he would support the policy but has flagged moving an amendment during parliamentary debate.

There was some internal blowback against the dissidents. A couple of marginal seat holders, Ann Sudmalis and Sarah Henderson, were overtly critical of Abbott’s wrecking campaign during Tuesday’s debate, and called on the critics to show unity.
The government will bring the legislation giving effect to the emissions reduction components of the Neg during the current sitting fortnight.
The dissent is small but potentially significant. The group of Coalition rebels is large enough to kill the proposal before it leaves the House of Representatives if Labor refuses to vote for the legislation with a 26% target.
At a press conference after the party room discussion, Malcolm Turnbull declared it was time for Labor to support the Neg in the interests of providing certainty and lowering power prices.
“The Labor party has to decide whether they want to support cheaper and more reliability electricity,” Turnbull told reporters.
“You know, we have got to bring an end to the years of ideology and idiocy which have been a curse on energy policy for too long and that is why industry – whether you’re talking about big industrial consumers or small business – consumer groups are calling on government, governments and oppositions to get behind this policy.

 What is the national energy guarantee? – video explainer

“We need to get a certain environment so that people will invest and that’s really the question for Bill Shorten.”
Turnbull said Labor should pass the current framework with its emissions reduction target of 26% and then argue the case for additional ambition in the scheme after the next federal election, rather than torpedo the mechanism in this parliament.
With the fate of the policy in the balance, the prime minister declined to criticise the group of backbench dissidents overtly, but he emphasised the policy had “overwhelming” support from a majority of stakeholders.
Underscoring the lingering hostility, after Tuesday’s meeting, Abbott took to social media to decry the leaking that took place while the Coalition party room debate was still under way.

Tony Abbott (@TonyAbbottMHR)

I’m not going to release my own comments to the party room, because they were along the lines of my remarks to media on the way into the parliament, but the rampant hostile briefing of journalists while the meeting was underway does require a response. pic.twitter.com/YOfv9PZVQA

The battle on the Neg is far from over. The energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, secured backing from his state and territory counterparts on Tuesday night to release legislation required in the states to implement the policy.That deliberative process will stretch for at least a month, and it is not clear whether the states will back the Neg before Victoria moves into caretaker mode for the looming November state election.
While the forward motion is positive, the ACT’s climate change minister, Shane Rattenbury, told Guardian Australia after Tuesday night’s phone hook up Frydenberg couldn’t avoid dealing with the problems the states and territories have with the scheme forever.
“We are heading for a political stalemate, and we will reach a point where Frydenberg will have to deal with our concerns,” Rattenbury said.
The Victorian energy minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, also asked officials from the Energy Security Board during the phone hookup whether a recommendation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission that the government underwrite new investments in power generation was problematic for the Neg.
Officials said the two proposals were not in conflict.
The shadow climate change minister, Mark Butler, was critical about the lack of ambition in emissions reduction after the party room meeting, and he foreshadowed an attempt by Labor to delay resolution of the policy.
While Butler was positive about the Neg mechanism, he said Labor could not support a 26% target. He said if the legislation came on for debate in the parliament, Labor would push for a higher target of 45%, attempting to amend the government’s package.
But he also pointed out that the states had not yet signed on to the scheme, and “without that framework, the commonwealth has no work to do”.
“It would seem strange to debate legislation without knowing whether or not the framework to which that legislation attaches, which activates that legislation, hasn’t even been agreed yet by Coag.”
Butler said Labor federally would not be putting Victorian Labor under pressure to resolve its stance. “Victoria and the others are sovereign governments, they need to make decisions according to their proper processes.”
He said Labor would welcome a fight with the Turnbull government at the next federal election over the degree of ambition in emissions reduction.

“We are happy to have a strong debate within the community in the context of an election about the need for real ambition on renewable energy investment,” Butler said. “We know from modelling released in recent weeks that this is the way to get downward pressure on wholesale power prices.”