The Australian Coalition has unveiled a significant shift in its energy policy, removing emissions reduction as a primary objective for the electricity market operator while flagging imminent cuts to immigration levels.
Energy Policy Overhaul
During a special party room meeting on Sunday, Coalition MPs endorsed a new approach that would refocus the Australian Energy Market Operator's priorities exclusively on lowering consumer power prices rather than reducing emissions. Opposition leader Sussan Ley announced the plan, which represents a dramatic departure from previous climate commitments.
The policy shift comes just days after conservative Liberals successfully pushed to abandon net zero by 2050 targets, aligning the Liberal party with their National Party partners. Ley emphasised that the revised strategy maintains Australia's participation in the Paris climate agreement but would base emission reduction targets on the "real performance of OECD countries" rather than scientific recommendations.
Immigration Becomes Next Battleground
In what appears to be a strategic move to prevent further internal conflict, Ley quickly pivoted to immigration, promising a new Coalition policy within weeks. She declared that overseas arrivals into Australia were "far too high" under the current Labor government, though notably failed to specify which aspects of the immigration intake would face reductions.
The development confirms predictions from conservative Liberals, who immediately following Thursday's net zero decision identified immigration as the next major policy confrontation. Shadow home affairs minister Jonathon Duniam and shadow immigration minister Paul Scarr have been tasked with finalising the immigration policy framework.
Fossil Fuels and Nuclear Power
Ley and Nationals leader David Littleproud outlined several controversial elements of the energy plan, including government intervention to prevent what they term "premature" closures of coal-fired power stations. The opposition would utilise taxpayer funds to support energy supply as part of efforts to reduce electricity costs for consumers.
The Coalition intends to modify Australia's National Electricity Objectives, prioritising consumer interests and lower power prices above emission reduction targets. Shadow energy minister Dan Tehan confirmed the approach would be "technology neutral," with targeted investments across the energy system including fossil fuel technology.
Additional components of the plan include lifting the national moratorium on nuclear power and pursuing investments in carbon capture and storage, solar uptake, biofuels, and low-emissions metals. The opposition also plans to incorporate coal into the existing capacity investment scheme, which currently underwrites renewable energy and storage projects.
Internal Division and Political Fallout
The policy changes have exposed ongoing tensions within the Coalition, with moderate Liberals questioning aspects of the plan during Sunday's virtual meeting. This follows last week's internal debate where the conservative bloc prevailed in scrapping net zero policies.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese launched a fierce critique of the Coalition's position, accusing them of policy inconsistency and poor leadership on emissions reduction. "Australians shouldn't pay the price of Coalition chaos," Albanese stated during a Melbourne visit, describing the opposition as a "rabble and clown show" on energy and climate policy.
Littleproud offered a blunt assessment of the Coalition's new direction, acknowledging that their emissions policy is "not predicated on science, but instead on economics." He cited pressure on families and businesses, along with concerns about productive farmland being used for renewable projects.
The policy announcement comes amid challenging polling for the opposition, with some Liberal MPs anticipating a potential leadership challenge to Ley from either Andrew Hastie or Angus Taylor in the near future.
