SYDNEY, Aug 10, 2018 – Josh Frydenberg’s refusal to budge on the terms for his renewables-wrecking National Energy Guarantee (NEG) has seen the governments of Victoria, Queensland and the ACT reject the scheme in its current form.The Labor states, led by Victoria, stuck to their red lines in today’s COAG meeting, including the moderate demand that the emissions reduction target can only be increased and future targets will need to be set by regulation rather than legislation.
“Turnbull, Frydenberg and their slick PR machine are spinning this as a win, but what we have actually witnessed is the states reject the NEG in its current form,” Greenpeace Australia Pacific Campaigner Alix Foster Vander Elst said.
“Daniel Andrews and Labor leaders in Queensland and the ACT have made the right decision, not just for their states, but the entire country, by putting their foot down and refusing to give Malcolm Turnbull a blank cheque.
“Frydenberg has negotiated with the states in bad faith, asking them to sign off on legislation he hasn’t even show them. There is no way that any leader who takes climate change seriously and cares about easing high electricity prices can possibly sign off on a policy that would destroy a thriving industry for no environmental or economic benefit. Andrews, Palaszczuk, and Barr know that, and that’s why they’ve drawn these sensible red lines for the Coalition party room.
The Victorian Government’s conditions for supporting the NEG remain:
- Emissions reduction targets can only be allowed to increase over time and never go backwards
- Future targets will need to be set by regulation rather than legislation, allowing the minister to alter the target without having to negotiate a hostile Senate
- The targets will need to be set every three years, three years in advance
- Establishment of a transparency registry, with access by regulators and governments to ensure the NEG is working in the best interests of consumers.
Frydenberg has also finally acquiesced to the states’ entirely reasonable demand to see the law that they are being asked to approve. The exposure draft of the National Electricity Law amendments, which is the legislation required to implement the NEG, will now be publicly released ahead of a make-or-break meeting of the Coalition party room next Tuesday.
“The states have won concession after concession from Frydenberg but now need to stick to their guns to protect the job in the renewables industry and help families struggling with soaring power prices,” Foster Vander Elst said.
“The stage is now set for a showdown in the Coalition party room and the pressure is once again on the Prime Minister. Turnbull can show that he takes climate change seriously or he can once again cave in to luddites like Tony Abbott, who are only happy when the government outsources it energy policy to the dinosaurs in the coal industry.”
For interviews:
Martin Zavan, Greenpeace Australia Pacific Communications Campaigner
0424 295 422