Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says "enough is enough" on the ideological debates over climate change. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Several other MPs conceded the debate over climate policy could turn into a wider conflagration over leadership, as happened in 2009, while others argued that - as long as their were significant concessions for coal, Mr Turnbull would likely navigate his way through. Treasurer Scott Morrison said that "people were getting ahead of themselves about where this debate is at" with regard to the leadership. As tempers frayed, a frustrated Mr Turnbull took an apparent swipe at his predecessor for reducing climate policy debate to "glib" slogans on Wednesday. He called, pointedly, for an end to the ideological wars over climate change and a clear national energy plan based on economics and engineering rather than politics and positioning.

The comments came after about 21 MPs told Tuesday's three-hour party room meeting they either opposed a Clean Energy Target [CET], as proposed by Chief Scientist Alan Finkel, or had concerns about its implementation. The CET is not government policy but it is increasingly likely that if some form of CET is adopted, Coalition MPs will demand Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg provide greater support for coal than envisaged by Dr Finkel. Coalition MPs, including Mr Abbott, raised concerns a CET could price coal out of the market, that the 42 per cent renewable energy by 2030 was too high and expressed fears over the impact of a CET on electricity prices for household and business. The review, in fact, finds power prices would be lower under a CET than compared to a business-as-usual scenario and predicts coal would play a larger role in power generation through to 2030. Mr Turnbull said the Finkel review as a report "to", not "by", government and in a sign of his frustration, declared "glib answers and one-liners have been of no assistance in keeping Australians' energy secure and affordable".

"Enough is enough. We need a clear national plan founded on economics and engineering and we're doing the work to deliver it," he said. "This is a complex task, it's a hard task. Glibness is not going to keep the lights on. Glibness is not going to pay the electricity bills." Those comments can be interpreted as a thinly-veiled rebuke by Mr Turnbull at his predecessor. They can also be read as a criticism of Labor, which has called for a bipartisan approach to climate policy but also indicated they would not back a CET that assisted new coal plants to be built. Within hours of Mr Turnbull moving to assert his leadership, Nationals MP George Christensen told Sky News he would not vote for a CET.

Instead, he argued the "onus is going to be on the government to build and invest in a coal-fired power station," adding that several may need to be built "We invest heavily in renewables, why not coal-fired power?" Junior ministers Craig Laundy and Michael Sukkar both immediately dismissed the idea of the federal government building a coal-fired power station. Mr Abbott, following the special party room meeting, told radio station 2GB the Coalition was united on three basic points. "We want power prices going down, not up, we want Australian coal to continue to be usable in this country, as it is in other countries and we want Australia to have a strong manufacturing sector," he said, adding that Labor was the party of "greenie posturing".

"The problem with the Finkel report is that its all about reducing emissions, now it's nice to reduce emissions . . . but frankly we shouldn't be doing that if it's going to clobber power prices, hurt households and cost jobs." During Tuesday's meeting, the proposal to force zero emissions generators to have "despatchable" base load power, via a battery, pumped hydro storage, or even a gas plant alongside, was one of the proposals that won support from MPs. Environment groups and the Greens have warned introducing a storage requirement on wind and solar will force up costs and slow the transition to zero emissions power. Mr Frydenberg fired a salvo at Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, characterising his offer to end the climate policy wars as disingenuous posturing. Follow us on Facebook