Nationals leader talks tough on energy in face of demoralised party room, saying he stands for affordable power

The deputy prime minister, Michael McCormack, has suggested renewable energy will eliminate night sport in Australia, declaring voters can “forget night footy” and “forget night cricket” if Labor wins the election and legislates a 45% emissions reduction target, or if Australia moves in the direction of an electricity grid powered by renewables.

McCormack, who heads a demoralised party room, and has had the former party leader Barnaby Joyce signalling in recent days he wants to return to the top job, claimed on Sunday it was “nonsense claptrap”, “rubbish” and “absolute garbage” that Australia could provide its energy needs from 100% renewables.

The Nationals leader then said contradictory things. He said first it was “not possible” to increase Australia’s emissions reduction target to 45%, and then said “I mean sure, go down that path but forget night footy forget, night cricket, and you’ll have pensioners turning off their power because they won’t be able to afford it, and they will be shivering all winter, and they’ll be melting all summer”.

McCormack is under internal pressure about his performance as leader, and specifically on energy, after Queensland Nationals George Christensen, Michelle Landry, Ken O’Dowd, Keith Pitt, Llew O’Brien and Barry O’Sullivan wrote to him last week, demanding, in essence, that he muscle up to the Liberals, and insist that action is taken before the election.

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In the letter, the Queensland rebels demanded immediate action to “legislate the big stick bill in the next parliamentary sitting and to underwrite new generating capacity (power station) construction for regional Queensland”.

McCormack was asked on Sunday whether he wanted taxpayers to underwrite new coal generation in Queensland, which is what his Queensland colleagues want.

The Nationals leader gave a hedged answer. “I’m not against coal-fired power stations. I’m not.”

He said the Nationals stood for affordable power, and if the “future means building another coal-fired power station, or building one indeed in north Queensland, then we’ll certainly look at it if the business case stacks up”.

Pressed about whether he was on the same page as the Queenslanders, McCormack repeated his qualified answer. “Well if it meets the business case and it’s going to provide more energy in the system and it’s going to bring prices down, of course I am in favour of that. Of course I am.”

Taxpayer underwriting of coal-fired power has become a fraught issue for the Morrison government, with MPs in different parts of the country wanting different things.

Under pressure from voters concerned about the government’s record on climate change, Liberals in urban electorates lobbied the leadership – a push that resulted in Morrison attempting to boost the government’s standing by reviving Tony Abbott’s emissions reduction fund and pledging support for two major hydro projects.

But central Queenslanders are still on the warpath, wanting taxpayers to underwrite new coal plants, even though that will create a political backlash in other parts of the country.

The resources minister and Queensland National Matt Canavan, after noting recently the government was currently considering around 10 coal proposals for underwriting, declared last week: “I think perhaps the best time to start building a coal-fired power station was 10 years ago, and the second best time is now.”

While the Queenslanders are flexing their muscle, Scott Morrison has rebuffed the push to bring forward the “big stick” package which creates a divestiture power breaking up energy companies that engage in price gouging.

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Morrison insisted his pre-election priorities, given the parliament is only likely to sit for another three days before Australians go to the polls, were securing passage of budget bills and helping north Queensland recover from the recent floods.

The government pulled the “big stick” package after it became clear the Greens and Labor had the numbers in the House to add an amendment prohibiting taxpayer support for new coal developments, and crossbench senators have also flagged amendments extending the divestiture power to make it an economy-wide trigger, rather than a power restricted to the energy sector.

McCormack said on Sunday the government’s energy policy needed to be about “balance”.

“That’s why I was delighted Scott Morrison turned first sod for the Snowy Hydro 2.0 just the other day – this is an exciting announcement of renewable energy that’s going to provide storage, going to provide power for 500,000 – half a million – homes and businesses, particularly in NSW and right up the eastern seaboard,” the Nationals leader said.

“We will continue to work with those sorts of projects and continue to deliver for the environment – but at the same time we don’t want to deindustrialise Australia”.

“At the same time we don’t want to make it absolutely impossible for our manufacturing industries to be able to operate. When people turn the switch they need to be able to have affordable power.”