Malcolm Turnbull has smacked down Tony Abbott’s push to force a special party room meeting on the national energy guarantee, saying the policy will go to the states and then return once enabling legislation is drafted.



After rebuffing Abbott’s pitch in a direct confrontation on Tuesday, Turnbull told government MPs the energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, could now proceed to make-or-break discussions with his state and territory counterparts on the Neg at the beginning of August, knowing he had the strong support of the party room to land the policy.

Tuesday’s confrontation follows a series of small rebellions staged over recent weeks by conservative opponents with the objective of disrupting Frydenberg’s run to the Coag energy council, where any state or territory can sink the policy.

The ACT has already warned it will be very difficult to sign up if Frydenberg is not in a position to offer any compromises. The territory climate minister Shane Rattenbury noted on Tuesday that recent commentary from Frydenberg about new coal plants being welcome was unhelpful.

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“Despite the protestations of Mr Abbott, and now it seems, Mr Frydenberg, the era of coal is over,” Rattenbury said. “We need to phase out this technology if we’re to have any chance of a decent future for energy and the environment in Australia”.

During the party room meeting on Tuesday, Abbott was joined in raising objections about the Neg by Liberals Eric Abetz, Craig Kelly and the former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce.

Liberal Tony Pasin said the government should also seek to impose a price guarantee as well as imposing new regulations around reliability and emissions reduction from 2020 – although he argued the price guarantee he sought could be separate to the Neg.

But there was a strong show of support for the policy on Tuesday, and there were also expressions of impatience from MPs about the wrecking.

Ten government MPs spoke, including marginal seats holders Ann Sudmalis and Julia Banks who urged the government to unite behind the proposal and deliver it to end a decade of policy warfare.

Abetz was also rebuked by colleagues during the party room meeting for what they insisted was an incorrect recount of comments made earlier in the day by the Business Council of Australia chief, Jennifer Westacott, during a special meeting of the backbench committee on energy and the environment early on Tuesday.

According to people in the room, Westacott said an emissions reduction target of 26% in electricity was not easy to meet, but it was doable and not detrimental to the economy. The BCA chief told government MPs that her group would oppose Labor’s higher target of 49%, declare it “economy wrecking”, and run a campaign against it.

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Abetz, according to colleagues, subsequently recounted Westacott’s comments to the party room, prefacing them with “maybe this is just me” but if 49% was “economy wrecking” then 26% would wreck about half the economy. Abetz was rebuked by Liberals Julia Banks and Warren Entsch for verballing Westacott.

While Turnbull and Frydenberg have secured their present objective, which is to steer the policy into the August meeting with the states, the Nationals remain divided on the policy, having met separately on Monday. There is a push on from the junior Coalition partner to have the government bankroll a fund to allow for the retrofitting of coal fired power stations, or for research.

In parliament after the party room meeting, Labor pressed Turnbull on whether the government would provide special subsidies to coal in order to secure the support of internal critics.

The prime minister said coal had a “very important” role to play and “no doubt it will have, for many years to come, possibly forever. Who can tell?”

But Turnbull said the Neg was a technology neutral scheme.

Business leaders meanwhile prevailed on government MPs to get behind the Neg. Innes Willox, the chief executive of the Ai Group said the policy was the only viable option on the table to settle the energy wars. “If this doesn’t work, we go back to chaos”.

With Abbott continuing to signal he could cross the floor if his demands are not met, the president of the National Farmers Federation, Fiona Simson was unforgiving. Simson told reporters if Abbott crossed the floor, that would be “very disappointing”.

“We think we can make [the Neg] work ... we don’t want politics to get in the way, and we don’t want internal politics to get in the way.”

Willox also issued some pointed criticism. “To kill this off really would be wrecking-ball politics.”