Former PM could join Craig Kelly, who has also threatened to oppose national energy guarantee

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The former prime minister Tony Abbott has flagged crossing the floor to oppose the national energy guarantee, joining fellow conservative Craig Kelly, who telegraphed a similar threat three weeks ago in an interview with Guardian Australia.



Conservative critics of the policy are attempting to ratchet up internal pressure on the energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, before a critical meeting with his state and territory counterparts at the beginning of August.

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The current sitting fortnight is the last opportunity internal critics have to try and influence the policy Frydenberg takes to the Coag energy council meeting, and the small group of Coalition dissenters has doubled down in an effort to put the energy policy resolution under maximum strain.

Abbott – having given the policy a blast in the Coalition party room on Tuesday – used a regular spot on Sydney radio station 2GB to signal he was willing to cross the floor if he didn’t get the policy outcome he wanted.

“I hope it doesn’t come to questions of crossing the floor, I really do. It is not something that any Liberal would like to do,” the former prime minister said.

“But, but, I don’t think we can be expected to support a policy that will continue to drive prices up, and which will deny our industries the affordable 24/7 power for jobs to continue.”

Three weeks ago, Kelly pioneered a similar formulation. Signalling he would not be alone in the event it came to breaking ranks, the Liberal said: “There will be no member of the Coalition that rules out crossing the floor.”

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Kelly wants Frydenberg to agree to a national energy guarantee where emissions reduction doesn’t happen until the back part of the decade between 2020 and 2030.

Any such agreement would scuttle state and territory endorsement for the scheme, and the energy minister explicitly ruled out Kelly’s preferred “hockey stick” trajectory during a phone hook-up with his state counterparts last Friday.

A couple of rebels crossing the floor in the House would be politically uncomfortable for Malcolm Turnbull and Frydenberg, but the show of defiance would have no practical impact on the fate of the policy in the event the government can strike a deal with the states and then in Canberra, with Labor.

While current indications suggest the breakout is contained to a handful of dissenters, energy policy remains an incendiary issue within the Coalition given the fraught history over the past decade.

The Neg would impose reliability and emissions reduction obligations on energy retailers and some large energy users from 2020.

To get the policy over the line, Frydenberg first needs sign-off from his state and territory counterparts, then he will need Labor’s backing federally, because there is no obvious alternative pathway for the policy through the Senate.

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The Labor states and the ACT are deeply concerned that the emissions reduction target in the policy is far too modest to see Australia meet its commitments under the Paris agreement.

Labor federally is yet to decide whether it will support the government’s mechanism or not, and as Frydenberg enters the crunch period for the policy, the opposition is declining to give him any cover to resolve the conflicts with external and internal critics.

The only way Labor federally would back the policy is if it is convinced the emissions reduction target can be scaled up relatively easily in the event it wins the next federal election.