Bill Shorten to accept ACCC recommendations as PM recalibrates energy deal in attempt to contain conservative-led revolt

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The Coalition has accused Labor of stealing its policy after Bill Shorten pledged to introduce a new regulated capped offer for electricity consumers.

Labor’s pledge comes as the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, recalibrates his national energy guarantee in an attempt to contain a conservative-led revolt. As part of that recalibration, the government is poised to accept the recommendations of a recent Australian Competition and Consumer Commission inquiry into the electricity sector, which include capped pricing.

Shorten has promised to abolish “outdated” standing offers and replace them with a new default offer consistent across all energy retailers.

All eyes on Dutton as conservatives fuel Coalition's crisis of confidence | Katharine Murphy Read more

Labor’s proposal would require retailers to reference any discounts to the new default offer pricing, making it easier for consumers to compare offers and save money by finding the best power deal.

It is not clear whether Labor will accept the rest of the ACCC’s recommendations including a proposal for government underwriting of new power generation that the Nationals want worked up as a lifeline for coal.

Treasurer Scott Morrison responded to Labor's announcement by accusing the opposition of stealing government policy.

"At school, if you try to pass off others' work as your own, if you try and copy off the person sitting next to you in class during a test, you get busted and the rest of the class knows you’re a cheater," he said.

"That is what Bill Shorten and Labor are doing today, dishonestly trying to represent the Government’s work on energy as their own.

"The ACCC default price proposal was the result of the Turnbull Government’s action to commission the ACCC to do this work. We have been flagging our support on this for some time, including just last week. When first asked about the report Bill Shorten admitted he hadn’t even been bothered to read it. Now he’s claiming it is his own work.

"If Labor want to support the work the Government is doing, that’s fine. I would then encourage them to go further, including full support for the National Energy Guarantee that the ACCC recommended and backing in the financing for new power generators, including coal, which was also recommended.

"And they should be up front about how any promised savings will be completely gobbled up by their Carbon Tax 2.0 reckless emissions targets which will burden small businesses and households with higher electricity prices."

The poisonous energy row within Turnbull government ranks has sparked speculation that the prime minister’s leadership is under threat from the Queensland conservative Peter Dutton. Turnbull lost the Liberal party leadership in a similar confrontation in 2009.

On Saturday the home affairs minister delivered a nuanced statement of his position, saying Turnbull had his support, and his view remained the same as on Thursday, when he told the Sydney radio host Ray Hadley he would take up any disagreements he had with cabinet colleagues privately.

The former prime minister, Tony Abbott, continued his public agitation against Turnbull and against the Neg. He declared the Neg overhaul “no way to run a government”, and said the Coalition should concentrate on fighting Labor at the next election, rather than trying to solve a problem in the energy market that a range of stakeholders want solved.

“I say no, no, no. Let’s create a real contest, not a false consensus. Let’s fight the Labor party on this – it’s the only way to win the election,” Abbott told 2GB.

Turnbull, the energy minister Josh Frydenberg, and the treasurer Scott Morrison, have been working since Tuesday to expedite a package of measures to put downward pressure on power prices to try to persuade a group of backbenchers not to cross the floor on the Neg.

On Friday, the trio worked up an option that would result in the Neg’s emissions reduction target being set in regulation, not in legislation. This is an attempt to address internal claims from some of the rebels that setting the Paris target in legislation is a breach of Australian sovereignty, and also an effort to lock in Labor’s support for the policy.

The internal concerns about the Neg go beyond the group of MPs threatening to cross the floor, and include some in the ministry.

The revised Neg option workshopped at senior levels on Friday remains contentious and Turnbull supporters are rallying ahead of any confrontation that could accompany the return of federal parliament next week.

'PM has my support': Dutton backs Turnbull as Abbott renews Neg attack Read more

One senior Turnbull backer told Guardian Australia the uprising was not broadly based. “Half the people causing this trouble are in the National party and angry that Barnaby Joyce is no longer deputy prime minister,” the source said. “Dutton has zero chance of being preferred over Turnbull.”

The source said a number of MPs were sick of being “pushed into a corner” by the wrecking spearheaded by Abbott and a small group of supporters.

The revised option that senior players have worked up for cabinet deliberation on Monday night would see the Neg target set through an executive order rather than by legislation, which makes it easier to adjust.

If a government wanted to increase it, it would first have to seek advice from the Australian Energy Regulator and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission about the impact of a target increase on electricity prices. That advice would be made public.

The Labor states have asked the government to set the target in regulation to make it easier for a future government to scale up the level of ambition from the current proposal of 26% by 2030.

Labor blasted the government’s “energy chaos” on Saturday but welcomed the substance of the recalibration.

“There must be the ability more easily to lift those targets in the future and a shift from legislation to regulation, I think, will deliver that easier pathway,” the shadow climate change minister, Mark Butler, said.

