Via the AFR:
Malcolm Turnbull has been hit with a stronger-than-anticipated backlash over plans to introduce a Clean Energy Target in a battle which is fast becoming a test of his leadership, Liberal sources say.
Despite the CET having the support of senior conservatives and other ministers, it did not translate into backbench support late on Tuesday as Coalition MPs at a special meeting discussed the findings of Chief Scientist Alan Finkel and his main recommendation for a CET to be adopted post-2020.
By early evening, sources inside the meeting said only four or five MPs had spoken in favour of Dr Finkel’s key recommendation while about 22, including Tony Abbott, were against, and four more unclear.
“It’s a slaughter,” said an MP inside the meeting “and a lot of the usual suspects haven’t spoken yet”.
As the meeting came to a close around 7pm, it was apparent the government would, at the very least, have to design a scheme that enabled so-called clean coal to be designated, in part, as a low emissions energy source. Even so, this is unlikely to placate all the backbench rebels and also runs the risk of Labor withdrawing its offer of bipartisan support because it cannot accept a policy that designates coal as a clean emissions source.
And The Australian:
“Finkel in its current form is dead,” one MP told The Australian last night.
Others said the proposal for a clean energy target remained alive but would be shaped by a strongly negative response from the partyroom. “I don’t think it kills it off — it’s too early to say that,” another MP said.
Conservative MPs said after the meeting that about 20 MPs bluntly opposed Chief Scientist Alan Finkel’s proposal for a clean energy target or raised significant concerns about the proposal in a clear message about the need to keep incentives for coal power.
“My sense is we’re going to get a clean energy target where there’s no way in hell Labor can back it,” said one Liberal.
“The emissions intensity threshold will be so high to include coal power that Labor will not support it.”
Former prime minister Tony Abbott was a sharp critic of the clean energy target and made interjections throughout the discussions.
“He was the most sceptical about it — he said it wasn’t going to cut prices or provide certainty for consumers,” one Liberal said.
“He was probably the strongest critic throughout the whole meeting.”
As Turnbull’s thirty Newspolls countdown grows louder and the leadership challenge comes, expect this to turn completely feral.
