The Australian right is tearing itself apart over net zero.
This is so foolish, and the answer is so simple. In fact, the party took the policy to the last election.
The only reason this fight is still happening is that the energy transition is failing on affordability. This is giving climate and energy sceptics a leg up in policy circles.
Why is the energy transition failing?
Nobody ever said that it would deliver cheaper power than coal. Network costs were always going to add to bills.
But, equally, nobody ever said we’d be using some of the highest gas prices in the world as the marginal price-setter of renewable power.
Gas prices are far and away the largest driver of electricity price increases.
And East Coast gas prices are controlled by the export cartel that nobody ever expected to rise, either.
Peter Dutton took an excellent gas reservation policy to the last election that aimed to deliver $10Gj and could just as easily have been used to deliver $7Gj gas.
This would crash electricity prices for as far as the eye can see and allow the renewables rollout to continue.
This would return retail electricity prices to about 27c/kWh instead of heading to 45c/kWh as rebates roll off.
That would put us on par with the US.
This solves all of Australia’s and the LNP’s energy woes, yet here we are killing both.
This is why the gas cartel is Albo’s favourite political ally.
