Meeting follows Peter Dutton’s campaign-style event on Sunday. Follow today’s news live
Dutton discredits renewables when asked about energy policy
Peter Dutton was also asked about the role of domestic gas production in the energy mix – will this be enough, or should there be more coal in the mix? The opposition leader pointed to state government’s decisions to extend the life of coal fired plants and said:
At the moment, the problem is that the government’s got this view of trying to please inner-city Green voters with the renewables-only policy which has driven uncertainty into the market.
So gas is going to be required, and every serious commentator from Aemo down says that gas will play a very significant role in shoring up and providing the base load power that we need to shore up the renewable energy and system.
Renewable energy is great, but we can’t pretend that it operates 24/7, it doesn’t … There are very serious concerns about disruption to power and a modern, functioning economy can’t survive on part-time power.
They spend a lot, and they tax a lot … We will act responsibly. We’ll manage the economy effectively, and we’ll make the decisions that will bring inflation down, interest rates down, and make sure that we cut the government waste.
We’ve got an inflationary environment which is not under control, and if it doesn’t get under control, we’ll see interest rates sit higher for longer, or indeed go up, and we’ll see an environment where families continue to lose their small businesses and continue to struggle to pay the bills.