LNP votes to challenge Labor on energy policy

A day after agreeing not to move the debate on net-zero higher up its agenda, the LNP is promising to push for the construction of coal-fired power plants to be fast-tracked. VOTE IN OUR POLL

The state government should be pressured to expedite the construction of coal-fired power plants or pay for it at the ballot box, according to a policy position supported by the LNP rank-and-file.

A day after agreeing not to move the debate on net-zero higher up its agenda, a majority of members at the LNP’s state council meeting supported a call for the parliamentary wing to pile pressure on Queensland Labor to expedite the construction of high efficiency low emissions (HELE) coal-fired power plants.

The Norwich Park coal stock pile at the coal handling preparation plant. Photo Tara Miko / CQ News

“It seems Australia is at least committed to net zero emissions by 2050, but there is no need to destroy the Queensland economy in the process,” one LNP member said.

“In fact our net zero policy allows for (the use) of coal to generate our power, the Prime Minister’s address to us (on Saturday) confirms this.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, in his address to the meeting, did not explicitly speak of opening new coal-fired power plants, only that the plan ensured “reliable energy” and the government would not be shutting down any power plants.

Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison Picture: Mark Evans/Getty Images

An LNP member questioned if the motion, which implied public-funding for construction of a coal-fired power station, was in-line with the party’s beliefs in the free market and that it should be up to the market to decide if the idea was financially feasible.

The federal government is awaiting on results of the $3.6m publicly-funded feasibility study into the proposed Collinsville coal-fired power station in North Queensland.

Mr Morrison, when announcing the net zero by 2050 target, said the study was not due back until June 2022 and said “any investments people wish to make … they have to meet the necessary planning and other regulatory approvals … and they have to make sense to them commercially”.

“And if they stack up, they stack up,” he said.

The purpose of significantly reducing emissions is to limit global warming to 1.5C and avoid catastrophic climate change according to experts.

Federal Labor climate change spokesman Chris Bowen on Sunday reaffirmed the party’s position on no new coal-fired power stations in Australia should they take government.

“The current government is promising a new coal-fired station in Queensland. I don’t think they’ll deliver it,” he said.

The state government’s target is to for Queensland to draw 50 per cent of its power from renewable sources by 2030. It also supports a net zero by 2050 target.

Mr Bowen, speaking on Insiders, also confirmed a Labor government would not resurrect its contentious “carbon tax”.

But he did leave the door open to expanding the safeguard mechanism – a benchmark that requires Australia’s largest greenhouse gas emitters to keep their net emissions below a set limit.