Malcolm Turnbull ‘teams up with Bill Shorten’ on NEG and energy

The report that Malcom Turnbull had secret talks with Labor leader Bill Shorten on energy policy has outraged many Liberals, although one senior MP insists the pair are not “colluding”.

Scott Morrison is being haunted by Malcolm Turnbull yet again today after it emerged the former prime minister held private phone talks with Bill Shorten in recent weeks as they both push the government to revive the dumped National Energy Guarantee.

The Opposition leader confirmed this morning the two former rivals had spoken since Mr Turnbull was ousted from office in a leadership spill in August.

A spokeswoman for Mr Shorten told News Corp: “Bill reached out to both Mr Turnbull and Mr Abbott after they lost their prime ministerships to express his sympathy and thank them for their service.”

“He has a great deal of respect for the office, whatever the politics of the occupant.”

She did not disclose any details of their conversations when asked if Mr Shorten and Mr Turnbull had discussed the NEG.

Some of Mr Turnbull’s supporters have hit out at the former PM, with North Queensland MP Warren Entsch, who supported the NEG, saying Mr Turnbull “went to water” on the policy and can’t be expected to call on Mr Morrison to deliver something he couldn’t.

“I just listen to what he says and I shake my head in disbelief,” he told The Australian.

“It just makes me spew when I see this. He scrambled the NEG because he didn’t have the courage to stand up to a few.”

A spokesman for Mr Turnbull has also confirmed he has spoken to Mr Shorten but denied they discussed the NEG.

Liberal MP Warren Entsch, a supporter of Malcolm Turnbull, has criticised the former PM. Picture: Sean Davey.

Prime Minister Morrison - who has been forced to deal with political interventions from Mr Turnbull every day this week - downplayed the significance of their conversations today.

“It’s just a personal well wish,” he told reporters in Canberra today.

“In terms of any other type of conversation, I haven’t seen any suggestion that there’s been anything other than that.”

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Julie Bishop has sided with Malcolm Turnbull. Picture: Getty

Mr Morrison also rejected Mr Turnbull’s call to revive the NEG, saying: “It’s not necessary, we’re not pursuing it.”

“It wasn’t being pursued by the government prior to the change of prime minister,” he added.

“The NEG, as the former prime minister said, is just a mechanism. It’s like a glass. What matters is what you put in it.

“Now if you put a 45 per cent emissions reduction target in the NEG, it puts power prices up.”

Mr Morrison did not address the backbench revolt he faced yesterday on his “big stick” energy powers to divest companies of their assets if they refuse to lower power prices but hit out at the sector this morning.

“I’m not surprised that the big energy companies are squealing because as a government we’ve decided to stare them down,” he said.

Senior government minister Christopher Pyne, a supporter of Mr Turnbull, also downplayed reports by The Australian today that Mr Turnbull and Mr Shorten have been holding phone conversations.

A source close to Mr Shorten has told the publication that the pair have discussed the NEG, which Labor criticised when Mr Turnbull was in office but is now keen to adopt.

“Bill Shorten has contacted Malcolm Turnbull to make sure he’s okay, that sounds like a good thing to do as far as I’m concerned, and Malcolm has taken his calls. He is not colluding with Bill Shorten,” Mr Pyne told Sky News.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison with the Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. Picture: Gary Ramage

Mr Turnbull publicly urged Mr Morrison to revive the NEG yesterday in his second major intervention in politics this week.

Julie Bishop, Mr Turnbull’s former deputy, also thrown her weight behind a revised NEG and spoke out about Mr Morrison’s “big stick” energy laws in a tense party room meeting in Canberra yesterday.