Malcolm Turnbull’s swipe at Coalition as it releases its new energy plan

Malcolm Turnbull has slammed the Coalition’s obsession with coal as “bats**t crazy” as his colleagues prepare to unveil another energy plan.

Malcolm Turnbull has slammed the Coalition’s obsession with coal as “bats**t crazy” as his colleagues prepare to unveil another energy plan.

Highlighting the strong support for renewables among voters, the former Prime Minister has taken a swipe at those who are still pushing for more “clean” coal-fired power stations.

“The support for renewables is hardly surprising; it has been at this level for years - Australians know how effective clean energy is, after all we have the highest penetration of rooftop solar in the world,’’ he said.

“As for coal - a vignette from my book.”

Mr Turnbull then added a screenshot from his own book, A Bigger Picture to his Twitter post, where then Resources Minister Matt Canavan’s plan to build four new high efficiency, low emission (HELE) coal-fired power stations is described as “bats**t crazy”.

Senator Canavan also emerged today to call for the Morrison Government to abandon the Paris agreement on climate change.

“The Paris agreement was made in China, it doesn’t have any obligations on the biggest emitters in the world,” Senator Canavan told Sky News.

He also urged the Morrison Government to stick to “proven” technologies including coal and fracking.

Malcolm used a quote from his book to prove his point.

“Hydrogen, batteries and green steel are all great ideas that are probably decades away and are only maybes,” he said.

Overnight, the Morrison Government released a new ‘road map’ and revealed the five priority technologies the government is prepared to invest in to cut emissions including hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, soil carbon, storage options and ‘low-carbon’ steel and aluminium production.

Labor claims it is the 22nd energy plan the Coalition has outlined since it was elected in 2013.

Nationals Senator Matt Canavan wants Australia to withdraw from the Paris agreement on climate change.

In a speech at the National Press Club, Mr Taylor will outline the reasons why the Morrison Government remains opposed to putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions.

“You either suppress emissions intensive economic activities — usually through some version of taxation — or you improve them,” Mr Taylor said.

‘There is no third way. Australia can’t and shouldn’t damage its economy to reduce emissions.”

The ‘pick a winner’ plan to be outlined today by Mr Taylor ends the Coalition’s support for a technology-neutral approach under the National Energy Guarantee (NEG).

But Labor’s climate change spokesman Mark Butler said the new policy was a “roadmap to nowhere.”

“This is typical Scott Morrison - another plan to have a plan but no actual policy,’’ he said.

“No policy to help reduce power prices. No policy to give investors the confidence to build new generation and ensure reliable energy.

“Scott Morrison’s 22nd energy policy is a roadmap to nowhere. In the deepest recession in almost a century, this long series of announcements in energy won’t deliver a single new job in the timeframe Australia needs.”