One question from journalist makes Energy Minister explode

Energy Minister Chris Bowen has fired up at a journalist for suggesting one thing was the answer to the electricity crisis.

Chris Bowen has slapped down suggestions more coal is the solution to Australia’s energy crisis.

The Energy Minister fired up during a press conference on Thursday after being grilled about the “unreliability” of renewables.

A journalist seized on one of the reasons given for the snap National Energy Market suspension - the lack of wind and solar power.

“Isn’t part of the supply problem the fact that you cannot direct wind into the market?” the journalist asked.

“The only thing you can do is to keep the coal-fired generators going to their end of life and to fix the ones that you have got now and include them in the capacity market, isn’t that the short-term fix?”

Mr Bowen said the solution was to invest more in renewables, not more coal power.

He said the crisis had largely been caused by unexpected outages at coal-fired power stations nearing the end of their lifespans.

“The problem is there is not enough investment in renewable energy. There hasn’t been enough investment in storage,” he said.

“Yes, you can say the wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine. The rain doesn’t always fall either but we can store the water and we can store renewable energy if we have the investment.

“That investment has been lacking for the last decade. That is the problem.”

The press conference was called after Anthony Albanese took a major step on climate change.

Anthony Albanese made his election target official on Thursday. Picture: NewsWire / Monique Harmer

The Prime Minister has officially beefed up Australia’s emission reductions targets, insisting the nation has turned the climate corner.

Mr Albanese has written to the United Nations to outline the new target of 43 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030.

“What we didn’t do was set a target and then work out how to get there. What we did was work out what good policy looked like, and it happened to come out with a 43 per cent target by 2030,” he told reporters in Canberra.

“What businesses have been crying out for is investment certainty. The certainty they need to invest over a longer time frame than the political cycle of three years, let alone the cycle that dominated the former government’s thinking.”

Mr Albanese went to the election with the emissions reduction target along with a commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

The signing of the nationally determined contribution took place in Canberra on Thursday alongside industry stakeholders across business groups, trade unions and energy advocates.

Australia’s official target is 43 per cent by 2030. Pic. Supplied

The move had been welcomed by international leaders after a decade of inaction, Mr Albanese said.

“What today demonstrated … is an opportunity that Australia has to end the climate wars, an opportunity to reach for solutions, not arguments,” he said.

Mr Bowen said a line had been drawn under the previous government’s “message” to the world.

“For years, the Australian government told the world that was all too hard. Told Australians it was too hard. Told the world that Australia wasn’t up to it and wasn’t up for it,” he said.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen has hit out at the previous government. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“Well, the Albanese government today sends a very different message … We’ll provide the policy for manufacturing jobs powered by clean renewable energy.

“We send the message to the rest of the world, to our friends and allies, that we’re partners in tackling the climate emergency.

“We send the message to Australians that we seek to end the climate wars as the Prime Minister said.”

The government will now look towards legislating the target when parliament returns in July.