Labor pressed to state its position on Liddell coal-fired power station
Malcolm Turnbull is challenging Bill Shorten to declare his hand on the future of the Liddell coal-fired power station.
Malcolm Turnbull is challenging Bill Shorten to declare his hand on the future of the Liddell coal-fired power station in the NSW Hunter Valley as new polling in the region shows majority support for coal.
The Coalition yesterday turned the screws on the Opposition Leader for prevaricating over whether Labor would support the extension of AGL’s Liddell power station by another five years to help fill a forecast 1000 megawatt gap in baseload power in 2022. Mr Turnbull blamed Labor for creating the “shortage of dispatchable power” by rushing into renewables without back-up storage and pushing up the price of energy bills. Scott Morrison warned Mr Shorten was “snuffing” out jobs in the coal-rich Hunter region.
ReachTEL polling commissioned by the NSW Minerals Council and obtained by The Australian shows there is 67 per cent support in the state seats of Upper Hunter, Cessnock and Maitland for a “new coal-fired power station in the Hunter if it could produce electricity with lower emissions than existing power stations”. Of the 2000 people surveyed, only 22 per cent opposed the construction of a new supercritical plant.
Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg took aim at his opposition counterpart, Mark Butler, for being unable to give a definitive response when pressed nine times in an ABC radio interview on Wednesday night on what Labor’s position was on keeping open the Liddell plant.
“Labor’s current policy is to close down Australia’s coal-fired power stations,” Mr Frydenberg told The Australian. “This contradicts the best and most recent advice from the Australian Energy Market Operator that baseload dispatchable 24/7 power is needed.
“(Mr Shorten) now needs to clearly state what the Labor Party’s position is on the future of coal in our country. It is simply not good enough that he needs to dodge and weave and say that the closure of Liddell is simply an issue for down the track. Planning and action is needed now. It cannot be kicked down the road.”
Mr Butler argues that any decision to extend the life of the Liddell plant must be informed by the costs and consideration of the alternatives for power generation. “We’re not going to give support or reject a proposition that is essentially a thought bubble from the Prime Minister,” he said.
The Treasurer used question time to attack Labor frontbencher Joel Fitzgibbon, in whose seat Liddell is located, and Labor MPs in neighbouring electorates for turning their backs on blue-collar workers. “They think turning off a coal-fired power station in the Hunter Valley is going to be a good plan for regional and rural Australia,” Mr Morrison said. ‘They want to snuff out coal and they want to snuff out jobs in the Hunter.”
Mr Fitzgibbon, the member for Hunter and opposition agriculture spokesman, yesterday said it was not feasible to keep the Liddell power station open beyond 2022, warning it could cost $1 billion to run for a few extra years.
When pressed on ABC radio about Labor’s position on the future of Liddell, Mr Shorten said: “I think that is an issue for down the track.
“The problem is here and now. And what we’ve got to do is, Mr Turnbull’s got to stop worrying about blaming Labor, work with us, because we have a problem right now which isn’t going to be fixed in 2022.”