Energy takeover only half answer

Property developer Harry Triguboff has made an astute observation that while the commonwealth is getting the blame for a stalled energy transition it is state governments that are failing to deliver.

It is one of the perverse aspects of the decarbonisation process that the federal government is the state party to the UN climate process but the states are responsible for permitting electricity generation as well as gas and coal developments.

A shared bias towards renewables has created a mishmash of political aspirations and targets that are not translating into results.

Mr Triguboff is the latest business leader to call out the government failings and call for a review.

Woodside Energy chief executive Meg O’Neill made the obvious point on Thursday that it will be a major government policy failure if Australia cannot deliver cheap and reliable energy, while attacking environment activists for prioritising political agendas over the national interest.

On Monday, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew McKellar called on Labor to revisit its 82 per cent renewable energy target and prioritise exploration, extraction and generation of natural gas.

That followed a call by the peak food industry lobby, the Independent Food Distributors Australia, for the federal government to urgently address the impact of its climate policies on energy prices and the cost of living.

The IFDA told Labor to dump its 82 per cent renewables target and focus on gas to bring electricity prices down in the short term.

The fact that business leaders are now willing to speak publicly about the disconnect between the government’s plans and results is a welcome development.

Mr Triguboff says a federal takeover of the electricity sector represents the only chance the government has of hitting its 82 per cent renewables target, though he doubts this can be done to meet the 2030 deadline.

Mr Triguboff is right to call out the dysfunction of current arrangements, but he is expecting too much of the commonwealth and taxpayers unless there is a complete ideological reassessment of what we are trying to achieve with energy and why.