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Peter Dutton remains part of the team, Malcolm Turnbull says

Malcolm Turnbull says Peter Dutton remains ‘part of the team’ despite mounting speculation of a leadership challenge.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton attend a Refugee Week event at Parliament House earlier this year. Photo: Kym Smith/File
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton attend a Refugee Week event at Parliament House earlier this year. Photo: Kym Smith/File

Malcolm Turnbull says he retains the “absolute support” of Peter Dutton as he shelved a central element of his signature energy policy, saying the government will not legislate or regulate the 26 per cent Paris emissions target.

The Prime Minister today announced new measures to lower power prices but said the future of the national energy guarantee was now in the hands of the states.

Mr Turnbull said Mr Dutton was “part of the team” as he played down the prospects of a challenge.

“Peter Dutton was at our leadership group meeting this morning and he was at the cabinet last night, he’s a member of our team, he’s given me his absolute support,” Mr Turnbull said.

He said the emission reduction target has been shelved because it would not have passed the House of Representatives in a back down to conservatives such as Tony Abbott who did not want the Paris targets regulated or legislated.

“It is clear that in the absence of bipartisan support, the legislation to move forward with the emissions component of the national energy guarantee will not be able to pass the House of Representatives,” Mr Turnbull said.

“In politics you have to focus on what you can deliver and that’s what we’ve done and we’ll continue to do.”

He said it was still the government’s policy to legislate the target but he would not try and pass legislation that would be blocked in the lower house.

“Where and when we believe there would be sufficient support in the House of Representatives and obviously in our party room to progress this component of the scheme will bring it forward once again,” Mr Turnbull said.

“The national energy guarantee remains the government’s policy, but, as John Howard said, politics is governed by the iron laws of arithmetic and in a House of Representatives with a one-seat majority, even with strong support in the party room, if a small number of people are not prepared to vote with the government on a measure then it won’t get passed,” he said.

Under further changes announced today, the Prime Minister confirmed the government would adopt a recommendation in a recent report by the competition watchdog to underwrite the construction of new dispatchable power sources.

He also confirmed there would be an electricity price target set by the energy regulator.

In adopting a policy advocated by Barnaby Joyce, Mr Turnbull announced there would be new powers for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to “step in” where there has been a misuse of market power.

“In the most egregious cases of abuse, additional powers will be conferred on government to issue directions on operations, functional separation and even, as a last resort, divestiture of parts of the big power companies,” he said.

Mr Turnbull said the additional powers of the ACCC could be used to keep the Liddell coal fire power station open, if the competition watchdog thought it was needed.

“Directions of this kind could be used to keep a power station going and, in fact, there are many electricity markets in the world where there are rules that operate exactly like that,” he said.

Mr Turnbull said the movement to setting an effective price cap on standard offers would safe households between $183 and $416 per year.

Small and medium businesses would save between $561 and $1457.

The ACCC and Australian Energy Regulator will be given an additional $32 million in funding to better monitor the electricity market and pricing.

Read related topics:Climate ChangePeter Dutton
Greg Brown
Greg BrownCanberra Bureau chief

Greg Brown is the Canberra Bureau chief. He previously spent five years covering federal politics for The Australian where he built a reputation as a newsbreaker consistently setting the national agenda.

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/peter-dutton-remains-part-of-the-team-malcolm-turnbull-says/news-story/3820e0554791f6f4ad87cd6ad878ac63