Coalition revolt on energy ‘risks wrecking economy’

Business leaders have warned ­Coalition MPs they will unleash a “wrecking ball” on the economy if they splinter over the NEG.

Former PM Tony Abbott.

Business leaders have warned ­Coalition MPs they will unleash a “wrecking ball” on the economy if they splinter over the national ­energy guarantee and kill its passage through parliament as Tony Abbott intensified his threat to cross the floor over the policy.

Despite the impassioned plea from business leaders for unity, Malcolm Turnbull was forced to shut down a push by Mr Abbott to reconvene a special meeting ­allowing Coalition MPs to discuss the final details of the energy guarantee before it goes to the states and territories for approval in August.

There were 15 MPs in addition to Mr Abbott who spoke on the policy in the joint partyroom yesterday, with the majority arguing in favour of the policy and NSW south coast MP Ann Sudmalis warning the divisive debate was putting at risk her seat of Gilmore, held on a margin of 0.7 per cent.

Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce also refused to rule out crossing the floor over the policy, placing him in the same position as NSW Liberal colleague Craig Kelly, who chairs the Coalition backbench committee on energy.

Speaking on ABC radio, Mr Joyce said: “I don’t start telegraphing my punches. If a member of parliament wants to cross the floor because they believe that’s the right thing to do, then that’s their choice.”

Mr Abbott also intensified his threat to the energy guarantee, confirming for the first time that his intention was to cross the floor to vote against the policy unless it was fundamentally overhauled.

“I have an obligation to keep faith with the position that the government took to the people in 2013,” he said. “Don’t forget what we took to the people in 2013 — that the people overwhelmingly endorsed scrapping the carbon tax as part of ending Labor’s emissions obsession.”

Other Liberals, including South Australian MP Tony Pasin and Tasmanian senator Eric Abetz, are waiting to see the final details of the national energy guarantee, but are pushing for changes that would see greater downward pressure on prices. While only a minority of MPs raised concerns in the joint partyroom, the unrest over the energy guarantee raises the spectre of a small number of Coalition MPs using their numbers to cross the floor — an outcome that could prove decisive if Labor also chooses to oppose the policy.

Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott — one of the business and ­industry leaders who yesterday briefed Coalition MPs — said the energy guarantee provided the most “workable scheme we’ve seen for a long time” and argued a failure to pass the policy would return the country to “ground zero” and see investment shift offshore.

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said there was “not a real alternative to what’s on the table at the ­moment” and defended the ­energy guarantee as “a very good framework”.

“If this doesn’t work, we go back to chaos. To kill this off now would really be wrecking ball politics,” Mr Willox said.

Mr Turnbull and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg also sought to steer off dissent by talking up the future of coal under the energy guarantee after Nationals MPs pushed for additions to the policy to encourage greater investment in baseload generation, including new coal-fired power stations.

Speaking in parliament, Mr Turnbull said coal had a “very important role in our energy mix”.