Opposition Leader Sussan Ley outlines what it would take for Coalition to dump net zero as debate divides both parties
Ms Ley told Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell she wanted to develop an energy policy which focussed on manufacturing and the aspirations of Australian business owners, while making power more affordable and reducing emissions.
The Opposition Leader said a working group led by Shadow Energy Minister Dan Tehan will "flesh out" the partyroom's different perspectives and will assess expert advice on the issue.
"We have to work through this policy process, and I'm not foreshadowing what the outcome will be. It will be underpinned by two fundamental things, playing our part to responsibly and transparently reduce emissions as we should, and also have a stable, reliable energy grid that provides affordable energy for households and businesses," she said.
"I think most people would agree the government is failing on both of them. Cost is going up and emissions are going up too."
On net zero, Ms Ley refused to contend with Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce's call to scrap the policy, but agreed there was an "over-reliance" on renewable energy, hinting at a possible decision to leave net zero behind in the future.
Ms Ley said "we do have time" to come to a final call on net zero, noting the Coalition's election loss was "not quite three months ago" while the next election was three years away.
She said Labor held the "levers" on the Australia's net zero approach, and that the Coalition would "hold them to account" for the "train wreck" the government had created on energy policy.
"The government owns current energy policy and we will hold them to account for the absolute train wreck that it's become," Ms Ley said.
Ms Ley was also asked about the Labor government's Economic Reform Roundtable in August, in which tax hikes have been rumoured to be put forward as a fix-all approach to the slump in productivity and rising budget deficits.
The Opposition Leader said she was "hoping for some good ideas,but I'm not holding my breath", and confirmed shadow treasurer Ted O'Brien would be present during discussions.
"We'll be talking to the people who are sitting in that room, but many of them have said privately to me that they're going to speak up during and after that meeting because the problem we have here is Labor's got advice to say, 'you're going to need to raise taxes because the budget is broken,'" she said.
"But they haven't said they have a plan to do anything other than that. So what that tells me is already they're baking in an outcome from this productivity roundtable that is all about raising taxes."
Ms Ley said in her view that the path to prosperity was through growth in the private sector.
"It's not about making the expenditure of the government more efficient. It's about growing businesses, which of course energy is a critical part of," she said.
"It's all about recognising that the pathway to prosperity is through growth. It's through the private sector. It's to the Australians we back every day who are out there giving back, taking risks, having a crack."
The Opposition Leader was also pressed on the harrowing images emerging from Gaza after Israel was pressured to open more channels for aid to enter the war-torn enclave.
Ms Ley expressed she was "distressed" by the images of starvation coming out of Gaza but urged that Hamas must return Israeli hostages to end the war.
She said the Palestinian people "deserved so much better" after its Hamas leadership had "let them down for decades".
The Opposition Leader declined to respond to reports that the images depicting starvation in Gaza were fake and insisted that there needed to be "partners in the peace process" representing Palestinians.
Ms Ley was asked to respond to 2011 comments she made in which she sympathised with the Palestinian people, and that they had been "airbrushed out of history".
"I am a friend to the Palestinian people, I'm not a friend of their leadership, I'm not a friend of Hamas, how could anyone be?" she said.
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